|| *Comments on the 1998 NAPA 500:* View the most recent comment <#76> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. STbastien posted: 09.24.2004 - 3:33 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) My first Nascar race ever. 2. Dave posted: 01.05.2005 - 4:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was the 12 hours of Atlanta! Rain delayed the start of the race, and then there were numerous delays throughout. The race finally got running at 9pm eastern time and was contested to just before midnight where it was shortened 107 laps in an effort to get the crowd home at a decent hour. Jeff Gordon won a record tying 13th win in a season along with his 3rd NASCAR Winston Cup. 3. Darrell posted: 11.18.2005 - 5:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last race for two ne'er do well teams. First was TRIAD Motorsports. Pharb Hangover Relief signed on as an associate sponsor the next season, but they never paid, and Pilot Travel Centers left as well. By May of 1999, the team was history. And also the last for Team Tabasco. Do I really need to go into details? ;) 4. Matthew Sullivan posted: 12.21.2005 - 3:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was Morgan Shepherd's last great run. He ran for the Stavola Brothers in a sharp silver car and was running up front before he blew a tire, if memory serves. 5. Darrell posted: 12.31.2005 - 3:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also forgot, this would be the last race for the Stavola Brothers team, FILMAR Racing, and the American Equipment Racing(#96) team as well. 6. Ryan posted: 08.19.2006 - 12:10 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dave Marcis's last lead-lap finish as well 7. Kevin posted: 08.19.2006 - 12:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Did anyone noticed that DW started 19 of 33 races from last spot, how mant times can a past champion provisional be used? 8. Darrell posted: 09.03.2006 - 2:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kevin, after this season, I believe NASCAR said that you could only use the PCP four times, but now it's once every eight races. They just like to make that as confusing as possible. DW even said if he knew what that provisional would cause, he never would have suggested it in the first place. Mind you, between the Speedblock fiasco and the 35 team, you really can't blame him for starting last all the time. 9. Frogger49 posted: 09.11.2006 - 2:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Jeff Gordon actually took out Morgan Shepherd with (what turned out to be) about 25 laps to go. At the time, the #8 was running around the 11-13 range. Gordon got Shepherd going into 1 and put him in the wall. 10. Steve posted: 11.28.2006 - 3:17 am Rate this comment: (1) (6) Not surprising. Who wouldn't Jeff do that to? Best finish for Little Joe's team (5th). 11. myself posted: 02.19.2007 - 8:03 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) This race capped the most dominating season in the history of the Winston Cup! 12. biffle16 posted: 05.17.2007 - 2:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) Couldn't have said it better myself, Steve!!! 13. biffle16 posted: 05.17.2007 - 2:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, this race was Kenny Irwin's first pole. 14. Anonymous posted: 06.21.2007 - 7:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution 1 Lap 38-86 wow, why not just do a red flag then instead of 50 laps of caution 15. Anonymous posted: 07.13.2007 - 8:11 pm Rate this comment: (4) (0) LOL, if you moronic people, who have nothing better to do than say "JAFF GORDAN IS A REKER :(" knew anything, you'd know that Morgan Shepherd wrecked himself. Gordon was up to the #8 on Shepherd's door and Shepherd came down like he wasn't even there. http://youtube.com/watch?v=1cJS__xJNBY 16. SK posted: 09.11.2007 - 4:06 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) In 47 Winston Cup starts, Joe Falk's #91 LJ Racing Chevrolets posted only one top-5 finish, and that came in this race with Todd Bodine. The youngest of the Chemung racing brothers would bring home the team's only other top-10 finish at this track one year and a half later. 17. Mike posted: 09.16.2007 - 12:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Most of Gordon's dominance this year came in the last ten races. If they'd had the Chase...he'd have gone in up by 30, and won the championship by a *bunch* (319 over Jeff Burton, 327 over Martin)> This means that Gordon outscored Martin by 297 points over the last ten races, or almost 30 points a race. The full top 12, if there were a Chase this season: 1. 24-Gordon 6811 -0 2. 99-Burton 6492 -319 3. 6-Martin 6484 -327 4. 4-Hamilton 6327 -484 5. 2-Wallace 6326 -485 6. 