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1998 TranSouth Financial 400
Race details
Race 5 of 33 in the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
	The 1998 TranSouth Financial 400 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt.
Date	March 22, 1998
Official name	42nd Annual TranSouth Financial 400
Location	Darlington, South Carolina, Darlington Raceway
Course	Permanent racing facility; 1.366 mi (2.198 km)
Distance	293 laps, 400.238 mi (644.12 km)
Scheduled Distance	293 laps, 400.238 mi (644.12 km)
Average speed	127.962 miles per hour (205.935 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Mark Martin;
Time	29.156
Most laps led
Driver	Jeff Burton
Laps	195
Winner
No. 88	Dale Jarrett
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1998 TranSouth Financial 400 was the fifth stock car race of the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 42nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 22, 1998, in Darlington, South Carolina, at Darlington Raceway, a 1.366 miles (2.198 km) permanent egg-shaped oval racetrack. The race took the scheduled 293 laps to complete. In the late stages of the race, Robert Yates Racing driver Dale Jarrett would manage to defend Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon to take his 16th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.^[1]^[2] To fill out the top 3, Gordon and Penske-Kranefuss Racing driver Rusty Wallace would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.

Entry list

(R) denotes rookie driver.

#	Driver	Team	Make	Sponsor
1	Ron Hornaday Jr.	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	Pennzoil
2	Rusty Wallace	Penske-Kranefuss Racing	Ford	Miller Lite
3	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	GM Goodwrench Service Plus
4	Bobby Hamilton	Morgan–McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet	Kodak
5	Terry Labonte	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	Kellogg's Frosted Flakes
05	Morgan Shepherd	Shepherd Racing Ventures	Pontiac	Good Stuff America
6	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	Valvoline
7	Geoff Bodine	Mattei Motorsports	Ford	Philips
8	Hut Stricklin	Stavola Brothers Racing	Chevrolet	Circuit City
9	Lake Speed	Melling Racing	Ford	Cartoon Network, The Huckleberry Hound Show
10	Ricky Rudd	Rudd Performance Motorsports	Ford	Tide
11	Brett Bodine	Brett Bodine Racing	Ford	Paychex
12	Jeremy Mayfield	Penske-Kranefuss Racing	Ford	Mobil 1
13	Jerry Nadeau (R)	Elliott-Marino Racing	Ford	FirstPlus Financial Group
16	Ted Musgrave	Roush Racing	Ford	PrimeStar
18	Bobby Labonte	Joe Gibbs Racing	Pontiac	Interstate Batteries
21	Michael Waltrip	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	Citgo
22	Ward Burton	Bill Davis Racing	Pontiac	MBNA
23	Jimmy Spencer	Haas-Carter Motorsports	Ford	Winston No Bull
24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	DuPont
26	Johnny Benson Jr.	Roush Racing	Ford	Cheerios, Pop Secret
28	Kenny Irwin Jr. (R)	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	Texaco, Havoline
29	Jeff Green	Diamond Ridge Motorsports	Chevrolet	Team Monte Carlo, Tasmanian Devil
30	Derrike Cope	Bahari Racing	Pontiac	Gumout
31	Mike Skinner	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	Lowe's
33	Ken Schrader	Andy Petree Racing	Chevrolet	Skoal
35	Todd Bodine	ISM Racing	Pontiac	Tabasco
36	Ernie Irvan	MB2 Motorsports	Pontiac	Skittles
40	Sterling Marlin	Team SABCO	Chevrolet	Coors Light
41	Steve Grissom	Larry Hedrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	Kodiak
42	Joe Nemechek	Team SABCO	Chevrolet	BellSouth
43	John Andretti	Petty Enterprises	Pontiac	STP
44	Kyle Petty	Petty Enterprises	Pontiac	Hot Wheels
46	Wally Dallenbach Jr.	Team SABCO	Chevrolet	First Union
50	Randy LaJoie	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	Budweiser
71	Dave Marcis	Marcis Auto Racing	Chevrolet	Team Realtree Camouflage
75	Rick Mast	Butch Mock Motorsports	Ford	Remington Arms
77	Robert Pressley	Jasper Motorsports	Ford	Jasper Engines & Transmissions
78	Gary Bradberry	Triad Motorsports	Ford	Pilot Travel Centers
81	Kenny Wallace	FILMAR Racing	Ford	Square D
88	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	Quality Care Service, Ford Credit
90	Dick Trickle	Donlavey Racing	Ford	Heilig-Meyers
91	Kevin Lepage (R)	LJ Racing	Chevrolet	LJ Racing
94	Bill Elliott	Elliott-Marino Racing	Ford	McDonald's
96	David Green	American Equipment Racing	Chevrolet	Caterpillar
97	Chad Little	Roush Racing	Ford	John Deere
98	Greg Sacks	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	Ford	Thorn Apple Valley
99	Jeff Burton	Roush Racing	Ford	Exide Batteries
300*	Darrell Waltrip	Darrell Waltrip Motorsports	Chevrolet	Tim Flock Special

