NASCAR Winston Cup Series Transouth 400 at Darlington: Report and Results
23 March 1998
Jarrett Captures TranSouth Financial 400 at Darlington
DARLINGTON, S.C. -- Dale Jarrett captured the TranSouth Financial 400
NASCAR Winston Cup Series event at historic Darlington Raceway Sunday
beating Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton to the finish line after a thrilling
three-car scramble over the closing laps.
For Jarrett, it was his first NASCAR Winston Cup Series win of the season
and his second consecutive victory in Darlington's spring event. The race
came down to a shootout among a tight pack of three cars. Burton, who led
a race-leading 195 laps on the day, survived multiple challenges from
Jarrett and Gordon before experiencing handling problems. With 18 laps
remaining , Burton relinquished the lead to Jarrett with Gordon taking over
second place. Jarrett held on to the lead over the remaining laps to win
by a mere .228 seconds.
Darlington Raceway, commonly referred to as the track "Too Tough To Tame,"
was usually tame as NASCAR's original superspeedway was the scene of only
five cautions for 31 laps. The fifth and final caution of the day, which
was brought out by a spinning Randy LaJoie, set up the 39 -lap duel to the
finish.
"It's such a great feeling to win at a racetrack like Darlington, it's
such a tough place." said Jarrett. "It got exciting there at the end with
(Jeff) Gordon. I thought we might have used up to much of our race car
getting around (Jeff) Burton. He was awful strong and I didn't know if we
had anything for him.
"We finally got around Burton, then at the end I was using up a lot of the
racetrack trying to keep Gordon behind me. I felt that was my right since
I was the race leader. He got up to my corner panel, but Jeff being the
professional that he is, he raced me clean when he could have turned me
around."
Runnerup Gordon, who was searching for his second victory the season,
mounted a final last corner attempt at the lead, but fell just short.
"That was a lot of fun," said Gordon. "We were racing for the win, I have
to take my hat off to Dale Jarrett, he drove a great race and he had a real
strong race car. I think we showed today what kind of team we have, I
don't know if we've been showing that much lately. It's nice to get back
where we belong battling for the win."
Jarrett, who averaged 127.962 mph in victory, won $110,035.
1998 TranSouth Financial 400 Results
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
TRANSOUTH FINANCIAL 400
March 22, 1998
Darlington Raceway
Fin.Str.Car Reason
Pos.Pos.No. Driver Sponsor/Car Laps Out
1 3 88 Dale Jarrett Quality Care/Ford Credit Fo 293 Running
2 24 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Refinishes Chevrolet 293 Running
3 14 2 Rusty Wallace Miller Lite Ford 293 Running
4 37 12 Jeremy MayfieldMobil 1 Ford 293 Running
5 2 99 Jeff Burton Exide Batteries Ford 293 Running
6 33 5 Terry Labonte Kellogg's Chevrolet 293 Running
7 1 6 Mark Martin Valvoline/Cummins Ford 293 Running
8 21 26 Johnny Benson Cheerios Ford 293 Running
9 26 81 Kenny Wallace Square D Ford 293 Running
10 20 16 Ted Musgrave Primestar Ford 292 Running
11 9 22 Ward Burton MBNA America Pontiac 292 Running
12 27 3 Dale Earnhardt GM Goodwrench Service Plus 292 Running
13 16 43 John Andretti STP Pontiac 292 Running
14 8 40 Sterling MarlinCoors Light Chevrolet 291 Running
15 30 94 Bill Elliott McDonald's Ford 291 Running
16 7 21 Michael WaltripCitgo Ford 291 Running
17 29 97 Chad Little John Deere Ford 291 Running
18 32 33 Ken Schrader Skoal Bandit Chevrolet 291 Running
19 36 41 Steve Grissom Kodiak Chevrolet 291 Running
20 17 77 Robert PressleyJasper Engines Ford 291 Running
21 35 23 Jimmy Spencer Winston/No Bull Ford 290 Running
22 22 11 Brett Bodine Paychex Ford 290 Running
23 6 18 Bobby Labonte Interstate Batteries Pontia 290 Running
24 4 90 Dick Trickle Heilig-Meyers Ford 290 Running
25 34 9 Lake Speed Cartoon Network Ford 290 Running
26 13 96 David Green Caterpillar Chevrolet 290 Running
27 41 35 Todd Bodine Tabasco Pontiac 290 Running
28 19 31 Mike Skinner Lowe's Chevrolet 289 Running
29 40 44 Kyle Petty Hot Wheels Pontiac 288 Running
30 43 17 Darrell WaltripTim Flock Special Chevrolet 288 Running
31 25 13 *Jerry Nadeau FirstPlus Financial Ford 288 Running
32 42 29 Jeff Green Team Monte Carlo Chevrolet 288 Running
33 18 10 Ricky Rudd Tide Ford 288 Running
34 10 91 *Kevin LePage Little Joe's Auto Chevrolet 287 Running
35 38 4 Bobby Hamilton Kodak Film Chervrolet 286 Running
36 39 36 Ernie Irvan Skittles Pontiac 285 Running
37 28 42 Joe Nemechek BellSouth Chevrolet 285 Running
38 23 50 Randy LaJoie Budweiser Chevrolet 284 Running
39 5 28 *Kenny Irwin Texaco Havoline Ford 270 Running
40 31 30 Derrike Cope Gumout Pontiac 231 Engine
41 11 7 Geoff Bodine Philips Consumer Comm. Ford 144 Accident
42 12 98 Greg Sacks Thorn Apple Valley Ford 142 Accident
43 15 75 Rick Mast Remington Arms Ford 26 Engine
* 1998 Raybestos NASCAR Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year Candidate
Average Speed: 127.962 mph
Time of Race: 3 Hrs., 7 Min., 56 Sec.
Margin of Victo .228 Seconds
Lead Changes: 18 Lead Changes Among 6 Drivers
Caution Flags: 5 Cautions for 31 Laps