88-Jarrett 6280 -531 7. 5-T. Labonte 6254 -557 8. 12-Mayfield 6165 -646 9. 3-Earnhardt 6129 -682 10. 18-B. Labonte 6117 -694 11. 43-Andretti 6107 -704 12. 33-Schrader 6100 -711 18. Douche Bagolow posted: 10.25.2007 - 11:29 pm Rate this comment: (1) (7) Sure, Morgan came down, but Rainbow Boy didn't even try to lift. 19. Anonymous posted: 11.30.2007 - 3:54 am Rate this comment: (3) (0) Why are you hiding behind a new name, biffle16? He had half a car under him- half a car If you think he should have lifted for Morgan then you are obviously too biased to look at it clearly. 20. Rob posted: 12.04.2007 - 11:45 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) The long caution period went like this. The caution came out for rain I want to say around 2:30. They done a few laps under yellow to see if the rain would pass by. It did not so they stopped it until a little after 5 maybe even 5:30. They ran a few caution laps lo be sure the track was dry. They got one to green when the rain started again. Again they waited a few laps to see if it would pass. It did not so this led to a second red flag. This red flag lasted until about 9 p.m. again they done a few caution laps to be sure the track was ready Finally they were able to start the race. 21. RaceFanX posted: 12.12.2007 - 3:26 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Last race for Geoff Bodine, he changed his name to Geoffrey before the 1999 season. 22. Douche Bagolow posted: 12.17.2007 - 10:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) Right, Anonymous, Right. ;) 23. myself posted: 02.26.2008 - 3:27 pm Rate this comment: (3) (2) Anyone else tired of the stupid Cha$e comments?! 24. RaceFanX posted: 03.01.2008 - 3:42 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Last race for the Skoal Bandit, while Skoal would return to the #33 Chevy for 1999 their paint job was slightly changed and the "Bandit" symbol was removed from the car. 25. Andy S posted: 09.19.2008 - 3:24 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) As much as Gordon is not my favorite driver, I don't dislike him, and he is far from being a wrecker. Hey, he will move people out of the way, but they all do. As an underdog kind of fan, I always pulled a bit for Morgan, but at 4s into to the youtube bit, he starts to come down on Jeff; by 6s, Gordon is heading down to the white line, presumably to avoid contact without having to lift. There was room and time for Morgan to come up; maybe a spotter error. Jeff has his tires on the line just about when contact was made 26. Rad83 posted: 02.11.2009 - 8:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) In this race and the race before it, Jerry Naedeau drove the Powderpuff Girls Carrtoon Network car for Melling. The Car was pink and everything. I think the scheme proved Jerry's bad luck! I stil laugh to this day about it! 27. Art D posted: 06.26.2009 - 11:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) 42nd career win for J. Gordon 28. SoxFan24 posted: 10.25.2009 - 12:17 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) I remember watching this race being frustrated at NASCAR for even attempting to run this race. This race was supposed to start at noon and ended well after 11 o clock that night. It even started on ESPN but switched over to ESPN 2 that night. Another interesting fact. After winning this race in 1996 and 1997, Bobby Labonte finished dead last in the 1998 version of this race with an Engine Failure Milestones Unofficially the first Cup race to run at night at Atlanta until the race became a night race in 2009 First and only top 5 for the 91 team Last start for Dick Trickle in the 90 car for Junie Donlavey and also last race for Helig Meyers as a full time primary sponsor. They had been with this team since 1993. Also last season Dick Trickle had a full-time ride and the last season until 2000 Donlavey attempted to run a full schedule Last race for MBNA as a primary sponsor in NASCAR. The 22 team would gain Caterpillar as a sponsor for 1999 Last race Bill Elliott attempted to run a second car in NASCAR. He would go back to a single car team till 2000 Last race Rick Hendrick ran the number 50 in the Cup Series Last race for 46 team and Money Store Sponsorship Last races for the 78, 8, 81, 35 and 96 teams in the Cup Series 29. 18fan posted: 02.14.2010 - 3:33 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Third race on the new configuration and first one not won by Bobby Labonte. Ironically, Bobby finished last in this race. 30. RaceFanX posted: 03.18.2010 - 3:36 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) 1997 Atlanta ARCA winner Harris DeVane gets his shot to run with the big boys only to have it end with a vicious qualifying crash that resulted in him having to be cut out of the car. I think that was the end of DeVane's racing career, he never ran again in ARCA after that although he still a very accomplished peanut farmer. 