The 1998 FedEx Championship Series season was the twentieth in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) era of American open-wheel car racing. It consisted of 19 races, beginning in Homestead, Florida on March 15 and concluding in Fontana, California on November 1. The FedEx Championship Series Drivers' Champion was Alex Zanardi, his second consecutive championship, while the series' Rookie of the Year was Tony Kanaan. This was the first of five years of sponsorship by FDX Corporation, who became FedEx Corporation in 2000.
The season was marred by a deadly crash on lap 175 of the U.S. 500. Adrián Fernández slammed into the outside wall in the fourth turn of Michigan International Speedway. His right front wheel was torn off and hurled over the fence into the stands, killing three spectators (Kenneth Fox, Sheryl Laster, and Michael Tautkus) and injuring six others. Fernández was uninjured.
This was the final season with Bobby Rahal, Hiro Matsushita and André Ribeiro on the CART grid. Other notable events of the 1998 season include first wins for Bryan Herta and future Indycar Series and Indianapolis 500 champion Dario Franchitti. Mexican driver Adrián Fernández got his second career win at Twin Ring Motegi, the first race run there by Champ Cars.
Drivers and constructors The following teams and drivers competed in the 1998 CART Championship Series season. TeamChassisEngineTiresNoDriversRoundsPrimary Sponsors Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 98i Honda HRK 1 Alex Zanardi All Target 12 Jimmy Vasser All Marlboro Team Penske Penske PC-27 Mercedes IC108E 2 Al Unser Jr. All Marlboro 3 André Ribeiro All Walker Racing Reynard 98i Honda HRK 5 Gil de Ferran All Valvoline Newman-Haas Racing Swift 009.c Ford XB 6 Michael Andretti All Texaco-Havoline 11 Christian Fittipaldi 1–6, 8–19 Kmart Roberto Moreno 7 Team Rahal Reynard 98i Ford XB 7 Bobby Rahal All Miller Lite 8 Bryan Herta All Shell Hogan Racing Reynard 98i Mercedes IC108E 9 JJ Lehto All Hogan Motor Leasing Della Penna Motorsports Swift 009.c Ford XB 10 Richie Hearn All Budweiser43 Hideshi Matsuda2BMB Mini-Juke Project CARTReynard 98iMercedes IC108E 15 Roberto Moreno1–2Hawaiian Tropic Domenico Schiattarella3 Bettenhausen Racing Reynard 98i Mercedes IC108E 16 Hélio Castroneves All Alumax PacWest Racing Group Reynard 97i Mercedes IC108E 17 Maurício Gugelmin 1–3 Hollywood Cigarettes 3–19Reynard 98i18 Mark Blundell1–3Motorola3–19 Payton/Coyne Racing Reynard 98i Ford XB 19 Michel Jourdain Jr. All Herdez 34 Dennis Vitolo 1, 4, 6–10, 12, 15–19 SmithKline Beecham Payton/Coyne Racing Banco Cacique Gualter Salles 2–3, 5, 11, 13–14 Patrick Racing Reynard 98i Ford XB 20 Scott Pruett All Visteon 40 Adrián Fernández All Tecate Beer Tasman Motorsports Group Reynard 98i Honda HRK 21 Tony Kanaan All LCI Arciero-Wells Racing Reynard 98i Toyota RV8C 24 Hiro Matsushita 1–3, 5 Panasonic Robby Gordon 4, 6–19 25 Max Papis All MCI Worldcom Team KOOL Green Reynard 98i Honda HRK 26 Paul Tracy All KOOL 27 Dario Franchitti All Forsythe Racing Reynard 98i Mercedes IC108E 33 Patrick Carpentier All Player's 99 Greg Moore All All American Racing Reynard Toyota RV8C 98 P. J. Jones 1–15 Castrol 36 Alex Barron 1–12 Eagle 987 13–19 98 Vincenzo Sospiri 16–19 Davis Racing Lola T98/00 Ford XB 77 Arnd Meier All BAAN Business Software Hasseröder
Schedule Icon Legend Oval/Speedway Road course Street circuit
Rnd Date Race Name Circuit Location 1 March 15 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Homestead-Miami Speedway Homestead, Florida 2 March 28 Budweiser 500K Twin Ring Motegi Motegi, Japan 3 April 5 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach Streets of Long Beach Long Beach, California 4 April 27* Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Nazareth Speedway Nazareth, Pennsylvania 5 May 10 Rio 400K Autódromo de Jacarepaguá Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 6 May 23 Motorola 300 Gateway International Raceway Madison, Illinois 7 May 31 Miller Lite 200 Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin 8 June 7 ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix The Raceway on Belle Isle Park Detroit, Michigan 9 June 21 Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200 Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon 10 July 12 Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio 11 July 19 Molson Indy Toronto Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario 12 July 26 U.S. 500 Michigan Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan 13 August 9 Miller Lite 200 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio 14 August 16 Texaco/Havoline 200 Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin 15 September 6 Molson Indy Vancouver Streets of Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia 16 September 13 Honda Grand Prix of Monterey Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, California 17 October 4 Texaco Grand Prix of Houston George R. Brown Convention Center Houston, Texas 18 October 18 Honda Indy 300 Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Australia 19 November 1 Marlboro 500 California Speedway Fontana, California * The Nazareth race was scheduled for April 26, but postponed due to rain. * The Houston race was scheduled for 153 miles, but was shortened due to poor visibility.
