The 1998 AC Delco 400 was the 32nd stock car race of the

1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series file:Kenny Irwin Jr.jpg, Kenny Irwin Jr., the 1998 NASCAR Rookie of the Year. The 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 50th season of NASCAR Cup Series, professional stock car racing in the United States and the 27th modern-era cup series. ...

and the 34th iteration of the

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

. The race was held on Sunday, November 1, 1998, in

Rockingham, North Carolina Rockingham is a city in Richmond County, North Carolina, United States, named after the Marquess of Rockingham. The population was 9,243 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Richmond County. Downtown Rockingham is currently being revit ...

, at

North Carolina Speedway Rockingham Speedway and Entertainment Complex (formerly known as North Carolina Speedway from 1998 to 2007 and North Carolina Motor Speedway from 1965 to 1996) is a D-shaped oval track in Rockingham, North Carolina, United States. The track ...

, a permanent high-banked racetrack. The race took the scheduled 393 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race,

Hendrick Motorsports Hendrick Motorsports is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All-Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 316 Cup Series ra ...

driver

Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American stock car racing executive and former professional stock car racing driver who currently serves as the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, d ...

would manage to make a late race pass on

Penske-Kranefuss Racing Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Day ...

driver

Rusty Wallace Russell "Rusty" William Wallace Jr. (born August 14, 1956) is an American former NASCAR racing driver. He won the 1984 NASCAR Cup series NASCAR Rookie of the Year, Rookie of the Year and the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup ...

to take his 41st career

NASCAR Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

victory and his 12th victory of the season. In the process,

would manage to clinch his third career

championship, completing a dominant and historic run.

Background

was opened as a flat, one-mile

oval An oval () is a closed curve in a plane which resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in some areas of mathematics (projective geometry, technical drawing, etc.), it is given a more precise definition, which may inc ...

on October 31, 1965. In 1969, the track was extensively reconfigured to a high-banked, D-shaped oval just over one mile in length. In 1997, North Carolina Motor Speedway merged with

Penske Penske Corporation, Inc. () is an American diversified transportation services company based in Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan. Roger Penske is the founder and chairman of the privately held company, and Rob Kurnick is the presid ...

Motorsports, and was renamed North Carolina Speedway. Shortly thereafter, the infield was reconfigured, and competition on the infield road course, mostly by the SCCA, was discontinued. Currently, the track is home to the Fast Track High Performance Driving School.

Entry list

* (R) denotes rookie driver.

Practice

First practice

The first practice session was held on Friday, October 30, at 10:00 AM EST. The session would last for one hour and 25 minutes.

, driving for

, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 23.550 and an average speed of .

Final practice

The final practice session, sometimes referred to as Happy Hour, was held on Saturday, October 31, after the preliminary 1998 AC Delco 200

NASCAR Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level NASCAR Cup Series, Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a Undercard, support ...

race. The session would last for one hour.

Jeff Burton Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed "the Mayor", is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He is a member of the Burton racing family. He scored 23 career victories in the NASCAR ...

, driving for

Roush Racing Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, doing business as RFK Racing, is an American professional stock car organization that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. One of NASCAR's largest racing teams in the 2000s and early 2010s, Roush formerly ...

, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 24.318 and an average speed of .

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, October 30, at 2:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, October 31, at 9:30 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. On January 24, 1998,

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

would announce that the amount of provisionals given would be increased from last season. Positions 26-36 would be decided on time, while positions 37-43 would be based on provisionals. Six spots are awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The seventh is awarded to a past champion who has not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champion needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points will be awarded a provisional.

Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959), nicknamed "the Kid", is an American former stock car racing driver. He most notably drove the No. 6 Ford Motor Company, Ford for Roush Racing for the majority of his career. From 1989 to 2009, Martin wo ...

, driving for

, would win the pole, setting a time of 23.394 and an average speed of . Three drivers would fail to qualify:

Steve Grissom Steven Paul Grissom (born June 26, 1963) is an American former stock car racing driver. He was the 1993 Busch Series champion and has eleven Busch wins in 185 starts. Grissom turned down a scholarship to play quarterback at the University of Alab ...

, Andy Hillenburg, and

Dave Marcis David Alan Marcis (born March 1, 1941) is an American former professional stock car racing driver on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit whose career spanned five decades. Marcis won five times over this tenure, twice at Richmond, including his final ...

Full qualifying results

*Time not available.

Race results

References

{{1998 Winston Cup 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series NASCAR races at Rockingham Speedway November 1998 sports events in the United States 1998 in sports in North Carolina