# 1998 Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota

The 1998 Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota was the nineteenth and final time of the 1998 CART FedEx Championship Series season. The race was held 1 November 1998, and was the 2nd running of the Marlboro 500 at California Speedway. It was won by Jimmy Vasser who passed Greg Moore at a final lap restart of a long race, which took well over 3 hours and also had many retirements. This marks the final Champ Car race for the 3-Time Champion Bobby Rahal and also marked the final career podium for the two-time champion Alex Zanardi.

## Qualifying results

| Pos | Name | Team | Chassis | Time |
| 1 | Scott Pruett | Patrick Racing | Reynard 98i Ford-Cosworth | 31.249 |
| 2 | Jimmy Vasser | Chip Ganassi Racing | Reynard 98i Honda | 31.301 |
| 3 | Michael Andretti | Newman-Haas Racing | Swift 009.c Ford-Cosworth | 31.372 |
| 4 | Richie Hearn | Della Penna Motorsports | Swift 009.c Ford-Cosworth | 31.377 |
| 5 | Bobby Rahal | Team Rahal | Reynard 98i Ford-Cosworth | 31.394 |
| 6 | Maurício Gugelmin | PacWest Racing | Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz | 31.429 |
| 7 | Mark Blundell | PacWest Racing | Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz | 31.441 |
| 8 | Dario Franchitti | Team Green | Reynard 98i Honda | 31.514 |
| 9 | Greg Moore | Forsythe Racing | Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz | 31.523 |
| 10 | Gil de Ferran | Walker Racing | Reynard 98i Honda | 31.619 |
| 11 | Christian Fittipaldi | Newman-Haas Racing | Swift 009.c Ford-Cosworth | 31.646 |
| 12 | Paul Tracy | Team Green | Reynard 98i Honda | 31.648 |
| 13 | Al Unser Jr. | Team Penske | Penske PC27 Mercedes-Benz | 31.650 |
| 14 | Patrick Carpentier | Forsythe Racing | Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz | 31.688 |
| 15 | Alex Barron | All American Racers | Eagle 987 Toyota | 31.699 |
| 16 | Hélio Castroneves | Bettenhausen Racing | Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz | 31.754 |
| 17 | Bryan Herta | Team Rahal | Reynard 98i Ford-Cosworth | 31.766 |
| 18 | Alex Zanardi | Chip Ganassi Racing | Reynard 98i Honda | 31.824 |
| 19 | André Ribeiro | Team Penske | Penske PC27 Mercedes-Benz | 31.887 |
| 20 | JJ Lehto | Hogan Racing | Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz | 31.940 |
| 21 | Arnd Meier | Davis Racing | Lola T98/00 Ford-Cosworth | 31.973 |
| 22 | Robby Gordon | Arciero-Wells Racing | Reynard 98i Toyota | 32.013 |
| 23 | Tony Kanaan | Tasman Motorsports | Reynard 98i Honda | 32.077 |
| 24 | Max Papis | Arciero-Wells Racing | Reynard 98i Toyota | 32.114 |
| 25 | Michel Jourdain Jr. | Payton/Coyne Racing | Reynard 98i Ford-Cosworth | 32.462 |
| 26 | Vincenzo Sospiri | All American Racers | Eagle Toyota | No time |
| 27 | Adrian Fernandez | Patrick Racing | Reynard 98i Ford-Cosworth | No time |
| 28 | Dennis Vitolo | Payton/Coyne Racing | Reynard 98i Ford-Cosworth | No time |

