1998 season recap

NASCAR's 50th Anniversary season will be forever remembered as a season for the ages, complete with one of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series' most dominant performances by a single driver. Jeff Gordon captured his third championship in four years in a season that saw him tie Richard Petty's modern-era record with 13 wins.

As was the case in 1997, Mark Martin and Dale Jarrett were Gordon's nearest pursuers, but unlike the previous year, the championship would be decided before the final event of the season.

FIVE RACES TO GO:

Talladega, AL - Dale Jarrett's title hopes were dashed in the previous two races, but his million-dollar dream was alive in Alabama. Jarrett outraced Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Terry Labonte to the checkered flag to capture the $1 million Winston No Bull 5 bonus and his first Talladega victory. This time the bad luck belonged to Mark Martin, who was involved in a lap 136 accident involving Ernie Irvan, Dick Trickle and Sterling Marlin. Martin spent 22 laps in the garage repairing damage and returned to finish 34th. He wound up losing 114 points to Gordon in the Winston 500. Gordon now led Martin by 288 points.

FOUR RACES TO GO:

Daytona Beach, FL - Fires postponed the July 4 running of the Pepsi 400 three months, but nothing could postpone Jeff Gordon's run at immortality in the first-ever NASCAR Winston Cup night race at Daytona International Speedway. Gordon picked up his 11th win of the season and first win of his career in the month of October. Mark Martin's restrictor-plate woes continued as his Roush Racing Ford could muster just a 16th-place finish. Martin lost another 70 points to Gordon and now trailed by 358 points. Of that total, 321 points of Martin's deficit to Gordon came in the four restrictor-plate events.

THREE RACES TO GO:

Phoenix, AZ - A desert downpour halted the vent after just 257 laps and Rusty Wallace ended his 59-race winless streak with one of the most dominant runs of the season. Mark Martin finished second and cut 29 points off Gordon's lead. Gordon finished sixth, snapping his modern-era record run of 17 consecutive top five finishes. Gordon maintained a 329 point lead and needed to finish 40th or better in the next-to-last race of the season, the AC Delco 400 at Rockingham, to clinch his second consecutive NASCAR Winston Cup title.

TWO RACES TO GO:

Rockingham, NC - Jeff Gordon clinched his third NASCAR Winston Cup championship in grand fashion with a victory in the AC Delco 400. It was Gordon's first win in the month of November, removing one of the last remaining blemishes on his impressive resume. Gordon entered the race needing only to finish 40th or better to hoist the trophy, but when Kevin Lepage retired on lap 67 and Gordon picked up the five-point bonus for leading lap 120, he collected enough points to clinch the championship. Mark Martin went on to finish fourth. Gordon's lead would be 344 points entering the final event of the 1998 season.

FINAL RACE:

Hampton, GA - With the title settled, Jeff Gordon and his "Rainbow Warriors" turned their attentions to one of the sport's most hallowed marks - Richard Petty's modern-era record of 13 wins in a single season. Seven hours of rain delays couldn't stop Gordon's run at the record books. He closed out NASCAR's 50th anniversary season by equaling the King's mark of 13 wins, capping one of the greatest single-season performances by any driver in history. The finishing order of the NAPA 500 encapsulated the 1998 season, with Gordon, Dale Jarrett and Mark Martin finishing in the top three. Gordon's final margin of victory over Martin was 364 points and 709 points over Jarrett. It was the largest margin of victory since Dale Earnhardt's 444-point spread over Martin in 1994.