Results
RoundRacePole positionFastest lapRace WinnerRace TimeReportDriverTeamChassisEngine 1 Homestead Greg Moore Greg Moore Michael Andretti Swift Ford1:33:39 Report 2 Motegi Jimmy Vasser Jimmy Vasser Adrián Fernández Patrick Racing Reynard Ford1:57:12 Report 3 Long Beach Bryan Herta Bobby Rahal Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda1:51:29 Report 4 Nazareth Greg Moore Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda1:57:20 Report 5 Rio Dario Franchitti Alex Zanardi Greg Moore Forsythe Racing Reynard Mercedes1:52:14 Report 6 Gateway Greg Moore Jimmy Vasser Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda2:23:02 Report 7 Milwaukee Scott Pruett Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda1:34:17 Report 8 Belle Isle Greg Moore Alex Zanardi Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda 1:41:17 Report 9 Portland Bryan Herta Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda1:54:06 Report 10 Cleveland Jimmy Vasser Bryan Herta Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda1:52:22 Report 11 Toronto Dario Franchitti Christian Fittipaldi Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda1:52:24 Report 12 Michigan Adrián Fernández Greg Moore Forsythe Racing Reynard Mercedes3:00:48 Report 13 Mid-Ohio Dario Franchitti Greg Moore Patrick Racing Reynard Ford1:53:39 Report 14 Road America Michael Andretti Alex Zanardi Dario Franchitti Team KOOL Green Reynard Honda1:35:30 Report 15 Vancouver Dario Franchitti Hélio Castroneves Dario Franchitti Team KOOL Green Reynard Honda2:00:37 Report 16 Laguna Seca Bryan Herta Tony Kanaan Bryan Herta Team Rahal Reynard Ford1:55:13 Report 17 Houston Greg Moore Alex Zanardi Dario Franchitti Team KOOL Green Reynard Honda1:36:30 Report 18 Surfers Paradise Dario Franchitti Alex Zanardi Alex Zanardi Reynard Honda2:01:51 Report 19 Fontana Scott Pruett Greg Moore Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard Honda3:17:54 Report
Final driver standings
Pos Driver HOM MOT LBH NAZ RIO GTW MIL BEL POR CLE TOR MIS MOH ROA VAN LAG HOU SUR CAL Pts 1 Alex Zanardi 3 23 1 2 2* 1 8 1* 1* 1* 1 3* 12 2 4 2 2 1* 3 285 2 Jimmy Vasser 16 7 8 1 6 4 1* 6 8 7 3 2 27 9 26 5 4 24 1* 169 3 Dario Franchitti 9 8 2 21 19 27 4 4 21 3 20* 21 26 1* 1* 4 1* 2 22 160 4 Adrián Fernández 6 1* 4 26 3 18 9 2 24 5 9 23 1 5 15 7 6 6 4 154 5 Greg Moore 2 4 6 3 1 3 13 5 27 25 11 1 22 21 20 21 26 8 2 141 6 Scott Pruett 5 21 12 22 18 5 10 9 2 4 6 4 2 20 3 18 11 4 20 121 7 Michael Andretti 1* 14 21 18* 5 2* 26 10 17 2 2 6 21 15 2 10 28 20 18 112 8 Bryan Herta 8 28 3 8 4 23 11 21 3 13 5 10 25 23 22 1* 8 10 15 97 9 Tony Kanaan 29 6 5 9 27 24 17 8 4 14 22 11 8 4 18 3 3 7 19 92 10 Bobby Rahal 19 17 17 6 8 8 5 11 6 8 4 7 3 8 25 16 23 25 11 82 11 Al Unser Jr. 22 2 29 15 16 19 3 24 5 17 17 22 6 27 5 6 7 22 27 72 12 Gil de Ferran 7 3 20* 4 26 6 22 3 20 6 27 16 9 16 13 