IROC at Indy FAST FACTS
24 July 1998
IROC at Indy FAST FACTS
WHAT: TRUE VALUE FIREBIRD INTERNATIONAL RACE
OF CHAMPIONS
Fourth and final round of 1998 series
Inaugural IROC race at Indianapolis
Motor Speedway
WHERE: Indianapolis Motor Speedway
2.5-mile paved oval superspeedway
WHEN: 1:30 p.m. (CDT) Friday, July 31, 1998
DISTANCE: 100 miles/40 laps (Yellow-flag caution
laps do not count)
SERIES PURSE: $760,000, including $225,000 to series
season champion
CARS: Identically prepared IROC Pontiac
Firebird Trans Ams
Goodyear Eagle Superspeedway radial
tires
FIELD: 12 of the world's best race drivers
representing the top series in the world
NASCAR Winston Cup: Jeff Burton, Dale
Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett,
Terry Labonte, Mark Martin
NASCAR Busch Series, Grand National
Division: Randy LaJoie
Pep Boys Indy Racing League: Arie
Luyendyk, Tony Stewart
FedEx Championship Series: Al Unser Jr.,
Jimmy Vasser
Road racing: Tom Kendall
1997 IROC CHAMPION: Mark Martin
POINTS LEADER: Mark Martin
TV:
(Race) ABC, 4:30 p.m. (EDT) Aug. 1
Announcers: Paul Page, Benny Parsons
Pit reporter: Jack Arute
SCHEDULE (all times
local):
(July 29) 7 a.m.: Garage opens
10-11:45 a.m.: IROC practice
5:05-5:45 p.m.: IROC practice
(July 30) 7 a.m.: Garage opens
8:30-9:25 a.m.: IROC practice
12:05-1 p.m.: IROC practice
4:50-5:30 p.m.: IROC practice
(July 31) 7 a.m.: Garage opens
1:30 p.m.: IROC race (100 miles/40 laps)
THE TRACK: 2.5-mile paved oval, with 36-inch strip
of the original bricks at start-finish
line
Front and back straightaways: 5/8-mile
each
Short straightaways (between Turns 1-2 &
3-4): 1/8-mile each
Four turns: 1/4-mile each
Width of straightaways: 50 feet
Width of turns: 60 feet
Banking: 9 degrees, 12 minutes in all
four turns
Facility opened in 1909. The Speedway is
the largest sports seating facility,
with more than 250,000 permanent seats.
The track is the site of the annual
Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400.
THE RACE: This is the inaugural IROC event at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway. IROC cars
opened the stock-car era at the track
with a test session in 1992.
RACE NOTES: NASCAR Winston Cup star Mark Martin will
try to win this fourth IROC championship
in the last five years. Martin leads
fellow NASCAR driver Jeff Burton, 62-54,
after three of four rounds this season.
Martin won IROC titles in 1994, 1996 and
1997. If two or more drivers are tied in
points at the end of this race, the
driver with the highest finishing
position in the final race will earn the
higher spot in the final standings.
The 12 drivers in this event have seven
combined victories at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway. Arie Luyendyk and Al
Unser Jr. each have won the Indianapolis
500 twice, while Dale Earnhardt, Jeff
Gordon and Dale Jarrett each have one
Brickyard 400 victory.
Jimmy Vasser is starting from the pole
for this event. Al Unser Jr. was the
last pole sitter to win an IROC race,
taking the checkered flag in 1995 at
Michigan Speedway from the top spot. The
starting field is determined by
inverting the point standings, so points
leader Mark Martin will start last.
Al Unser Jr. will try to add to his
series-leading victory total at this
event. Unser has won 11 career IROC
races. Dale Earnhardt and Mark Martin
are second on the all-time list with
seven wins each.
SERIES NOTES: IROC winners this season have been Jeff
Gordon on Feb. 13 at Daytona
International Speedway, Mark Martin on
May 2 at California Speedway and Jeff
Burton on June 13 at Michigan Speedway.
The late Mark Donohue won the inaugural
IROC championship in 1974.
Six Indianapolis 500 winners also have
captured the IROC championship: Mark Donohue, Bobby
Unser, A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Mario
Andretti and Al Unser Jr.
Dale Earnhardt and Ricky Rudd are past
Brickyard 400 winners who also have
captured an IROC championship.
STATISTICS: 1998 IROC IROC points
point standings system
1. Mark Martin 62 1. 21
2. Jeff Burton 54 2. 17
3. Jeff Gordon 45 3. 14
4. Dale Earnhardt 29 4. 12
5. 10
5. Terry Labonte 29 6. 9
6. Al Unser Jr. 29 7. 8
7. Tony Stewart 28 8. 7
8. Tom Kendall 23 9. 6
9. Arie Luyendyk 22 10. 5
10. Dale Jarrett 21 11. 4
11. Randy LaJoie 19 12. 3
12. Jimmy Vasser 15