1998 AC Delco 400

Race details
Race 32 of 33 in the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1998 AC Delco 400 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Dale Earnhardt.
Date	November 1, 1998
Official name	34th Annual AC Delco 400
Location	Rockingham, North Carolina, North Carolina Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.017 mi (1.636 km)
Distance	393 laps, 399.681 mi (643.224 km)
Scheduled Distance	393 laps, 399.681 mi (643.224 km)
Average speed	128.423 miles per hour (206.677 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Mark Martin	Roush Racing
Time	23.394
Most laps led
Driver	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing
Laps	195
Winner
No. 24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	TNN
Announcers	Eli Gold, Buddy Baker, Dick Berggren
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1998 AC Delco 400 was the 32nd stock car race of the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 34th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, November 1, 1998, in Rockingham, North Carolina, at North Carolina Speedway, a 1.017 miles (1.637 km) permanent high-banked racetrack. The race took the scheduled 393 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would manage to make a late race pass on Penske-Kranefuss Racing driver Rusty Wallace to take his 41st career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his 12th victory of the season.^[1][2]

In the process, Jeff Gordon would manage to clinch his third career NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship, completing a dominant and historic run.^[3]

North Carolina Speedway was opened as a flat, one-mile oval on October 31, 1965. In 1969, the track was extensively reconfigured to a high-banked, D-shaped oval just over one mile in length. In 1997, North Carolina Motor Speedway merged with Penske Motorsports, and was renamed North Carolina Speedway. Shortly thereafter, the infield was reconfigured, and competition on the infield road course, mostly by the SCCA, was discontinued. Currently, the track is home to the Fast Track High Performance Driving School.^[4]

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

The first practice session was held on Friday, October 30, at 10:00 AM EST. The session would last for one hour and 25 minutes.^[5] Rusty Wallace, driving for Penske-Kranefuss Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 23.550 and an average speed of 155.465 mph (250.197 km/h).^[6]

The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, October 31, after the preliminary 1998 AC Delco 200 NASCAR Busch Series race. The session would last for one hour.^[5] Jeff Burton, driving for Roush Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 24.318 and an average speed of 150.555 mph (242.295 km/h).^[7]

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, October 30, at 2:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, October 31, at 9:30 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time.^[5] On January 24, 1998, NASCAR would announce that the amount of provisionals given would be increased from last season. Positions 26-36 would be decided on time, while positions 37-43 would be based on provisionals. Six spots are awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The seventh is awarded to a past champion who has not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champion needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points will be awarded a provisional.^[8]

Mark Martin, driving for Roush Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 23.394 and an average speed of 156.502 miles per hour (251.866 km/h).^[9]

Three drivers would fail to qualify: Steve Grissom, Andy Hillenburg, and Dave Marcis.

*Time not available.