31. 18fan posted: 07.04.2010 - 4:53 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) 6 lead changes during the super-long rain caution. 32. Evan posted: 11.17.2011 - 12:25 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) #24-You are correct, in 1999 Ken Schrader just had the word SKOAL on the hood and the car was blue and red at points during the year. Schrader flipped the red SKOAL car at Sears point and spun the blue one at some races(look on Thrills and Spills Winston Cup, search it on youtube) #28-RaceFanX-Correction on MBNA as a primary sponsor, MBNA was a primary sponsor of Joe Gibbs's limited Busch Series efforts driven by Coy Gibbs, Jason leffler, and Mike McGlaughlin. MBNA was not entirely until 2003 when it sponsored both Atlanta Races...a useless move IMO. 33. RaceFanX posted: 03.20.2012 - 6:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsors: #42 Joe Nemechek- BellSouth / The Real Yellowpages #9 Jerry Nadeau- Cartoon Network / Powerpuff Girls #10 Ricky Rudd- Tide Happy Holidays 34. RaceFanX posted: 09.15.2012 - 1:30 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Sponsor: #31 Mike Skinner- Lowe's / Kobalt Tools (Also the Skinner's sponsor for the 1998 Montegi exhibition race where he won) This race was the first time Lowe's modified their Winston Cup paint job to promote their in-house tool brand Kobalt, which they had just introduced to the market at around this time. Skinner's car changed from its normal blue-and-yellow to blue-and-gray for this race and the one in Japan that followed, it was thought at the time the new look was going to be his full time scheme in 1999 but after the win in Japan it was never used again although Kobalt paint jobs became a standard thing during the era where Lowe's sponsored Jimmie Johnson. 35. sk posted: 05.20.2013 - 3:32 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Last lead lap finish for Dick Trickle, after collecting his final top-10 in the spring race here. 36. kidracer posted: 08.06.2013 - 11:47 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Last Race without Tony Stewart until the 2013 Cheez-It 355. 521 consecutive races snapped. Only behind Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton. 37. Jack posted: 10.26.2015 - 3:51 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) This race was run the same day as the Craftsman Truck Series finale in Las Vegas. Both winners were #24 coincidentally. 38. Blue Palaski posted: 03.07.2016 - 10:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon, Jarrett, and Martin wrap up a season in which the three of them won 69% of the races. In this era, we may never see that level of dominance again. 39. Braindead Zombie posted: 03.07.2016 - 10:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) 2008? 40. Blue Palaski posted: 03.07.2016 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Not even close. In 2008 the top three only won 18 of the 36 races (50%), whereas 21 of 33 races were won by the same three in 1998. 41. Braindead Zombie posted: 03.07.2016 - 11:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Johnson, Edwards, and Busch won at least 25 races IIRC. 42. Braindead Zombie posted: 03.07.2016 - 11:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Busch didn't finish in the top three in points though. But I think he might've under the pre-chase system. 43. Maverick11 posted: 03.07.2016 - 11:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Busch would have finished 3rd in points without the Chase. Busch, Johnson, and Edwards combined to win 24/36 races in 2008 (67%). In 1998, Jeff Gordon alone won 40% of the races, that would be unheard of nowadays. 44. Blue Palaski posted: 03.07.2016 - 11:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was only doing the top three in points since usually the guys with the most wins finish in the top three. Well they used to anyway. 45. Braindead Zombie posted: 03.07.2016 - 11:58 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Not necessarily, even before the chase. Look at Ryan Newmans 2003 season. 46. Maverick11 posted: 03.08.2016 - 12:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Matt Kenseth in 2002 as well. 47. Talon64 posted: 03.08.2016 - 12:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And Kasey Kahne in 2006. 