Coca-Cola 500 (Motegi)

The Coca-Cola 500 was an exhibition NASCAR stock car race held on November 22, 1998, during the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. The race took place on the Twin Ring Motegi oval course in the town of Motegi on the main Japanese island of Honshu. It was the third straight year that NASCAR held an exhibition race in Japan, previously hosting races on the Suzuka Circuit in 1996 and 1997. Teams from the Winston Cup Series, Busch Series, Craftsman Truck Series and Winston West Series made the trip to Japan to compete in the race. Four Japanese drivers entered the event, as well. The race was also the first in which Dale Earnhardt and his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr. competed against one another in a NASCAR race, driving Nos. 3 and 1 Chevrolets, respectively.[2] The pole position was won by Jeremy Mayfield of Penske Racing South, while Mike Skinner of Richard Childress Racing won the race. Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon finished second, while Mayfield finished third.

1998 Coca-Cola 500
Race details
Exhibition race in the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Date November 22, 1998 (1998-11-22)
Location Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi, Japan
Course Permanent racing facility
1.5 mi (2.5 km)
Distance 201 laps, 311.3 mi (500.9 km)
Weather Temperatures ranging between 5 °C (41 °F) and 10 °C (50 °F)[1]
Average speed 112.558 mph (181.145 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Penske Racing South
Time 35.116 seconds
Most laps led
Driver Mike Skinner Richard Childress Racing
Laps 94
Winner
No. 31 Mike Skinner Richard Childress Racing
Television in the United States
Network TBS
Announcers Ken Squier, Buddy Baker, Dick Berggren

Background

Located 60 miles (97 km) northeast of Tokyo,[3] Twin Ring Motegi opened on August 1, 1997.[4] In early 1998, plans to continue hosting the NASCAR Thunder 100 at Suzuka Circuit were cancelled,[5] and as a result, the NASCAR race in Japan was moved to the 1.5 mi (2.4 km) Motegi oval.[6] 28 cars traveled to Japan for the race,[5] and a total of 31 drivers competed in the race, 13 from the Winston Cup Series, 11 from the Winston West Series, 2 from the Busch Series, 1 from the Craftsman Truck Series and 4 from Japan.[7]

Qualifying

Qualifying took place on November 21. Jeremy Mayfield won the pole position for the race with a lap time of 35.116 seconds, and a speed of 158.799 miles per hour (255.562 km/h), his second pole of 1998. Three-time and reigning Cup champion Jeff Gordon[8] qualified second with 35.122 seconds and 158.772 mph (255.519 km/h), followed by Mike Skinner with 35.162 seconds and 158.592 mph (255.229 km/h).[9] Elliott Sadler and Darrell Waltrip, filling in for the injured Dale Jarrett, rounded out the top five, while Jeff Burton, Bill Elliott, Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Lance Norick closed out the top ten.[10]

Race

Although Jeremy Mayfield led the first lap, Jeff Gordon claimed the lead on the ensuing lap and led until lap 21, relinquishing first to Jeff Burton. From laps 28 to 49, the lead would be exchanged by Mike Skinner and Rusty Wallace, with Sterling Marlin, Burton and Mayfield also gaining the lead afterwards. Skinner, Wallace, Burton and Mayfield would all lead laps until lap 90, when Gordon took the lead, holding it for 49 laps. On lap 139, Dale Earnhardt took the lead,[11] but Skinner passed him and Gordon on the following lap, and led for the remainder of the race,[7] defeating Gordon by 0.153 seconds.[8] Gordon, Mayfield, Burton and Wallace comprised the remainder of the top five, while Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt, Sterling Marlin and Michael Waltrip finished in the top ten.[11] Scott Gaylord was the highest-finishing Winston West driver, finishing 13th.[12]

Aftermath

In the post-race press conference, NASCAR president Mike Helton stated that since the three-year Cup Series contract to run in Japan expired after the 1998 race,[6] the Winston West Series would hold the event as the series' season-ending race in 1999;[13] Kevin Richards won the race.[14] However, due to high costs for transport to the event and poor attendance, the series did not return after the 1999 race.[5] Later in the conference, Helton was asked whether Japanese manufacturer Honda would join NASCAR, but stated that it did not "have a motor that meets specifications for NASCAR racing."[6]

The international exhibition race was later speculated to be moved to EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Germany.[5] As of 2013, NASCAR has not expressed any interest in having its national series run an international exhibition race; senior vice president Steve O'Donnell stated, "We've had 20 groups approach us from China. But most of them are one-offs. We keep pushing back and saying we're going to do this but in a smart way. If you can show us how we build stock-car racing, that's something we want to pursue."[15]

Results

Qualifying

Pos No. Driver Team Manufacturer Time Speed
1 12Jeremy MayfieldPenske Racing SouthFord35.116158.779
2 24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet35.122158.772
3 31Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet35.162158.592
4 21Elliott SadlerWood Brothers RacingFord35.259158.155
5 88Darrell WaltripRobert Yates RacingFord35.371157.654
6 99Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord35.399157.530
7 94Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord35.499157.086
8 2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord35.500157.082
9 1Dale Earnhardt Jr.Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet35.524156.975
10 60Lance NorickL & R MotorsportsFord35.840155.591
11 7Michael WaltripGeoff Bodine RacingFord35.883155.405
12 40Sterling MarlinTeam SABCOChevrolet35.983154.973
13 4Bobby HamiltonMorgan-McClure MotorsportsChevrolet35.987154.956
14 55Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet36.028154.780
15 3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet36.053154.672
16 58Ricky CravenSBIII MotorsportsFord36.225153.938
17 67Scott GaylordSMS MotorsportsFord36.480152.862
18 16Brendan GaughanBill McAnally RacingChevrolet36.664152.178
19 11Austin CameronAC MotorsportsChevrolet36.794151.557
20 26Ron BurnsAdvance MotorsportsFord36.879151.208
21 98Hideo FukuyamaDavis Racing EnterprisesFord37.045150.530
22 8Jeff DavisDavis Racing EnterprisesFord37.123150.214
23 82Randy NelsonCore MotorsportsFord37.164150.048
24 44Kelly TannerTanner RacingPontiac37.172150.016
25 08Ron Hornaday Jr.Midgley MotorsportsChevrolet37.295149.521
26 10Butch GillilandJenn West MotorsportsFord37.388149.149
27 95Gary SmithWade RacingFord37.629148.194
28 09Motohiro NakajiMidgley MotorsportsPontiac38.194146.002
29 28Kazuteru WakidaCollins MotorsportsChevrolet38.677144.179
30 00Keiichi TsuchiyaTeam DDFord38.711144.052
31 86Rich Woodland Jr.Woodland RacingChevroletN/A.000
Source:[16]

Race results

Mike Skinner (seen in 2011) won the race.
Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Led
1 331Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet20194
2 224Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet20169
3 112Jeremy MayfieldPenske Racing SouthFord20110
4 699Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord20114
5 82Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord20111
6 91Dale Earnhardt Jr.Dale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet2010
7 794Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord2010
8 153Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet2011
9 1240Sterling MarlinTeam SABCOChevrolet2012
10 117Michael WaltripGeoff Bodine RacingFord1990
11 1455Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet1990
12 1060Lance NorickL & R MotorsportsFord1990
13 1767Scott GaylordScott GaylordFord1990
14 228Jeff DavisDavis Racing EnterprisesFord1980
15 2508Ron Hornaday Jr.Midgley MotorsportsChevrolet1970
16 2610Butch GillilandJenn West MotorsportsFord1950
17 2198Hideo FukuyamaDavis Racing EnterprisesFord1940
18 134Bobby HamiltonMorgan-McClure MotorsportsChevrolet1880
19 1816Brendan GaughanBill McAnally RacingChevrolet1850
20 421Elliott SadlerWood Brothers RacingFord1700
21 2026Ron BurnsAdvance MotorsportsFord1440
22 1658Ricky CravenSBIII MotorsportsFord1080
23 1911Austin CameronAC MotorsportsChevrolet1050
24 588Darrell WaltripRobert Yates RacingFord840
25 2795Gary SmithWade RacingFord540
26 3000Keiichi TsuchiyaTeam DDFord490
27 2982Randy NelsonCore MotorsportsFord440
28 2928Kazuteru WakidaCollins MotorsportsChevrolet400
29 2444Kelly TannerTanner RacingPontiac270
30 2809Motohiro NakajiMidgley MotorsportsPontiac230
31 3186Rich Woodland Jr.Woodland RacingChevrolet30
Source:[11]

References

  1. Weather information for the Coca-Cola 500 at Weather Underground
  2. "RACING WITH THE INTIMIDATOR". Dale Earnhardt Jr. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  3. Macur, Juliet (November 23, 1998). "Skinner Again Wins Exhibition In Japan". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  4. "Twin Ring Motegi to Start Operation on August 1st, 1997". Honda. July 31, 1997. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  5. "JAPAN TRACK/RACE NEWS/RUMORS". Jayski's Silly Season Site. Archived from the original on April 27, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  6. Borden, Brett (November 23, 1998). "Motegi Post Race Notes". Motorsport. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  7. "Double victory". CNN Sports Illustrated. November 22, 1998. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  8. "PLUS: AUTO RACING -- NASCAR THUNDER SPECIAL; Skinner Edges Gordon in Japan". The New York Times. November 23, 1998. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  9. "Battling with Gordon". CNN Sports Illustrated. November 21, 1998. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  10. Borden, Brett (November 21, 1998). "Motegi Qualifying Report". Motorsport. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  11. "1998 NASCAR Thunder Special Motegi". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  12. "CALIFORNIA NATIVE MIKE SKINNER WINS MOTEGI". RacingWest. November 22, 1998. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  13. "Way west". CNN Sports Illustrated. November 17, 1999. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  14. "AUSTIN CAMERON - MOTEGI WAS THE WW RACE OF 1999". RacingWest. December 28, 1999. Retrieved March 5, 2014.
  15. Ryan, Nate (November 21, 2013). "NASCAR has plan to build an international presence". USA Today. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
  16. "1998 NASCAR Thunder Special Motegi qualifying results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
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