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1998 Texaco Grand Prix of Houston
Country = United States| Race = Houston| Image = File:Houston CART circuit transparent.png| Caption = Original track layout of the Houston Grand Prix.| Date = October 4| Year = 1998| Official name = 1998 Texaco Grand Prix of Houston| Race_No = 17| Season_No = 19| Series = CART| Location = George R. Brown Convention Center Houston, Texas, United States| Course = Temporary street course| Course_mi = 1.527| Course_km = 2.457| Distance_laps = 70| Distance_mi = 106.89| Distance_km = 171.99| Weather = Heavy rain| Pole_Driver = Greg Moore| Pole_Team = Forsythe Racing| Pole_Time = 59.508| Pole_Country = Canada| Fast_Driver = Alex Zanardi| Fast_Team = Chip Ganassi Racing| Fast_Time = 1:02.797| Fast_Lap = 59| Fast_Country = Italy| First_Driver = Dario Franchitti| First_Team = Team KOOL Green| First_Country = UK| Second_Driver = Alex Zanardi| Second_Team = Chip Ganassi Racing| Second_Country= Italy| Third_Driver = Tony Kanaan| Third_Team = Tasman Motorsports Group| Third_Country = Brazil|
The 1998 Texaco Grand Prix of Houston was the seventeenth round of the 1998 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series season, held on October 4, 1998, at a street adjacent to the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. The race was a rain-interrupted race, with the start being delayed 30 minutes due to heavy rain. Another heavy rainshower after 70 laps out of the scheduled 100 forced the race to be stopped, with the win handed to Dario Franchitti, who was leading at the time.
The race was the scene of an infamous Lap 48 collision between winner Franchitti and his Team KOOL Green teammate, Paul Tracy. While running second, Tracy attempted to pass Franchitti on the inside going into the left-handed Turn 6; however, Franchitti was already making the turn, leading to the teammates touching, and Tracy spinning, brushing the inside wall enough to bend his left front suspension, ending his race. This led to a terse conversation over the radio between Tracy and team owner Barry Green. When Tracy returned to pit road, he and Green nearly came to blows in plain view of television cameras and the crowd on the start-finish straight. Ironically, within days of their near fistfight, Tracy and Green agreed to a four-year contract extension.
Classification
Race
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | UK Dario Franchitti | Team Green | 70 | 1:36:30.979 | 2 | 20+1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Italy Alex Zanardi | Chip Ganassi Racing | 70 | +0.646 | 8 | 16 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | Brazil Tony Kanaan | Tasman Motorsports Group | 70 | +5.792 | 11 | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | US Jimmy Vasser | Chip Ganassi Racing | 70 | +8.342 | 3 | 12 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 25 | Italy Max Papis | Arciero-Wells Racing | 70 | +11.170 | 14 | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 40 | Mexico Adrián Fernández | Patrick Racing | 70 | +13.425 | 12 | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | US Al Unser Jr. | Team Penske | 70 | +17.725 | 16 | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | US Bryan Herta | Team Rahal | 70 | +26.906 | 6 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | US Richie Hearn | Della Penna Motorsports | 70 | +27.812 | 18 | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Finland JJ Lehto | Hogan Racing | 70 | +35.089 | 21 | 3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | US Scott Pruett | Patrick Racing | 69 | +1 Lap | 19 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 36 | US Alex Barron | All American Racing | 69 | +1 Lap | 20 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 24 | USA Robby Gordon | Arciero-Wells Racing | 69 | +1 Lap | 24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | UK Mark Blundell | PacWest Racing Group | 68 | +2 Laps | 22 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 98 | Italy Vincenzo Sospiri | All American Racing | 68 | +2 Laps | 28 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 77 | West Germany Arnd Meier | Davis Racing | 68 | +2 Laps | 26 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Brazil André Ribeiro | Team Penske | 66 | +4 Laps | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | Brazil Maurício Gugelmin | PacWest Racing Group | 52 | Electrical | 16 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 34 | US Dennis Vitolo | Payton/Coyne Racing | 49 | Electrical | 27 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 26 | Canada Paul Tracy | Team Green | 48 | Contact | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Brazil Gil de Ferran | Walker Racing | 38 | Spun off | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 33 | Canada Patrick Carpentier | Forsythe Racing | 36 | Contact | 25 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | US Bobby Rahal | Team Rahal | 35 | Suspension | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Brazil Hélio Castro-Neves | Bettenhausen Racing | 35 | Suspension | 17 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 | Mexico Michel Jourdain Jr. | Payton/Coyne Racing | 13 | Contact | 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 99 | Canada Greg Moore | Forsythe Racing | 3 | Contact | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Brazil Christian Fittipaldi | Newman-Haas Racing | 3 | Contact | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | US Michael Andretti | Newman-Haas Racing | 2 | Steering | 13 |
Caution flags
| Laps | Cause |
|---|---|
| 1-3 | Multiple cars spinning due to rain |
| 5-9 | Moore (99), Fittipaldi (11) contact |
| 14-16 | Jourdain Jr. (19), Gordon (24) contact, road block. Later red-flagged. |
| 39-43 | Carpentier (33) contact |
| 46 | Vitolo (34) contact |
| 68-70 | Heavy rain |
Lap Leaders
| Laps | Leader |
|---|---|
| 1-70 | Dario Franchitti |
| Driver | Laps led |
|---|---|
| Dario Franchitti | 70 |
|}
Point standings after race
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ITA Alex Zanardi | 250 |
| 2 | USA Jimmy Vasser | 148 |
| 3 | UK Dario Franchitti | 143 |
| 4 | MEX Adrián Fernández | 134 |
| 5 | CAN Greg Moore | 120 |
References
References
- "CHAMPCAR/CART: Max Papis Claim Toyota's First Top Five".
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1U0OmseKbKA 1998 Texaco Grand Prix of Houston Part 8 (Collision occurs at 4:02 mark)]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNyvAmFRyMI 1998 Thrills And Spills (Part 2 - Featuring CART and USAC) (Audio of conversation at 2:49 mark)]
- (7 October 1998). "Tracy, Green shake hands, come out smiling". Houston Chronicle.
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