By Mark Aumann, NASCAR.COM
February 12, 2005
11:38 AM EST (16:38 GMT)
After two decades of near-misses, Dale Earnhardt finally visited Daytona's Victory Lane as Daytona 500 champion in the 40th Daytona 500 on Feb. 15, 1998. Earnhardt led the final 61 laps but was chased all the way by Bobby Labonte, Jeremy Mayfield, Ken Schrader and Rusty Wallace. As the laps dwindled, Labonte tried low and he tried high, but couldn't find the key to passing the No. 3 Chevrolet.  |  | NASCAR ACCELERATION | |
| ALSO IN 1998 ... |
| • | Suspected "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski pleads guilty and accepts a sentence of life without the possibility of parole (Jan. 22) |
| • | NASA announces the choice of United States Air Force Lt. Col. Eileen Collins as commander of a future Space Shuttle Columbia mission to launch an X-ray telescope making Collins the first woman commander of a space shuttle mission (March 5) |
| • | A strike begins at the General Motors parts factory in Flint, Mich., that quickly spreads to five other assembly plants; the strike lasted seven weeks (June 5) |
| • | The DNA-identified remains of U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie arrive home to his family in St. Louis, after being in the Tomb of the Unknowns since 1984 (July 10) |
| • | Matthew Shepard, a Wyoming college student, is found tied to a fence, the victim of a gay-bashing. He dies Oct. 12, becoming a symbol of victims of gay-bashing and sparking public reflection on homophobia (Oct. 6) |
Courtesy: Wikipedia
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Earnhardt's win was worth $1,059,805 -- the first million-dollar payday in Daytona 500 history. Alabama's marching band is known as the "Million Dollar Band." The television show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? premiered in the United Kingdom. Matchbox 20's 3 A.M. was the No. 3 song on the ARC Weekly Top 40 chart for Feb. 14. K-Ci & JoJo's All My Life was No. 14. The 1998 Chevrolet Lumina LTZ four-door sedan was the last model year for the Lumina. At a sticker price of $19,745, Earnhardt could have purchased one for every driver in the 1998 Daytona 500 and still have enough left to buy the average new home -- which was $181,900 in 1998. On Sept. 8, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire broke baseball's single-season home run record with his 62nd homer, a fourth-inning shot off Chicago's Steve Trachsel at Busch Stadium. If Earnhardt had wanted to try and catch home run No. 62, the 740-mile trip would have taken 11 hours and 56 minutes at 62 mph -- or four hours and 17 minutes at Earnhardt's race-winning average of 172.712 mph. Charles Lindbergh's "Spirit of St. Louis" airplane is at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Jimmy Stewart played Charles Lindbergh in the 1957 movie, The Spirit of St. Louis. Stewart acted with Ronald Reagan in World War II training films and starred with John Wayne in 1976's The Shootist. Washington National Airport was renamed Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Feb. 6. The airport in Orange County, Calif is John Wayne Airport. The airport in Indiana, Pa. is Jimmy Stewart Airport. Charlton Heston, who starred in Airport, was named president of the National Rifle Association on June 8. If Earnhardt had wanted to fly one-way between Ronald Reagan National and John Wayne Airport, a Delta flight that connects in Atlanta would have added 2,466 miles to Earnhardt's frequent flier program. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 9,000 for the first time on April 6. The population of the United States was estimated at more than 270 million in July. Big companies swallowed up other big companies in 1998. In January, Ford bought Volvo. In April, Citicorp and Travelers Group became Citigroup. In May, Mercedes-Benz bought Chrysler. In November, America Online acquired Netscape. In December, Exxon paid $73 billion to buy Mobil. In January, smoking was banned in all California bars and restaurants. In November, the tobacco industry and attorneys general from 46 states reached a $206 billion legal settlement. In January, President Bill Clinton denied having "sexual relations" with Monica Lewinsky. On Aug. 17, Clinton admitted that he had an "improper physical relationship with Lewinsky. On March 27, the Food and Drug Administration approved Viagra for use as a treatment for male impotence. On Oct. 29, 77-year-old John Glenn blasted off from Cape Canaveral for the second time, making him the oldest person ever in space. At 46, Earnhardt was the second-oldest winner of the Daytona 500. Bobby Allison was 50 in 1988. → Click here for more Daytona Countdown. | 