48. Talon64 posted: 03.08.2016 - 12:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ok that's a Chase year, but Kasey ended up 8th in points with the Chase and would've been 9th without it. 49. murb posted: 03.08.2016 - 12:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Add Tony Stewart (2000), Jeff Gordon (1999), Harry Gant (1991 - tied for most wins and finished 4th), and Darrell Waltrip (1989 - tied for most wins and finished 4th) to the list. So yes, it's really not that rare of an occurrence, even back then. 50. John Royal posted: 05.05.2016 - 7:25 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) This was very first race I ever saw from flag to flag. Although delays and commercials were cut off from Eurosport tape delayed broadcast. My friend recorded this to VHS (Eurosport was not available where I lived) and we watched it after school. Nokia (first major NASCAR sponsorship for Finnish company) was sponsoring Shepherd's car and we had great interest on how he runs. Well it could've gone better. Full race can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNNPwSx5IOg 51. Football Fan posted: 08.25.2016 - 2:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) All the RR comments on Jeff Gordon before 2008 are just flat out stupid. Also does anyone know what happened to biffle16/Douche Bagolow? 52. Maverick posted: 09.25.2016 - 1:24 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Jeff Gordon's average finish in the last 20 races of 1998: 2.15 Wow. 53. chevyfan98 posted: 11.30.2016 - 9:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Only 17 drivers ran all the races in 1998. Damn... 54. Anthony posted: 01.05.2017 - 7:23 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) The 1998 season remains the last in Cup which no qualifying was rained out 55. Slic posted: 01.23.2017 - 5:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Jeff Gordon took everybody to school this season, and then some. And if he didn't run out of gas on the last lap, he would have bagged the All-Star race too. For the whiners and crybabies, I didn't see this much outrage when Rusty Wallace flat out bulldozed Gordon at Richmond, simply because he couldn't pass him cleanly. Gee, I wonder why? 56. Thimble99 posted: 02.13.2017 - 10:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) The greatest season of the modern era, and one of the greatest seasons of all eras. Point blank. Jimmie Johnson can win 25 Chase championships. He's not a better driver than Jeff Gordon. 57. The Dude posted: 02.13.2017 - 11:28 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Yeah, well, that's just, like, um, your opinion, man. 58. Anonymous posted: 04.06.2017 - 8:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) They shortened this race due to a curfew. 59. RaceFanX posted: 04.06.2017 - 9:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Only 17 drivers ran all the races in 1998. Damn..." This was back in the era where it was still very common for a full-time team to have the odd DNQ every now and then...plus admittedly injuries putting drivers out of action for recovery were more common. Gotta give kudos to Jimmy Spencer though, he missed two races due to injury and was still in the top-5 in points. Ernie Irvan's late season injury also meant he missed the last race three (including this one) yet still finished in the top-20 which is even more impressive given he didn't have a top-5 run all year. 60. Maverick19 posted: 04.13.2017 - 1:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The 49 lap caution led to some really wacky leaders. I mean, Brett Bodine and Dave Marcis both led double digit laps because of it! 61. Mitchell posted: 10.11.2017 - 11:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harris DeVane's owner was Frank Keziah. 62. A posted: 11.01.2017 - 9:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In addition to other drivers posted, this also appears to be the last lead lap finish for Derrike Cope. To date. 63. kup posted: 11.16.2017 - 1:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) UPS: universal points system. Driver's UPoints = Miles / Aver.Finish 1998 UPS _ Driver = Miles / AF 2243 _ Jeff Gordon 12785 / 5.7 1482 _ Mark Martin 12745 / 8.6 1104 _ Dale Jarrett 12361 / 11.2 1052 _ Rusty Wallace 12309 / 11.7 964 _ Jeff Burton 12142 / 12.6 886 _ Jeremy Mayfield 12584 / 14.2 872 _ Bobby Labonte 12377 / 14.2 758 _ Dale Earnhardt 12278 / 16.2 751 _ Bobby Hamilton 12760 / 17.0 750 _ Terry Labonte 12373 / 16.5 & TOTAL: UPS! 50 years 1949-1998: Dale Earnhardt 8 in: '80, '86, '87, '89, '91, '93, '94, '95. Richard Petty 7 in: '63, '64, '67, '71, '72, '75, '79. Lee Petty 5 in: '50, '52, '54, '58, '59. David Pearson 4 in: '66, '68, '69, '76. Cale Yarborough 3 in: '74, '77, '78. Bobby Allison 3 in: '81, '82, '83. Buck Baker 2 in: '56, '57. Rex White 2 in: '60, '61. Terry Labonte 2 in: '84, '96. Mark Martin 2 in: '90, '97. Bill Blair 1 in: '49. Fonty Flock 1 in: '51. Herb Thomas 1 in: '53. Tim Flock 1 in: '55. Joe Weatherly 1 in: '62. Ned Jarrett 1 in: '65. Bobby Isaac 1 in: '70. Benny Parsons 1 in: '73. Darrell Waltrip 1 in: '85. Bill Elliott 1 in: '88. Alan Kulwicki 1 in: '92. Jeff Gordon 1 in: '98. 