36xRacing

Fast facts:
Winner: Mark Martin
Most laps led: Mark Martin (165 – 66%)

Race notes:

• Jeff Gordon led early from pole – Jeremy Mayfield took the lead after 20 laps while Gordon dealt with a loose handling car
• Mark Martin caught and passed both leaders during the first stint – all three ran ‘under a blanket’ with Rusty Wallace for several laps
• At the first pit cycle: Mayfield requested a tighter car, Jeff Burton took two tires, leader Mark Martin asked for no changes during his stop, the 24 car added wedge to tighten handling – Rusty Wallace cycled out to the lead after a fast stop
• Lap 65 presented the first caution of the race – leaders pit – Mark Martin won the race off pit road, leading a batch of cars that opted for just two tires – Wallace lost the lead and fell to sixth
• Martin dominated the next stint
• Dale Jarrett lost an engine from the top fifteen – Bill Elliott, Kyle Petty, and others crashed behind, possibly due to fluid in turns one and two
  • Cleanup required a red flag period at lap 86 – Martin leading
  • This was the second week in a row that Elliott was in a violent crash – he was transported to a local hospital
    • Elliott received stitches in his chin and was treated for fractures in his left foot and hand – The Capital (May 4, 1998)
• Joe Nemechek led out of the red flag for 20 laps – Gordon nudged him out of the way and led for just one lap – Gordon: “once I started leading, my car went to junk” – ESPN broadcast
• The rest of the race was the Mark Martin show – Martin was the only driver to lead more than five consecutive laps from 110 to the finish (250)
  • At a few points in the race Martin lost track position but was able to move back through traffic rather easily, particularly on a longer run (Jeff Gordon was fast, but struggled on the long run all race).
• Around lap 140 there was a green flag pit cycle – Rusty Wallace ran out of fuel on the way in. Wallace had to coast down pit road and struggled to get out of his box. Wallace had been running in the top five for most of the race. This ultimately wouldn’t cost him too much with a few caution periods on the way…
  • Martin ran a few laps longer than other leaders at this cycle – he would have been able to cut a stop if the race stayed green (they were leading the speed race AND the strategy race)
  • Dick Trickle spun as the cycle finished – cars that pit earlier than Martin could decide if they wanted to top off on fuel at this yellow (or at the next one just after the restart), most cars should now be able to make it on just one more stop
• Martin resumed his domination after the restart
• The 24 team did not top off fuel at the series of yellows. They had to pit at lap 195, several laps before the rest of the field’s final cycle, but still thinking it could possibly get them to the finish
• Gordon would ultimately pit again at the lap 213 yellow while the other leaders stayed out
  • “We are racing for a championship and we felt we could get back in the top five, and we did,” Gordon said. – The Capital
    • Gordon moved from fifth to third and gained 30 points in the championship in this race
• Rusty Wallace, who with Gordon and Mayfield served as the only real competition for Martin, lost a cylinder on lap 238 while in second
  • This was a tough race for many championship leaders… Wallace, Dale Jarrett, and Bobby Labonte all entered the race sitting top ten in the standings but suffered various engine issues. Bill Elliott wrecked out when Jarrett’s engine expired and Jimmy Spencer was in a lap 227 crash.
• Mark Martin’s dominant day would be complete with a win, his third victory in the first ten races of the 1998 season
  • Martin was also leading late in the inaugural California race in ’97 when he ran out of fuel – “Redemption fuels Martin to 3rd victory of season” – The Capital
• This race would be the final top five finish of Darrell Waltrip’s career
• Jeremy Mayfield’s second place finish was the best of his career to this point. With Wallace’s DNF, this gave Mayfield the points lead.

Top finishing drivers:

Pos	Driver	Laps
1.	Mark Martin #6	250
2.	Jeremy Mayfield #12	250
3.	Terry Labonte #5	250
4.	Jeff Gordon #24	250
5.	Darrell Waltrip #1	250