1998 Pepsi Southern 500 - NASCAR Race

Name of Race:	1998 Pepsi Southern 500
Name of Track:	Darlington Raceway
Date:	September 6th

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina.

Looks Like An Egg

It was the first superspeedway built with NASCAR racing in mind and is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that will be effective at both ends.

Largest Field of Racers

Darlington has an interesting history. When the 1.366 mile long track first opened over a half-century ago, it was not uncommon for there to be 80 or more entrants in a race; this was curtailed over the years as NASCAR adopted a more uniform set of guidelines with regard to the number of cars which could qualify for a race.

Flip-Flop

In recent years the track has been reconfigured; what was the front stretch is now the back stretch, and the turns have been renumbered accordingly. Seating has been increased to approximately 60,000; it has been limited by the proximity of a railroad track to the facility, a highway behind the back stretch, and the still-present pond.

Courtesy of Wikipedia.

1998 Pepsi Southern 500 NASCAR Race Results

Below are the race results for 1998 Pepsi Southern 500, in order of finishing place.

Fin	Driver	Num	Start	Money	Laps	Status	Sponsor
1	Jeff Gordon	24	5	$134,655	367	running	DuPont Automotive Finishes
2	Jeff Burton	99	12	$98,180	367	running	Exide Batteries
3	Dale Jarrett	88	1	$79,220	367	running	Quality Care / Ford Credit
4	Dale Earnhardt	3	18	$64,465	367	running	GM Goodwrench Service Plus
5	Jeremy Mayfield	12	27	$52,245	366	running	Mobil 1
6	Ernie Irvan	36	26	$51,205	365	running	Skittles
7	Rusty Wallace	2	3	$46,485	365	running	Miller Lite
8	Sterling Marlin	40	8	$37,925	365	running	Coors Light
9	Geoffrey Bodine	7	15	$40,295	364	running	Philips Consumer Comm.
10	Kenny Wallace	81	39	$41,505	364	running	Square D
11	Bill Elliott	94	7	$35,620	364	running	McDonald's
12	Ward Burton	22	2	$35,725	364	running	MBNA America
13	Ken Schrader	33	6	$38,985	363	running	Skoal Bandit
14	John Andretti	43	4	$39,045	362	running	STP
15	Bobby Labonte	18	24	$41,005	362	running	Interstate Batteries
16	Jeff Green	46	41	$26,785	362	running	The Money Store
17	Michael Waltrip	21	20	$33,465	362	running	Citgo
18	Chad Little	97	17	$26,490	362	running	John Deere
19	Rich Bickle	98	40	$33,035	362	running	Thorn Apple Valley
20	Steve Grissom	41	38	$34,590	362	running	Kodiak
21	Johnny Benson, Jr.	26	11	$0	362	running	Cheerios
22	Ricky Rudd	10	14	$38,095	362	running	Tide
23	Bobby Hamilton	4	23	$36,525	362	running	Kodak MAX Film
24	Steve Park	1	31	$26,025	361	running	Pennzoil
25	Terry Labonte	5	35	$37,190	361	running	Kellogg's Corn Flakes
26	Mike Skinner	31	13	$24,105	361	running	Lowe's
27	Derrike Cope	30	22	$30,870	361	running	Gumout
28	Kyle Petty	44	28	$30,735	361	running	Hot Wheels
29	Dennis Setzer	13	42	$21,100	360	running	FirstPlus Financial
30	Robert Pressley	77	21	$24,215	360	running	Jasper Engines
32	Jerry Nadeau	9	9	$20,240	360	running	Cartoon Network
33	Dick Trickle	90	19	$27,150	359	running	Heilig-Meyers
34	Jimmy Spencer	23	29	$27,590	359	running	Winston / No Bull
35	Joe Nemechek	42	30	$26,955	359	running	BellSouth
36	Rick Mast	75	25	$19,870	358	running	Remington Arms
37	Gary Bradberry	78	33	$19,781	358	running	Pilot Travel Centers
38	Darrell Waltrip	35	43	$19,610	346	oil pump	Tabasco
39	Kevin Lepage	16	16	$26,575	326	ignition	Primestar
40	Mark Martin	6	10	$36,335	318	engine	Valvoline / Cummins
41	Kenny Irwin, Jr.	28	37	$0	298	oil pump	Texaco Havoline
42	Brett Bodine	11	36	$26,485	269	engine	Paychex
43	Ted Musgrave	15	32	$21,985	83	engine	Rescue Engine Formula