1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series - The Bud at The Glen

The Bud At The Glen

The Bud at the Glen was run on August 9 at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York. Jeff Gordon won the pole. The race was broadcast on ESPN.

Top Ten Results

1. 24-Jeff Gordon
2. 6-Mark Martin*
3. 31-Mike Skinner*
4. 2-Rusty Wallace
5. 88-Dale Jarrett
6. 44-Kyle Petty
7. 40-Sterling Marlin
8. 43-John Andretti
9. 26-Johnny Benson
10. 18-Bobby Labonte

Failed to qualify: 58-Larry Gunselman**, 59-Brian Cunningham, 71-Dave Marcis

• Jeff Gordon did not actually know during the chase down of Mike Skinner that he was not actually leading the race until there were about 9 or 10 laps to go, when Crew Chief Ray Evernham radioed to him, pointed out Skinner in front of him, told him he was the leader and to go get him.

• On the ESPN telecast, it was stated that Rick Wilson attempted the race in the #58 instead of Larry Gunselman.

• Gunselman was also tapped to stand by to potentially drive in relief of Jeremy Mayfield, but did not get in the #12 during the race.

• Jimmy Spencer was forced to give way to Boris Said at the first full course caution because of the concussion that he had suffered the previous Saturday during the Brickyard 400. Spencer only briefly practiced the car before the race. Said had practiced and qualified the car in the 5th position (Since Spencer started the car that Said had qualified, Spencer had to start at the rear of the field). After Said got in the car at lap 10, he began a drive up through the field. A couple of spins within 10 laps of each other slowed Said's charge on his way to a 20th place finish.

• Dick Trickle was relieved during the race by Busch North and Featherlite Modified driver Ted Christopher. According to the ESPN telecast, this was because of Trickle's apparent lack of skill and confidence in his road racing abilities. Christopher ran very well in the race before the engine blew late in the race, leaving Trickle (who got the drivers' points because he started the race) with a 41st place finish.

• Tom Hubert was hired by Elliott-Marino Racing to drive the #13 FirstPlus Financial Ford. Hubert qualified 20th and drove up to 11th before having a slight off-course excursion. The big hit came on the restart after the 2nd caution when the #33 of Ken Schrader ran up on the left rear of Hubert. This peeled a good chunk of the left side sheetmetal off the car and spun it out. The #23 and the #12 of Jeremy Mayfield also spun in this incident. Mayfield got stuck in the gravel, prompting the third full course caution of the race.

• Mike Skinner had his best career finish (in this case, 3rd) for the second consecutive week. This finish was achieved through a pit strategy that resulted in him attempting to go all the way on fuel from the last full course caution, a distance of 39 laps (95.55 miles). After all the leaders had pitted, Skinner had a 25-second lead over Jeff Gordon. Skinner had to conserve fuel in order to make the finish, so he drove much slower than he would have. Gordon, along with Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace ran Skinner down with 3 laps to go. Gordon and Martin were able to pass Skinner, but Wallace was not able to.

• This race was the third consecutive race that Mark Martin finished second to Jeff Gordon, losing 30 points to him in the standings over the 3 races.

• This was the last Cup race sponsored by a beer company.