1998 Pepsi Southern 500

The 1998 Pepsi Southern 500, the 49th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on September 6, 1998 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Contested at 367 laps on the 1.366 mile (2.198 km) speedway, it was the twenty-fourth race of the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won the race and captured his fourth consecutive Southern 500.

1998 Pepsi Southern 500

Race details
Race 24 of 33 in the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
1998 Southern 500 program cover
Date	September 6, 1998 (1998-09-06)
Official name	Pepsi Southern 500
Location	Darlington Raceway, Darlington County, South Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility
Course length	1.366 miles (2.198 km)
Distance	367 laps, 501.322 mi (806.800 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 93.2 °F (34.0 °C); wind speeds up to 11.3 miles per hour (18.2 km/h)[1]
Average speed	139.031 miles per hour (223.749 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing
Most laps led
Driver	Jeff Burton	Roush Racing
Laps	273
Winner
No. 24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons

Top 10 results

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet
2	99	Jeff Burton	Roush Racing	Ford
3	88	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing	Ford
4	3	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet
5	12	Jeremy Mayfield	Penske-Kranefuss Racing	Ford
6	36	Ernie Irvan	MB2 Motorsports	Pontiac
7	2	Rusty Wallace	Penske Racing South	Ford
8	40	Sterling Marlin	Team SABCO	Chevrolet
9	7	Geoffrey Bodine	Mattei Motorsports	Ford
10	81	Kenny Wallace	FILMAR Racing	Ford

Race statistics

• Time of race: 3:36:21
• Average Speed: 139.031 miles per hour (223.749 km/h)
• Pole Speed: 168.879
• Cautions: 2 for 16 laps
• Margin of Victory: 3.631 sec
• Lead changes: 12
• Percent of race run under caution: 4.4%
• Average green flag run: 117 laps

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