64. M posted: 11.24.2017 - 7:27 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) It was fitting that in NASCAR's 50th Anniversary season, the greatest season in the modern era was won by the greatest driver of the modern era, Jeff Gordon. He also tied the record for most wins in a single season with Richard Petty. 13 wins. Nobody has reached that mark since, and most likely never will. Final 20 races of the season - 1.9 Average finish. And then he followed this up next season by winning his 2nd Daytona 500 in 3 years and doing it from the pole, winning the Winston No Bull 5 Million Dollar bonus, and beating Dale Earnhardt in the process. Absolutely unreal. The incredible thing is he won his titles by being a master of all tracks. Superspeedways, short tracks, road courses, restrictor plates. He could win anywhere. They've been trying to find the next Jeff Gordon since he came into the sport, and it won't happen. 65. oldschoolracing519 posted: 11.24.2017 - 8:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "He also tied the record for most wins in a single season with Richard Petty. 13 wins. Nobody has reached that mark since, and most likely never will." this is incorrect, the record set by Richard Petty in a single season is 27. now if you want to say the record in the modern era, then yes you are correct. 66. Not Sure posted: 11.24.2017 - 11:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) In this season dominated by Gordon and Martin, 18 drivers led at least 100 laps. In 2017 only 12 drivers led at least 100 laps. And yet that constantly repeated article of faith that today's NASCAR is more competitive than ever remains in place. Given the trajectory NASCAR is taking, I don't think a single driver winning at least 1/3 of the races, if not Gordon's percentage in 1998, is far off. Truex Jr. certainly had a car capable of doing it this year. 67. Darrell posted: 01.21.2018 - 5:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Crew chief for the #44: Mike Suter 68. James posted: 03.06.2018 - 11:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sterling Marlin would have been the only driver to not have a DNF this season... Until lap 139 happened. 69. CJ posted: 04.18.2018 - 7:40 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Season best finish for Todd Bodine and only top 5 of the year for both he and the team. Final starts for Geoff Bodine in the 7 Morgan Shepherd in the 8 Ted Musgrave in the 13 Michael Waltrip in the 21 Darrell Waltrip in the 35 Ricky Craven in the 36 Jeff Green in the 46 Gary Bradberry in the 78 Kenny Wallace in the 81 Dick Trickle in the 90 Todd Bodine in the 91 70. Michael posted: 06.12.2018 - 4:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think Blue Palaski might end up eating his words there. We're almost half way into the 2018 season and still only have 6 winners. This has not happened since around the 1998 time frame and if nothing changes we may write into the books that 2018 featured the fewest amount of winners for a season. I'm hoping things improve, but who would have thought. 71. Darrell posted: 11.17.2019 - 8:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Buckshot Jones was entered but withdrew his No. 00 Pontiac to preserve his status for Rookie of the Year in 1999. 72. rateus posted: 04.10.2020 - 2:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @59 As a sign of how beat-up the field was this year, no fewer than 18 drivers needed relief help during races. No other year since 1991 has needed more than 11. 73. Jimnsimforever posted: 05.10.2020 - 12:19 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Jeff Gordon's 1998, Dale Earnhardt's 1987, Darrell Waltrip's 1981, Cale Yarborough's 1977, Richard Petty's 1975, and David Pearson's 1973. I think you could make arguments for any of these seasons to be the best in the modern era. David Pearson didn't run a full season in 73 so that one may not count if you put that stipulation on it but entering 18 races in a season and winning 11 of them is amazing any way you stack it up. 74. BOBO83329521 posted: 05.21.2020 - 3:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) As of 2020 1998 was the last season in which every race had qualifying without cancellations. 75. SweetRich posted: 07.06.2020 - 9:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The final career race for team owner Fil Martocci. 76. Rich posted: 04.06.2021 - 7:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bob Jenkins along with 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: