|| *Comments on the 1998 Save Mart / Kragen 350:* View the most recent comment <#38> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Matthew Sullivan posted: 12.10.2005 - 4:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Veteran Lake Speed was injured in a practice crash. 2. Darrell posted: 12.11.2005 - 5:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Not only that, he never drove again as far as I know. (He was the Team Manager for a while for the #07/50 Midwest Transit team.) 3. HomeDepot20TS posted: 03.09.2006 - 9:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thank you. I never knew what happened to Lake. 4. nascarman posted: 05.15.2006 - 7:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jerry Nadeau (who started second) spun on the first lap trying to beat Gordon out of turn 2. 5. Matthew Sullivan posted: 06.22.2006 - 3:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race started a six race win streak for drivers named Jeff, Gordon with five wins (four in a row,) Burton with one. 6. Steve posted: 09.16.2006 - 10:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rick Mast finished 8th; his only Top 10 finish on a road course, and Steve Grissom scored back-to-back Top 10s on road courses, finishing 9th at Watkins Glen in August of 1997, and 10th in this race. 7. Frogger49 posted: 10.05.2006 - 2:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) With Rick Mast, the Butch Mock team essentially gave Rick the nickname "Nigel Mast" in order to amp him for the road race. The result was one of his best weekends of the season. Also, a thrilling duel late in the race between Jeff Gordon and Bobby Hamilton for the lead. Jeff Burton (apparently) becomes the first person to wreck a cup car on the short start-finish straight after contact with Dale Jarrett. 8. Brock posted: 01.18.2007 - 6:00 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) My fondest memory of Bobby Hamilton at Sears Point, the day he made Jeff Gordon work for his win! 9. Brock posted: 01.18.2007 - 6:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The race that also made me a Jerry Nadeau fan, having seen how badly he wanted to lead that first lap. Tom Kendall, having had the misfortune of being so close to winning the 1991 Sonoma race, DNQ'd after his sterling qualifying lap was ruined by a glove he ran over in The Chute. 10. myself posted: 02.19.2007 - 7:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That Jerry Nadeau first lap over the dirt & grass then spinning was one of the funniest things I've ever seen in a race. That ole' boy was just too excited! 11. Anonymous posted: 06.22.2007 - 9:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nadeau's accident was kind of funny, I agree. What happened to Terry Labonte? 12. RaceFanX posted: 11.28.2007 - 3:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was ticked because the start of this race (with Nadeau's wild moves) aired on ESPN2 (which I didn't have at the time) because a golf tournament ran over on ESPN. I never forgave the sport of golf for that... Also, first race for Tim Beverly's team and the only time they used DW's #17 before they merged with the Tabasco team. 13. Brock posted: 12.09.2007 - 7:27 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Just watched this race again and, boy oh boy, this race probably should've been called the What A Shame 350! As has been mentioned, outside polesitter Jerry Nadeau ran off the course in turn two, broke a track bar as a result, and slammed into the embankment entering the Esses on lap 14, stopping so suddenly that Nadeau was sent to the hospital with whiplash and a bitten tongue. Tom Hubert, in only his 2nd Cup race, struggled to stay near the top 10 early on but found himself running a surprising 7th with 34 laps to go when, all of a sudden, his transmission blew and stopped his car on the frontstretch. After the Hubert caution, Ricky Rudd lost the lead to Bobby Hamilton in turn 11, dropping Rudd to 2nd with Geoff Bodine a surprising 3rd. Soon after, however, Bodine locked the brakes up entering turn 11 and slammed into Rudd, annihilating Bodine's right-front and sending both cars into a spin. No caution was thrown and the two fell deep in the running order with Bodine's transmission failing soon after. Robby Gordon, making his first start of the 1998 season, also had a solid top-10 spot go awry when he blew a right-rear tire. The tire shredded so violently that entire rear suspension, according to Robby, "left" the car. There were, however, some amazing comebacks: Ron Hornaday, in Tim Beverly's NAPA car, was spun into the tire barrier entering the Esses on the first lap after contact from Brett Bodine. Kenny Irwin, Jr. spun out of the top 10 by himself in turn 11 early in the race. After leading 8 laps, Steve Grissom fell back as far as 33rd late in the race while running around 8th. Yet Hornaday, Irwin, and Grissom, all wound up finishing in the top 15! :) 14. Brock posted: 12.09.2007 - 7:31 am Rate this comment: (2) (1) To follow-up on my January comment on Bobby Hamilton's run as well, Hamilton did indeed get physical with Jeff Gordon in their battle for the lead, particularly in turn 11. There, Hamilton bumped Gordon's bumper on at least two occasions, bodyslammed Gordon during the decisive pass with force enough to crush in Gordon's fender on his left-front tire, then after all that, almost take the lead back in turn 11 before he overshot the apex. It was a particularly sweet run for Hamilton in 1998, where his finishes after winning the spring Martinsville event had been quite poor. Rest in peace, Bobby. You were just awesome out there. 15. Haywood posted: 03.29.2008 - 4:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was the first race at Sears Point (now Infineon Raceway) that didn't use the carousel turn. The track was modified and drivers weren't a fan of the new section. In 2001, it was further modified. 16. Anonymous posted: 04.05.2008 - 11:17 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Noticing this race, I miss the days of Bobby Hamilton and John Andretti running up front. Them and Bobby Labonte were/are the best drivers Petty ever had. Nice run by Hornaday. You gotta give Kenny Irwin Jr. credit for doing this well in his first road race. 17. The Real Thomas posted: 07.16.2008 - 2:34 am Rate this comment: (1) (2) I was so pissed that Bobby overshot the apex in the infamous turn 11. I was sad about Nadeau screwing up in turn 1 of lap 1. Rainbow Chicken at least had to fight for this one. He wasn't able to just run away with it like he usually did on road courses. Tommy Kendall DNQ'd in the #46, but Joe Falk put him in the #91 to replace the recently fired Kevin Lepage in this race. Tommy even led a couple of laps. 18. Sean posted: 12.29.2008 - 1:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Geoff Bodine a surprising third? He was a great road racer. That said, by 1998, he was pretty much mediocre but it shouldn't be too surprising because the road courses were one of his strengths. Nadeau's banzai move was the most I laughed in a race ever. Bobby Hamilton was quite underrated, winning at driver's tracks like Martinsville, Rockingham, and Phoenix, having a great run here, and placing a Petty car in the top ten in points (although Robbie Loomis certainly helped there). 