CART: A season review of the 1998 FedEx Championship Series

The 1998 CART FedEx Championship Series expanded to a 19-race schedule, which saw Chip Ganassi Racing dominate as they previously did in 1997.

CART continued through the 1990s as America’s most popular open-wheel racing series. It boasted large TV audiences, strong driver and team payouts and a calendar that took the series to both North and South America.

Let’s take a look at the 1998 season of CART competition that featured Alex Zanardi backing up his performance from the 1997 season and Chip Ganassi Racing showing once again who the titans of American open-wheel racing were.

The tracks

The 1998 CART FedEx Championship Series traveled to 19 circuits in total, with five tracks being located outside of the United States (two in Canada, one in Australia, one in Brazil and one in Japan).

The 1998 race schedule was as follows.

Round – Race Name – Location – Winner
1 – Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami – Homestead, Florida – Michael Andretti
2 – Budweiser 500 – Motegi, Japan – Adrian Fernandez
3 – Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach – Long Beach, California – Alex Zanardi
4 – Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix – Nazareth, Pennsylvania – Jimmy Vasser
5 – Rio 400k – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Greg Moore
6 – Motorola 300 – Madison, Illinois – Alex Zanardi
7 – Miller Lite 200 – West Allis, Wisconsin – Jimmy Vasser
8 – ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix – Detroit, Michigan – Alex Zanardi
9 – Budweiser/G.I. Joe’s 200 – Portland, Oregon – Alex Zanardi
10 – Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland – Cleveland, Ohio – Alex Zanardi
11 – Molson Indy Toronto – Toronto, Ontario – Alex Zanardi
12 – U.S. 500 – Brooklyn, Michigan – Greg Moore
13 – Miller Lite 200 – Lexington, Ohio – Adrian Fernandez
14 – Texaco/Havoline 200 – Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin – Dario Franchitti
15 – Molson Indy Vancouver – Vancouver, British Columbia – Dario Franchitti
16 – Honda Grand Prix of Monterey – Monterey, California – Bryan Herta
17 – Texaco Grand Prix of Houston – Houston, Texas – Dario Franchitti
18 – Honda Indy Carnival – Surfers Paradise, Australia – Alex Zanardi
19 – Marlboro 500 – Fontana, California – Jimmy Vasser

Notes from the season

Newman-Haas Racing once again won the season opener at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which served as the only win for the team in the 1998 season. Michael Andretti, who won the race, claimed another four podium finishes and ended the season in seventh place in the championship standings driving a Swift 009.c.
Tony Kanaan won the Rookie of the Year award while driving for the single-car team of Tasman Motorsports Group in a Honda-powered Reynard 98i. He ended the 1998 season with two podium finishes and another three top five finishes to finish in ninth place in the championship standings.
Reynard won the Chassis Constructors’ Cup with the 98i with a score of 409 points.
Honda won the Engine Manufacturers’ Cup with a score of 365 points.
At the U.S. 500, Adrian Fernandez made contact with the wall, which caused one of his tires to be projected over the catch fence and into the crowd. Three spectators were killed.

The results

Alex Zanardi went on to have another dominant season with Chip Ganassi Racing, earning a total of seven wins and another eight podium finishes in 19 races. This impressive performance would give him 285 points and the 1998 CART FedEx Championship Series championship.