## Classification
### Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 12 | Jimmy Vasser | Chip Ganassi Racing | 250 | 3:17:54.639 | 2 | 20+1 |
| 2 | 99 | Greg Moore | Forsythe Racing | 250 | +0.360 | 9 | 16 |
| 3 | 1 | Alex Zanardi | Chip Ganassi Racing | 250 | +1.117 | 18 | 14 |
| 4 | 40 | Adrián Fernández | Patrick Racing | 250 | +1.137 | 27 | 12 |
| 5 | 17 | Maurício Gugelmin | PacWest Racing Group | 250 | +1.164 | 6 | 10 |
| 6 | 18 | Mark Blundell | PacWest Racing Group | 250 | +1.463 | 7 | 8 |
| 7 | 11 | Christian Fittipaldi | Newman-Haas Racing | 250 | +2.486 | 11 | 6 |
| 8 | 10 | Richie Hearn | Della Penna Motorsports | 250 | +11.685 | 4 | 5 |
| 9 | 24 | Robby Gordon | Arciero-Wells Racing | 249 | +1 Lap | 22 | 4 |
| 10 | 16 | Hélio Castro-Neves | Bettenhausen Racing | 249 | +1 Lap | 16 | 3 |
| 11 | 7 | Bobby Rahal | Team Rahal | 249 | +1 Lap | 5 | 2 |
| 12 | 19 | Michel Jourdain Jr. | Payton/Coyne Racing | 247 | +3 Laps | 25 | 1 |
| 13 | 36 | Alex Barron | All American Racing | 246 | +4 Laps | 15 | |
| 14 | 26 | Paul Tracy | Team Green | 245 | Contact | 12 | |
| 15 | 8 | Bryan Herta | Team Rahal | 239 | Contact | 17 | |
| 16 | 25 | Max Papis | Arciero-Wells Racing | 239 | Contact | 24 | |
| 17 | 5 | Gil de Ferran | Walker Racing | 232 | Engine | 10 | |
| 18 | 6 | Michael Andretti | Newman-Haas Racing | 210 | Contact | 3 | |
| 19 | 21 | Tony Kanaan | Tasman Motorsports Group | 171 | Wheel Bearing | 23 | |
| 20 | 20 | Scott Pruett | Patrick Racing | 138 | Contact | 1 | 1 |
| 21 | 9 | JJ Lehto | Hogan Racing | 124 | Engine | 20 | |
| 22 | 27 | Dario Franchitti | Team Green | 112 | Engine | 8 | |
| 23 | 98 | Vincenzo Sospiri | All American Racing | 94 | Water leak | 26 | |
| 24 | 77 | Arnd Meier | Davis Racing | 85 | Engine | 21 | |
| 25 | 34 | Dennis Vitolo | Payton/Coyne Racing | 66 | Suspension | 28 | |
| 26 | 33 | Patrick Carpentier | Forsythe Racing | 59 | Transmission | 14 | |
| 27 | 2 | Al Unser Jr. | Team Penske | 33 | Oil leak | 13 | |
| 28 | 3 | André Ribeiro | Team Penske | 6 | Contact | 19 | |

## Caution flags

| Laps | Cause |
| 8–17 | Ribeiro (3) contact |
| 89–96 | Meier (77) engine blow-up |
| 113–121 | Franchitti (27) engine blow-up |
| 127–130 | Lehto (9) engine blow-up |
| 140–148 | Pruett (20) contact |
| 184–193 | Hearn (10) spin |
| 212–221 | Andretti (6) contact |
| 236–240 | de Ferran (5) engine blow-up |
| 241–246 | Herta (8), Papis (24) contact |
| 247–249 | Tracy (26) contact |

## Lap Leaders

| Laps | Leader |
| 1–2 | Jimmy Vasser |
| 3 | Michael Andretti |
| 4–24 | Jimmy Vasser |
| 25–40 | Michael Andretti |
| 41–42 | Greg Moore |
| 43–44 | Maurício Gugelmin |
| 45–51 | Richie Hearn |
| 52–58 | Greg Moore |
| 59–70 | Michael Andretti |
| 71–80 | Greg Moore |
| 81 | Maurício Gugelmin |
| 82 | Mark Blundell |
| 83–84 | Maurício Gugelmin |
| 85–121 | Greg Moore |
| 122–130 | Maurício Gugelmin |
| 131–141 | Paul Tracy |
| 142–150 | Michael Andretti |
| 151–181 | Jimmy Vasser |
| 182–200 | Maurício Gugelmin |
| 201–206 | Michael Andretti |
| 207–213 | Jimmy Vasser |
| 214–220 | Maurício Gugelmin |
| 221–245 | Paul Tracy |
| 246–248 | Greg Moore |
| 249–250 | Jimmy Vasser |
| Driver | Laps led |
| Jimmy Vasser | 63 |
| Greg Moore | 59 |
| Michael Andretti | 44 |
| Maurício Gugelmin | 40 |
| Paul Tracy | 36 |
| Richie Hearn | 7 |
| Mark Blundell | 1 |

## Point standings after race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Alex Zanardi | 285 |
| 2 | Jimmy Vasser | 169 |
| 3 | Dario Franchitti | 160 |
| 4 | Adrián Fernández | 154 |
| 5 | Greg Moore | 141 |