1998 Budweiser 500k

The 1998 Budweiser 500K was a CART race that took place at the Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan on March 28, 1998. It was the 2nd round of the 1998 CART season.

1998 Budweiser 500k

Race details
Race 2 of 19 in the 1998 CART season
Layout of the track
Date	March 28, 1998
Official name	Budweiser 500k
Location	Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi, Japan
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.520 mi / 2.493 km
Distance	201 laps 311.3 mi / 500.988 km
Pole position
Driver	Jimmy Vasser (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Time	No time trials
Podium
First	Adrián Fernández (Patrick Racing)
Second	Al Unser Jr. (Marlboro Team Penske)
Third	Gil de Ferran (Walker Racing)

Race results

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	40	Adrián Fernández	Patrick Racing	201	1:57:12.016	2	21
2	2	Al Unser Jr.	Team Penske	201	+1.086	15	16
3	5	Gil de Ferran	Walker Racing	201	+5.388	3	14
4	99	Greg Moore	Forsythe Racing	201	+7.923	5	12
5	26	Paul Tracy	Team Green	201	+8.150	16	10
6	21	Tony Kanaan	Tasman Motorsports Group	200	+1 Lap	10	8
7	12	Jimmy Vasser	Chip Ganassi Racing	200	+1 Lap	1	6
8	27	Dario Franchitti	Team Green	200	+1 Lap	6	5
9	3	André Ribeiro	Team Penske	199	+2 Lap	8	4
10	18	Mark Blundell	PacWest Racing Group	199	+2 Laps	7	3
11	16	Hélio Castro-Neves	Bettenhausen Racing	198	+3 Laps	26	2
12	34	Gualter Salles	Payton/Coyne Racing	198	+3 Laps	13	1
13	25	Max Papis	Arciero-Wells Racing	197	+4 Laps	23
14	6	Michael Andretti	Newman-Haas Racing	195	+6 Laps	14
15	77	Arnd Meier	Davis Racing	195	+6 Laps	27
16	24	Hiro Matsushita	Arciero-Wells Racing	188	+13 Laps	30
17	7	Bobby Rahal	Team Rahal	185	Contact	17
18	43	Hideshi Matsuda	Della Penna Motorsports	185	+16 Laps	25
19	33	Patrick Carpentier	Forsythe Racing	163	Wheel Bearing	20
20	17	Maurício Gugelmin	PacWest Racing Group	147	Wheel Bearing	11
21	20	Scott Pruett	Patrick Racing	146	Engine	12
22	19	Michel Jourdain Jr.	Payton/Coyne Racing	121	Engine	24
23	1	Alex Zanardi	Chip Ganassi Racing	118	Contact	4
24	36	Alex Barron	All American Racing	108	Transmission	28
25	11	Christian Fittipaldi	Newman-Haas Racing	98	Engine	19
26	15	Roberto Moreno	Project Indy	86	Transmission	22
27	10	Richie Hearn	Della Penna Motorsports	74	Engine	21
28	8	Bryan Herta	Team Rahal	49	Clutch	9
29	9	JJ Lehto	Hogan Racing	45	Electrical	18
30	98	P. J. Jones	All American Racing	16	Oil Leak	29
Source:

Race statistics

Lap Leaders
Laps	Leader
1–22	Adrian Fernandez
23-44	Jimmy Vasser
45-47	Adrian Fernandez
48-69	Jimmy Vasser
70-86	Michael Andretti
87-95	Al Unser Jr.
96-99	Adrian Fernandez
100-116	Al Unser Jr.
117-159	Adrian Fernandez
160-163	Paul Tracy
164-167	Gil de Ferran
168-171	Greg Moore
172-201	Adrian Fernandez

Cautions: 3 for 37 laps
Laps	Reason
101-115	Christian Fittipaldi car smoke
120-130	Alex Zanardi accident turn 2
186-196	Bobby Rahal accident turn 2

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Adrian Fernandez	29
2	Greg Moore	29
3	Michael Andretti	21
4	Gil de Ferran	20
5	Al Unser Jr.	16