19. Anonymous posted: 04.17.2009 - 12:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) To further add about Speed, he was really quick in practice, second or third fastest. He had just returned to the track from the garage area during the second practice. Someone had got off track at turn 10, I believe it was Skinner and a lot of debris was kicked up on the track surface. Lake was the first guy to get into the corner after the debris was kicked on the track and he cut a tire breaking his sternum and breaking and/or fracturing his ribs. The accident a few weeks later at New Hampshire race aggrivated his injuries. Lake decided to step out of the car a few days after that so as not to hold back the race team. 20. Art D posted: 06.26.2009 - 11:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 33rd career win for J. Gordon 21. myself posted: 08.17.2009 - 2:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Great description of Nadeau's move there, Sean!! 22. 18fan posted: 01.23.2010 - 1:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) To recap Speed's injuries: He was injured in practice for this race and Butch Gilliland drove the car. Another serious practice crash for the next race at New Hampshire reaggravated the injuries, forcing his retirement. 23. 18fan posted: 02.07.2010 - 6:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lepage had signed a contract with Roush Racing to replace Ted Musgrave after Watkins Glen, and when Joe Falk found out, Falk fired Lepage. 24. Sébastien posted: 03.06.2010 - 6:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kendall #91 sponsor was First Union. 25. RaceFanX posted: 07.19.2010 - 5:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A PGA Tour event ran late causing the start and the first few laps of this race to be aired on ESPN2 instead of ESPN before switching over. The big highlight missed but reaired after the switch was of course Nadeau's bonzai move at the start. 26. 18fan posted: 02.11.2012 - 2:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Burton was very upset with Dale Jarrett after their wreck, with Burton almost certain that Jarrett wrecked him on purpose. 27. RaceFanX posted: 03.21.2012 - 9:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor: #43 John Andretti- STP / NFL's Players Association 28. CBASS posted: 05.14.2012 - 10:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Some sponsor corrections using CIA Stock Photography's photos #43 Player's Inc/ STP #17 NAPA Auto Parts 29. Kevin Nauta posted: 03.20.2013 - 10:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thinking that the #58 that DNQ'ed for the race should be assigned to "Craig" Raudman rather than Chris. Craig drove the full Winston West season that year. 30. RaceFanX posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor: #9 Butch Gilliland- Cartoon Network / Happy Birthday NASCAR Gilliland's 24th here pinching hitting for Lake Speed matched the Winston West champ's best-ever Cup finish scored in this same race a year before. This one-off for Melling was the probably the best Cup ride Butch ever got which is a shame because he was quite good in the West series and never got a real chance at the top level like his son David would. NASCAR really needs to start using the Carousel turn again, that corner produced a lot of good action in previous Sears Point races. 31. 23andJoe posted: 03.02.2014 - 6:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) To the rear: #91 Tommy Kendall (driver change) Correction to DNQ order: #46, 44th #71, 45th #35, 46th #70, 47th #58, 48th 32. 23andJoe posted: 03.02.2014 - 7:04 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, relevant to post #29: The #58 was, in fact, driven by CHRIS Raudman, not Craig, per Jayski's. 33. Mitchell posted: 10.11.2017 - 10:59 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rick Ware's owner was Ed Ash for his DNQ. Per NASCAR's old owner points records. 34. Darrell posted: 10.30.2017 - 9:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lake Speed should be listed as a driver change for the #9. 35. Spen posted: 03.18.2018 - 12:25 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Rick Mast's "Nigel Mast" persona seems to have carried over to virtual reality. According to my records, he won a NASCAR Racing 1 race at Watkins Glen two weeks after this race. 36. CJ posted: 04.18.2018 - 7:41 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Final appearance for Todd Bodine in the 35. John Andretti - First Top 5 and best finish of season Sterling Marlin - Best finish of season Rick Mast - Best finish and only Top 10 Steve Grissom - Best finish of season, final top 10 for 41 team Tommy Kendall - Best finish of season Only start of 98 for Ron Hornaday and Butch Gilliland 37. Darrell posted: 10.11.2018 - 4:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Driver Changes: No. 9 - Lake Speed (injured in practice) No. 91 - Kevin Lepage (replaced after qualifying) 38. HD11 posted: 01.03.2021 - 7:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nadeau didn't actually spin on lap 1 as mentioned several times above, he cut across the dirt and back up in front of the field but was still fifth once he got his momentum going. Also, there was some controversy on pit road regarding cars leaving pit road and where they were being scored on the racetrack. During wall repairs for Jeff Burton's crash is when it was reported on. As a result of an accident on pit road at Watkins Glen a few years earlier involving Geoff Bodine and Rusty Wallace where the paddle man caused a collision by stopping the cars from merging, NASCAR told the teams to just leave the pits and blend in with traffic and they would sort it out. Well, many teams didn't agree with how it was done, particularly the Roush teams. They eventually sorted it out to everyone's agreement but it made for some interesting conversation during the telecast between the teams and the NASCAR officials. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: