 | |||||
| Indianapolis Motor Speedway | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis 500 | |||||
| Sanctioning body | Indy Racing League | ||||
| Season | 1998 IRL season | ||||
| Date | May 24, 1998 | ||||
| Winner |  Eddie Cheever | ||||
| Winning team | Team Cheever | ||||
| Average speed | 145.155 mph (234 km/h) | ||||
| Pole position | Billy Boat | ||||
| Pole speed | 223.503 mph (360 km/h) | ||||
| Fastest qualifier | Billy Boat | ||||
| Rookie of the Year | Steve Knapp | ||||
| Most laps led | Eddie Cheever (76) | ||||
| Pre-race ceremonies | |||||
| National anthem | Elizabeth Burch | ||||
| "Back Home Again in Indiana" | Jim Nabors | ||||
| Starting command | Mari Hulman George | ||||
| Pace car | Chevrolet Corvette | ||||
| Pace car driver | Parnelli Jones | ||||
| Starter | Bryan Howard | ||||
| Honorary starter | Mark Page (Pep Boys) | ||||
| Estimated attendance | 250,000 | ||||
| TV in the United States | |||||
| Network | ABC | ||||
| Announcers | Paul Page, Tom Sneva | ||||
| Nielsen ratings | 6.0 / 19 | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
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The 82nd Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana on Sunday, May 24, 1998. This was the third Indianapolis 500 run as part of the Indy Racing League, but the first fully-sanctioned by the IRL after they relied on USAC to sanction the 1996–1997 races. The race was part of the 1998 Pep Boys Indy Racing League season.
Eddie Cheever, a former Formula One driver that had competed in Indy car racing since 1990, highlighted his racing career with this lone Indianapolis win. Cheever finished three seconds ahead of second place Buddy Lazier, the 1996 winner. Cheever became the first owner/driver to win the "500" since A. J. Foyt in 1977. The 1998 race ushered in a compacted, two-week schedule for the Indy 500, omitting an entire week of practice, and trimming qualifying from four days down to two.
During time trials, Billy Boat secured the first pole position at Indy for the Foyt team since 1975.
This was the first Indianapolis victory for the Dallara chassis. In the second year utilizing the 4.0 L, normally aspirated, 32-valve production-based engines (Aurora L47 and Infiniti VH), qualifying speeds climbed, topping out nearly six miles per hour faster than 1997.