1998 Michigan 500
The 1998 Michigan 500 was the twelfth round of the 1998 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series season, held on July 26, 1998, at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. For sponsorship reasons, and in light of the continuing split in Championship Car racing, the race was branded as the 1998 U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota. The race saw a record 63 lead changes due to the draft of the new Hanford Device, and was won by Greg Moore after a thrilling battle in the last five laps with Jimmy Vasser, Alex Zanardi and Scott Pruett.
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| Race 12 of 19 in the 1998 CART season | |
Michigan International Speedway | |
| Date | July 26, 1998 |
| Official name | 1998 U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota |
| Location | Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan, United States |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.000 mi / 3.219 km |
| Distance | 250 laps 500.000 mi / 804.672 km |
| Weather | Dry |
| Pole position | |
| Driver | Adrián Fernández (Patrick Racing) |
| Time | 31.370 |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver | Patrick Carpentier (Forsythe Racing) |
| Time | 31.508 (on lap 131 of 250) |
| Podium | |
| First | Greg Moore (Forsythe Racing) |
| Second | Jimmy Vasser (Chip Ganassi Racing) |
| Third | Alex Zanardi (Chip Ganassi Racing) |
The race was marred by a crash on lap 175. Adrián Fernández slammed into the outside wall in the fourth turn. His right front wheel was torn off and hurled over the fence into the stands, killing three spectators (Kenneth Fox, Sheryl Laster, and Michael Tautkus) and injuring six others. A subsequent incident in the IndyCar Series' VisionAire 500K the following year resulted in both open-wheel sanctioning bodies (and NASCAR, initially for its Modified Tour series) requiring tethers be installed in wheel hubs, as well as changes to catch fencing on oval tracks, to prevent such re-occurrence.