1998 IRL Pep Boys Lone Star 500

A blistering hot September afternoon, a lightening fast Texas Motor Speedway, and a rash of tire and engine failures made this one to remember. Drivers like Andy Michner, Robby Unser, and Raul Boesel took turns leading. In the end John Paul, Jr. picked up his only career IRL victory. Marco Greco was blamed for another huge crash similar to the one he was involved in at Atlanta. They never mention it on air but my unofficial calculations show Billy Boat winning the lone star challenge 100k bonus. The race was aired on a tape-delayed basis on ABC. This led to a nearly 2.5 hour race to be shown (with commercials removed) in 1 hour and 25 minutes. They edited out most of the caution laps and skipped nearly 20 laps in some cases.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• 1998
• IRL
• Pep
• Boys
• Lone
• Star
• 500

[IJM9915]

@schraderfan thanks

[schraderfan]

ARIE LUYENDYK WITH SHORT HAIR

[schraderfan]

@IJM9915 They mainly used a minimum rear wing angle to increase drag. They used 4.0 liter engines at that time, then subsequently made changes to 3.5, 3.0 and back to 3.5 liters over time.

Average lap speeds at Texas and Atlanta were around 225 mph in 1998, and around 215 ever since 1999

[IJM9915]

Were indycars horspower restricted on the ovals back then?

[Tiger31193]

FUEL!!!

[Blitzkey1]

Great Foyt interview at 42:07