*Changed to 17 after NASCAR did not allow car digits to exceed two digits.^[3]

Practice

First practice

The first practice session was held on the morning of Friday, March 20. Kenny Irwin Jr., driving for Robert Yates Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.286 and an average speed of 167.919 mph (270.239 km/h).^[4]

Pos.	#	Driver	Team	Make	Time	Speed
1	28	Kenny Irwin Jr. (R)	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	29.286	167.919
2	42	Joe Nemechek	Team SABCO	Chevrolet	29.436	167.061
3	22	Ward Burton	Bill Davis Racing	Pontiac	29.539	166.478
Full first practice results

Second practice

The second practice session was held on the afternoon of Friday, March 20. Bobby Labonte, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.336 and an average speed of 167.630 mph (269.774 km/h).^[5]

Pos.	#	Driver	Team	Make	Time	Speed
1	18	Bobby Labonte	Joe Gibbs Racing	Pontiac	29.336	167.630
2	12	Jeremy Mayfield	Penske-Kranefuss Racing	Ford	29.374	167.413
3	96	David Green	American Equipment Racing	Chevrolet	29.417	167.169
Full second practice results

Final practice

The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, March 21. Ted Musgrave, driving for Roush Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 29.758 and an average speed of 165.253 mph (265.949 km/h).^[6]

Pos.	#	Driver	Team	Make	Time	Speed
1	16	Ted Musgrave	Roush Racing	Ford	29.758	165.253
2	6	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	29.947	164.210
3	96	David Green	American Equipment Racing	Chevrolet	29.948	164.205
Full Happy Hour practice results

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 20, at 3:30 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, March 21, at 11:30 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time.^[7] 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 29.156 and an average speed of 168.665 miles per hour (271.440 km/h).^[9]

Six drivers would fail to qualify: Wally Dallenbach Jr., Dave Marcis, Hut Stricklin, Gary Bradberry, Morgan Shepherd, and Ron Hornaday Jr.

