The 1998 Coca-Cola 600, the 39th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on May 24, 1998 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. Contested at 400 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) speedway, it was the 11th race of the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won the race.

1998 Coca-Cola 600
Race details
Race 11 of 33 in the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Date May 24, 1998 (1998-05-24)
Location Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
1.5 mi (2.4 km)
Distance 400 laps, 600 mi (965.606 km)
Weather Temperatures averaging around 72.7 °F (22.6 °C); wind speeds up to 9.2 miles per hour (14.8 km/h)[1]
Average speed 136.424 mph (219.553 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Hendrick Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver Mark Martin Roush Racing
Laps 164
Winner
No. 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network TBS
Announcers Eli Gold, Ken Squier, Buddy Baker, & Geoff Bodine

Elliott Sadler made his NASCAR Winston Cup Series debut in this event.[2]

Jeff Gordon managed to take over the championship lead from Jeremy Mayfield after the event was resolved.[2]

Background

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Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States. It is 13 miles away from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing such as the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend, The Winston, and the UAW-GM Quality 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI).

Top 10 results

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Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer
1 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
2 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Ford
3 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac
4 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford
5 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford
6 42 Joe Nemechek Team SABCO Chevrolet
7 43 John Andretti Petty Enterprises Pontiac
8 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford
9 26 Johnny Benson Jr. Roush Racing Ford
10 33 Ken Schrader Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet

Race statistics

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  • Time of race: 4:23:53
  • Average Speed: 136.424 miles per hour (219.553 km/h)
  • Pole Speed: 182.976
  • Cautions: 8 for 49 laps
  • Margin of Victory: 0.41 sec
  • Lead changes: 33
  • Percent of race run under caution: 12.2%
  • Average green flag run: 39 laps

[2]

References

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  1. ^ Weather information at The Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. ^ a b c Race information at Race Database