19 21 14 17 67 13 Paul Tracy 27 5 25 5 25 26 7 7 28 19 14 9 5 6 11 8 20 23 14 61 14 Christian Fittipaldi 4 25 26 11 21 11 Wth 17 26 11 16 25 13 3 14 9 27 3 7 56 15 Maurício Gugelmin 10 20 10 17 9 16 21 19 7 20 12 13 4* 19 6 27 18 12 5 49 16 Richie Hearn 13 27 23 10 7 28 6 23 10 18 7 5 24 13 16 11 9 18 8 47 17 24 11 9 23 23 7 2 12 13 27 10 12 17 26 24 23 24 21 10 36 18 Mark Blundell 12 10 7 20 11 10 12 22 22 10 26 17 19 7 12 25 14 11 6 36 19 Patrick Carpentier 11 19 28 13 17 15 25 15 9 9 25 8 7 28 27 17 22 9 26 27 20 JJ Lehto 14 29 18 16 10 9 19 26 25 28 24 20 15 18 8 28 10 5 21 25 21 Max Papis 26 13 24 14 28 22 16 18 11 12 8 19 14 11 9 12 5 17 16 25 22 André Ribeiro 17 9 22 DNQ 22 20 18 16 15 22 23 28 10 25 7 14 17 13 28 13 23 Robby Gordon 7 13 20 14 23 23 13 27 11 12 23 13 13 16 9 13 24 Michel Jourdain Jr. 28 22 27 12 24 17 15 13 19 26 18 18 28 14 10 24 25 26 12 5 25 Arnd Meier 21 15 15 24 14 21 23 27 12 16 15 14 18 10 28 15 16 27 24 4 26 P. J. Jones 20 30 11 19 13 12 14 25 16 21 19 24 20 22 21 3 27 Alex Barron 18 24 14 DNQ 12 14 DNQ 20 14 15 28 15 16 24 19 20 12 19 13 2 28 Gualter Salles 12 13 20 21 23 17 1 29 Vincenzo Sospiri 22 15 15 23 0 30 Hiro Matsushita 23 16 19 15 0 31 Roberto Moreno 15 26 24 0 32 16 0 33 Dennis Vitolo 25 25 25 DNQ 28 18 24 26 17 26 19 DNQ 25 0 34 Hideshi Matsuda 18 0 Pos Driver HOM MOT LBH NAZ RIO GTW MIL BEL POR CLE TOR MIS MOH ROA VAN LAG HOU SUR CAL Pts Color Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green 4th–6th place Light Blue 7th–12th place Dark Blue Finished(Outside Top 12) Purple Did not finish Red Did not qualify(DNQ) Brown Withdrawn(Wth) Black Disqualified(DSQ) White Did not start(DNS) Blank Did notparticipate(DNP) Not competingIn-line notationBoldPole positionItalicsRan fastest race lap*Led most race laps Rookie of the Year Rookie
Nations' Cup
Top result per race counts towards Nations' Cup.
Pos Country HOM MOT LBH NAZ RIO GTW MIL BEL POR CLE TOR MIS MOH ROA VAN LAG HOU SUR CAL Pts 1 United States 1 2 3 1 4 2 1 6 2 2 2 2 2 8 2 1 4 4 1 303 2 Italy 3 13 1 2 2 1 8 1 1 1 1 3 12 2 4 2 2 1 3 285 3 Brazil 4 3 5 4 9 6 2 3 4 6 10 11 4 3 6 3 3 3 5 203 4 Canada 2 4 6 3 1 3 7 5 9 9 11 1 5 6 11 8 20 8 2 182 5 United Kingdom 9 8 2 20 1110 4 4 21 3 201719 1 1 4 1 26168 6 Mexico 6 1 4 12 3 17 9 2 19 5 9 18 1 5 10 7 6 6 4 1587 Finland 14 29 18 16 10 9 19 26 25 28 24 20 15 18 8 28 10 5 21 258 Germany 21 15 15 24 14 21 23 27 12 16 15 14 18 10 28 15 16 27 24 49 Japan 23 16 19 15 0 Pos Country HOM MOT LBH NAZ RIO GTW MIL BEL POR CLE TOR MIS MOH ROA VAN LAG HOU SUR CAL Pts
Chassis Constructors' Cup
Pos Chassis Pts Wins 1 Reynard 98I 409 18 2 Swift 009.c 167 1 3 Penske PC-27 72 0 4 Lola T98/00 4 0 5 Eagle 987 1 0 Pos Chassis Pts Wins
Engine Manufacturers' Cup
Pos Engine Pts Wins 1 Honda 365 13 2 Ford XB 293 4 3 Mercedes 226 2 4 Toyota 41 0 Pos Engine Pts Wins
Driver breakdown