Full qualifying results

Pos.	#	Driver	Team	Make	Time	Speed
1	6	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	29.156	168.665
2	99	Jeff Burton	Roush Racing	Ford	29.222	168.284
3	88	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	29.239	168.186
4	90	Dick Trickle	Donlavey Racing	Ford	29.243	168.163
5	28	Kenny Irwin Jr. (R)	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	29.247	168.140
6	18	Bobby Labonte	Joe Gibbs Racing	Pontiac	29.249	168.129
7	21	Michael Waltrip	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	29.249	168.129
8	40	Sterling Marlin	Team SABCO	Chevrolet	29.259	168.071
9	22	Ward Burton	Bill Davis Racing	Pontiac	29.297	167.853
10	91	Kevin Lepage (R)	LJ Racing	Chevrolet	29.322	167.710
11	7	Geoff Bodine	Mattei Motorsports	Ford	29.329	167.670
12	98	Greg Sacks	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	Ford	29.360	167.493
13	96	David Green	American Equipment Racing	Chevrolet	29.380	167.379
14	2	Rusty Wallace	Penske-Kranefuss Racing	Ford	29.383	167.362
15	75	Rick Mast	Butch Mock Motorsports	Ford	29.394	167.299
16	43	John Andretti	Petty Enterprises	Pontiac	29.396	167.288
17	77	Robert Pressley	Jasper Motorsports	Ford	29.409	167.214
18	10	Ricky Rudd	Rudd Performance Motorsports	Ford	29.410	167.208
19	31	Mike Skinner	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	29.423	167.135
20	16	Ted Musgrave	Roush Racing	Ford	29.426	167.118
21	26	Johnny Benson Jr.	Roush Racing	Ford	29.450	166.981
22	11	Brett Bodine	Brett Bodine Racing	Ford	29.456	166.947
23	50	Randy LaJoie	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	29.480	166.811
24	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	29.493	166.738
25	13	Jerry Nadeau (R)	Elliott-Marino Racing	Ford	29.502	166.687
26	81	Kenny Wallace	FILMAR Racing	Ford	29.219	168.301
27	3	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	29.406	167.231
28	42	Joe Nemechek	Team SABCO	Chevrolet	29.424	167.129
29	97	Chad Little	Roush Racing	Ford	29.459	166.930
30	94	Bill Elliott	Elliott-Marino Racing	Ford	29.502	166.687
31	30	Derrike Cope	Bahari Racing	Pontiac	29.504	166.676
32	33	Ken Schrader	Andy Petree Racing	Chevrolet	29.505	166.670
33	5	Terry Labonte	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	29.508	166.653
34	9	Lake Speed	Melling Racing	Ford	29.509	166.647
35	23	Jimmy Spencer	Travis Carter Enterprises	Ford	29.514	166.619
36	41	Steve Grissom	Larry Hedrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	29.577	166.264
Provisionals
37	12	Jeremy Mayfield	Penske-Kranefuss Racing	Ford	-*	-*
38	4	Bobby Hamilton	Morgan–McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet	-*	-*
39	36	Ernie Irvan	MB2 Motorsports	Pontiac	-*	-*
40	44	Kyle Petty	Petty Enterprises	Pontiac	-*	-*
41	35	Todd Bodine	ISM Racing	Pontiac	-*	-*
42	29	Jeff Green	Diamond Ridge Motorsports	Chevrolet	-*	-*
Champion's Provisional
43	17	Darrell Waltrip	Darrell Waltrip Motorsports	Chevrolet	-*	-*
Failed to qualify
44	46	Wally Dallenbach Jr.	Team SABCO	Chevrolet	-*	-*
45	71	Dave Marcis	Marcis Auto Racing	Chevrolet	-*	-*
46	8	Hut Stricklin	Stavola Brothers Racing	Chevrolet	-*	-*
47	78	Gary Bradberry	Triad Motorsports	Ford	-*	-*
48	05	Morgan Shepherd	Shepherd Racing Ventures	Pontiac	-*	-*
49	1	Ron Hornaday Jr.	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet	-*	-*
Official qualifying results

Race results

Fin^[10]	St	#	Driver	Team	Make	Laps	Led	Status	Pts	Winnings
1	3	88	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	293	68	running	180	$110,035
2	24	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	293	0	running	170	$75,075
3	14	2	Rusty Wallace	Penske-Kranefuss Racing	Ford	293	1	running	170	$52,240
4	37	12	Jeremy Mayfield	Penske-Kranefuss Racing	Ford	293	25	running	165	$45,930
5	2	99	Jeff Burton	Roush Racing	Ford	293	195	running	165	$49,075
6	33	5	Terry Labonte	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	293	0	running	150	$48,600
7	1	6	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	293	3	running	151	$47,995
8	21	26	Johnny Benson Jr.	Roush Racing	Ford	293	0	running	142	$26,340
9	26	81	Kenny Wallace	FILMAR Racing	Ford	293	0	running	138	$33,285
10	20	16	Ted Musgrave	Roush Racing	Ford	292	0	running	134	$39,930
11	9	22	Ward Burton	Bill Davis Racing	Pontiac	292	0	running	130	$33,500
12	27	3	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	292	0	running	127	$37,595
13	16	43	John Andretti	Petty Enterprises	Pontiac	292	0	running	124	$37,990
14	8	40	Sterling Marlin	Team SABCO	Chevrolet	291	0	running	121	$24,560
15	30	94	Bill Elliott	Elliott-Marino Racing	Ford	291	1	running	123	$32,430
16	7	21	Michael Waltrip	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	291	0	running	115	$32,435
17	29	97	Chad Little	Roush Racing	Ford	291	0	running	112	$23,690
18	32	33	Ken Schrader	Andy Petree Racing	Chevrolet	291	0	running	109	$32,820
19	36	41	Steve Grissom	Larry Hedrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	291	0	running	106	$29,740
20	17	77	Robert Pressley	Jasper Motorsports	Ford	291	0	running	103	$20,970
21	35	23	Jimmy Spencer	Travis Carter Enterprises	Ford	290	0	running	100	$31,405
22	22	11	Brett Bodine	Brett Bodine Racing	Ford	290	0	running	97	$28,840
23	6	18	Bobby Labonte	Joe Gibbs Racing	Pontiac	290	0	running	94	$33,425
24	4	90	Dick Trickle	Donlavey Racing	Ford	290	0	running	91	$28,310
25	34	9	Lake Speed	Melling Racing	Ford	290	0	running	88	$20,995
26	13	96	David Green	American Equipment Racing	Chevrolet	290	0	running	85	$20,685
27	41	35	Todd Bodine	ISM Racing	Pontiac	290	0	running	82	$17,300
28	19	31	Mike Skinner	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	289	0	running	79	$20,245
29	40	44	Kyle Petty	Petty Enterprises	Pontiac	288	0	running	76	$26,940
30	43	17	Darrell Waltrip	Darrell Waltrip Motorsports	Chevrolet	288	0	running	73	$26,810
31	25	13	Jerry Nadeau (R)	Elliott-Marino Racing	Ford	288	0	running	70	$17,655
32	42	29	Jeff Green	Diamond Ridge Motorsports	Chevrolet	288	0	running	67	$20,025
33	18	10	Ricky Rudd	Rudd Performance Motorsports	Ford	288	0	running	64	$32,745
34	10	91	Kevin Lepage (R)	LJ Racing	Chevrolet	287	0	running	61	$16,215
35	38	4	Bobby Hamilton	Morgan–McClure Motorsports	Chevrolet	286	0	running	58	$23,085
36	39	36	Ernie Irvan	MB2 Motorsports	Pontiac	285	0	running	55	$22,955
37	28	42	Joe Nemechek	Team SABCO	Chevrolet	285	0	running	52	$22,875
38	23	50	Randy LaJoie	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	284	0	running	49	$25,225
39	5	28	Kenny Irwin Jr. (R)	Robert Yates Racing	Ford	270	0	running	46	$30,600
40	31	30	Derrike Cope	Bahari Racing	Pontiac	231	0	engine	43	$22,475
41	11	7	Geoff Bodine	Mattei Motorsports	Ford	144	0	crash	40	$22,350
42	12	98	Greg Sacks	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	Ford	142	0	crash	37	$22,225
43	15	75	Rick Mast	Butch Mock Motorsports	Ford	26	0	engine	34	$15,116
Failed to qualify
44		46	Wally Dallenbach Jr.	Team SABCO	Chevrolet
45		71	Dave Marcis	Marcis Auto Racing	Chevrolet
46		8	Hut Stricklin	Stavola Brothers Racing	Chevrolet
47		78	Gary Bradberry	Triad Motorsports	Ford
48		05	Morgan Shepherd	Shepherd Racing Ventures	Pontiac
49		1	Ron Hornaday Jr.	Dale Earnhardt, Inc.	Chevrolet
Failed to qualify

References

^ Poole, David (March 22, 1998). "Jarrett holds off Gordon for victory at Darlington". That's Racin'. The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on February 16, 2001. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
^ "Jarrett edges Gordon for win". The Brattleboro Reformer. March 23, 1998. p. 9. Retrieved September 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ McLaurin, Jim (March 21, 1998). "Waltrip revs up plan to help former driver". That's Racin'. Archived from the original on August 18, 2000. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
^ "Darlington practice speeds from Friday morning session". That's Racin'. March 20, 1998. Archived from the original on August 18, 2000. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
^ "Winston Cup afternoon Practice". That's Racin'. March 20, 1998. Archived from the original on May 3, 2001. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
^ "Happy Hour practice speeds". That's Racin'. March 21, 1998. Archived from the original on August 18, 2000. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
^ "This Week's Races". Asbury Park Press. March 19, 1998. p. 36. Retrieved September 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Additional Provisionals announced". Motorsport.com. January 24, 1998. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
^ McLaurin, Jim (March 20, 1998). "Martin didn't need smarts to win Darlington pole". That's Racin'. Archived from the original on August 18, 2000. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
^ "1998 TranSouth Financial 400 - The Third Turn". The Third Turn. Retrieved September 20, 2022.