|| *Comments on the 1998 California 500 Presented by NAPA:* View the most recent comment <#33> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Dave posted: 01.08.2005 - 9:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bill Elliott blew an engine and crashed hard with Kyle Petty for the second week in a row. Darrell Waltrip scored his final career top 5 finish in the Pennzoil chevy. 2. HomeDepot20TS posted: 04.10.2005 - 4:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually Dale Jarrett blew the engine and Petty sid in the oil, collecting Bill. 3. HomeDepot20TS posted: 08.07.2005 - 3:24 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) He slid, not sid... 4. Kevin posted: 08.19.2006 - 12:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Funny DW gets last Top 5 in Dale Earnhardt's car! 5. Anonymous posted: 02.19.2007 - 6:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I heard that Dale Sr.'s mustache was burned off in the fire during the wreck with Bill Elliot. The fire came in the window and burned off half of his 'stache! Is this true? 6. Cecil Davis posted: 02.23.2007 - 4:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) No, that is false. 7. biffle16 posted: 05.09.2007 - 12:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mike Dillon's only Cup start. He was subbing for Mike Skinner. 8. SK posted: 08.21.2007 - 8:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gary Bradberry records his best career finish of 23rd (tying the mark he set at Talladega in '96, actually, but in that race he was 8 laps down and not taken out in the major crashes). 9. Destiny posted: 08.25.2007 - 8:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I bet Mike Dillon is still the son in law of Richard Childress. 10. most posted: 11.06.2007 - 3:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Elliott basically slid on his side for the second week in a row but never ended up totally flipping either time. 11. Rad83 posted: 07.25.2008 - 1:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Elliott's team started going down after the crashes. He was 7th in points before them. But bad luck, and missing a race was the beginning of the end for Eliott Motorsports. Bringing on a 2nd ride in '98 didn't help either. 12. Brandon posted: 01.04.2009 - 5:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Only Cup start for Austin Dillon's dad, Mike Dillon. But Dillon ran in 1997 @ Darlington in relief for Dale Earnhardt, after Earhardt passed out at the wheel and was taken to the hospital. Dillon is married to Richard Childress' daughter. 13. Pacer posted: 10.17.2009 - 11:40 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) When did Mike Dillon just become "Austin's dad." Mike was the 1996 Busch Series Rookie of the Year, he was a good driver in his own right. 14. 18fan posted: 11.28.2009 - 9:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rusty Wallace loses the engine late, falling from the point lead he had held all season. I don't believe he ever did after this. 15. Smoke14TS posted: 02.12.2010 - 3:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cecil Davis posted: 02.23.07 - 4:11 am No, that is false. No, its true. Earnhardt did have facial burns, his mustache included. 16. Andre posted: 09.21.2010 - 1:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Smoke14TS is correct... Dale gave an interview immediately after the Talladega wreck (well, after the trip to the care center), and he had a bandage on his chincheek and half a mustache missing. 17. Andre posted: 09.21.2010 - 1:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Chin OR Cheek... Chincheek is not a real word... FYI... 18. BiffreyIndiana posted: 02.11.2011 - 1:20 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) "Chin OR Cheek... Chincheek is not a real word... FYI..." it totally should be. I like it. lol. 19. 1995z71 posted: 03.19.2012 - 12:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) No one mentioned this but Darrell not only got his last Top 5 in Dale's car, BUT he also gave DEI its first Top 5 & 10 ever in cup. 20. CBASS posted: 05.14.2012 - 9:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Some sponsor corrections using CIA Stock Photography's photos #18 Interstate Batteries/ Hot Rod Magazine (Hot Rod back on the hood, but ran a unique "flames" paint scheme for the race) #5 Corny/ Kellogg's 21. RaceFanX posted: 12.31.2014 - 12:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsors: #5 Terry Labonte- Kellogg's Corn Flakes "Corny" (all run in 1998 at the Winston All-Star race, the Coca-Cola 600, and the Texas race in the spring) Texas Terry had a white, green, red, and yellow race for several races in 1998 to salute Cornelius, the green rooster who serves as the mascot of Kellogg's Corn Flakes. Corny was featured all over the car including drawing on the quarter panels featuring him wearing Labonte's yellow-and-white drivers uniform. 22. Will posted: 02.15.2016 - 11:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Martin was absolutely dominant. The only other cars that were really even close to the same level were the Penske cars (and Gordon early). Unfortunately for Rusty, he blew his engine with less than 10 laps to go, handing the points lead over to Mayfield and never regaining it. 23. RaceFanX posted: 01.01.2017 - 10:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This would be Mark Martin's only win at California Speedway although he often ran well here. 24. Evan posted: 08.07.2017 - 8:52 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Martin rules new tracks" was the headline in the paper the Monday after the race. I still have the clipping boxed up somewhere. 25. Jeffrey posted: 11.22.2017 - 3:29 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Actually Pacer Glenn Allen Jr. won the 1996 Busch Series Rookie Of The Year 26. RaceFanX posted: 12.31.2017 - 11:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mark Martin won this race but wouldn't finish in the top-10 again at Fontana until he placed fifth here in 2002. 27. RaceFanX posted: 02.04.2018 - 10:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Ford Taurus Mark Martin won this race driving was the exact same car he drove to wins earlier in the season at Las Vegas and Texas. Looks like it was a potent chassis on the series' newest tracks at the time. 28. CJ posted: 04.18.2018 - 10:42 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Season best and only Top 5 of 98 for Darrell Waltrip. Final Top 5 of his career. Gary Bradberry equals his career best finish. 29. Darrell posted: 11.03.2019 - 5:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Driver Change: Mike Skinner qualified his No. 31 Lowe's Chevy, but was not up to returning to racing full-time, so Mike Dillon took his place. 30. HD11 posted: 04.12.2020 - 3:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeremy Mayfield takes over the points lead for the first time in his career. If he used and ever comes clean about his alleged drug use, I would love to know when it started and if he actually ran races under any influence. After pushing Earnhardt aside to win Pocono he said ?If you're not living on the edge you're taking up space?. Read into that what you will. He was a great talent but it will always be questioned how much of it was 100% natural. 31. Jericohol14 posted: 04.12.2020 - 3:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @30 Well, whatever he was using, it either was the wrong stuff or wasn't enough, since he only had one more top 10 finish in non-Chase points after 1998. 32. possum posted: 04.12.2020 - 4:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @30 - I'd go with "100% natural" talent, since as I recall the drugs he was accused of would not fall into the category of "performance enhancing". 33. Rich posted: 12.30.2020 - 3:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons were the commentators. Dr. Jerry Punch, John Kernan and Bill Weber were the pit road reporters. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: