# 1998 Molson Indy Toronto

The 1998 Molson Indy Toronto was the eleventh round of the 1998 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series season, held on July 19, 1998, on the streets of Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Alex Zanardi passed Michael Andretti with three laps to go to win the race, after Andretti had inherited the lead when pole-sitter Dario Franchitti retired due to a brake failure.

## Starting grid

* Dario Franchitti (second straight pole in Toronto)
* Alex Zanardi
* Michael Andretti
* Gil de Ferran
* Christian Fittipaldi
* Jimmy Vasser
* Tony Kanaan (R)
* Scott Pruett
* Bobby Rahal
* Paul Tracy
* André Ribeiro
* Greg Moore
* Richie Hearn
* Al Unser Jr.
* Mark Blundell
* Adrian Fernandez
* Bryan Herta
* Patrick Carpentier
* Maurício Gugelmin
* Max Papis
* Hélio Castroneves (R)
* Robby Gordon
* P. J. Jones
* Michel Jourdain Jr.
* Arnd Meier
* JJ Lehto (R)
* Alex Barron (R)
* Gualter Salles

## Race
### Lap 17

Richie Hearn locked up the right front tire and spun on turn 1. Top 6 was composed by: Dario Franchitti, Alex Zanardi, Michael Andretti, Gil de Ferran, Jimmy Vasser and Paul Tracy.

### Lap 26

First full course caution. Michel Jourdain Jr. and Alex Barron collided at the hairpin. Arnd Meier stalled the car metres in front and started a jampack. Meanwhile, Gil de Ferran retired after an incident in the pits. Christian Fittipaldi had problems, also, but did not retired.

### Lap 27

Top 6: Dario Franchitti, Michael Andretti, Jimmy Vasser, Paul Tracy, Alex Zanardi and Tony Kanaan.

### Lap 30

Before going green, Patrick Carpentier collided with Mark Blundell on turn 9.

### Lap 32

Second full course caution, as Blundell's car stalled on turn 9, following the collision with Carpentier. On lap 36, green flag came out.

### Lap 38

JJ Lehto had a big crash. Third full course caution. Green flag came out some laps later.

### Lap 52

Top 6: Dario Franchitti, Michael Andretti, Jimmy Vasser, Alex Zanardi, Tony Kanaan and Paul Tracy.

### Lap 61

Tony Kanaan had a pit fire. Meanwhile, in the hairpin, Alex Zanardi had a collision with his teammate Jimmy Vasser.

### Lap 68

Gualter Salles had a collision at the hairpin with Al Unser Jr. and went airborne.

### 16 laps to go

Dario Franchitti spun and stalled, ending his day. Paul Tracy slightly t-boned him. Fourth full course caution was out. Green flag came out with 11 laps to go.

### 8 laps to go

Top 6: Michael Andretti, Alex Zanardi, Jimmy Vasser, Bobby Rahal, Bryan Herta and Scott Pruett.

### 5 laps to go

Paul Tracy and Adrian Fernandez collided on turn 1 while they were battling for 9th place.

### 3 laps to go

Alex Zanardi overtakes Michael Andretti at the hairpin.

## Classification
### Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Alex Zanardi | Chip Ganassi Racing | 95 | 1:52:24.080 | 2 | 20 |
| 2 | 6 | Michael Andretti | Newman-Haas Racing | 95 | +1.921 | 3 | 16 |
| 3 | 12 | Jimmy Vasser | Chip Ganassi Racing | 95 | +6.702 | 6 | 14 |
| 4 | 7 | Bobby Rahal | Team Rahal | 95 | +8.078 | 9 | 12 |
| 5 | 8 | Bryan Herta | Team Rahal | 95 | +12.984 | 17 | 10 |
| 6 | 20 | Scott Pruett | Patrick Racing | 95 | +14.607 | 8 | 8 |
| 7 | 10 | Richie Hearn | Della Penna Motorsports | 95 | +15.305 | 13 | 6 |
| 8 | 25 | Max Papis | Arciero-Wells Racing | 95 | +24.676 | 20 | 5 |
| 9 | 40 | Adrián Fernández | Patrick Racing | 95 | +31.923 | 16 | 4 |
| 10 | 16 | Hélio Castro-Neves | Bettenhausen Racing | 95 | +32.691 | 21 | 3 |
| 11 | 99 | Greg Moore | Forsythe Racing | 95 | +34.926 | 12 | 2 |
| 12 | 17 | Maurício Gugelmin | PacWest Racing Group | 95 | +37.640 | 19 | 1 |
| 13 | 24 | Robby Gordon | Arciero-Wells Racing | 94 | +1 Lap | 22 | |
| 14 | 26 | Paul Tracy | Team Green | 94 | +1 Lap | 10 | |
| 15 | 77 | Arnd Meier | Davis Racing | 94 | +1 Lap | 25 | |
| 16 | 11 | Christian Fittipaldi | Newman-Haas Racing | 93 | +2 Laps | 5 | |
| 17 | 2 | Al Unser Jr. | Team Penske | 93 | +2 Laps | 14 | |
| 18 | 19 | Michel Jourdain Jr. | Payton/Coyne Racing | 93 | +2 Laps | 24 | |
| 19 | 98 | P. J. Jones | All American Racing | 84 | Suspension | 23 | |
| 20 | 27 | Dario Franchitti | Team Green | 79 | Brakes | 1 | 1+1 |
| 21 | 34 | Gualter Salles | Payton/Coyne Racing | 65 | Contact | 28 | |
| 22 | 21 | Tony Kanaan | Tasman Motorsports Group | 61 | Fire | 7 | |
| 23 | 3 | André Ribeiro | Team Penske | 54 | Transmission | 11 | |
| 24 | 9 | JJ Lehto | Hogan Racing | 37 | Contact | 26 | |
| 25 | 33 | Patrick Carpentier | Forsythe Racing | 33 | Suspension | 18 | |
| 26 | 18 | Mark Blundell | PacWest Racing Group | 30 | Electrical | 15 | |
| 27 | 5 | Gil de Ferran | Walker Racing | 26 | Contact | 4 | |
| 28 | 36 | Alex Barron | All American Racing | 25 | Contact | 27 | |

## Caution flags

| Laps | Cause |
| 25-29 | Multi-car contact at hairpin |
| 33-34 | Blundell (18) stopped on track |
| 40-43 | Lehto (9) contact |
| 79-83 | Franchitti (27) contact, Tracy (26) stall |

## Lap leaders

| Laps | Leader |
| 1-65 | Dario Franchitti |
| 66 | Bobby Rahal |
| 67 | Bryan Herta |
| 68 | Christian Fittipaldi |
| 69-79 | Dario Franchitti |
| 80-92 | Michael Andretti |
| 93-95 | Alex Zanardi |
| Driver | Laps led |
| Dario Franchitti | 76 |
| Michael Andretti | 13 |
| Alex Zanardi | 3 |
| Bobby Rahal | 1 |
| Bryan Herta | 1 |
| Christian Fittipaldi | 1 |

## Point standings after race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Alex Zanardi | 175 |
| 2 | Jimmy Vasser | 106 |
| 3 | Greg Moore | 99 |
| 4 | Adrián Fernández | 89 |
| 5 | Michael Andretti | 84 |