1998 Coca-Cola 500

Background

Located 60 mi northeast of Tokyo, Twin Ring Motegi opened on August 1, 1997. In early 1998, plans to continue hosting the NASCAR Thunder 100 at Suzuka Circuit were cancelled, and as a result, the NASCAR race in Japan was moved to the 1.5 mi Motegi oval. 28 cars traveled to Japan for the race, and a total of 31 drivers competed in the race, 13 from the Winston Cup Series, 11 from the Winston West Series, 2 from the Busch Series, 1 from the Craftsman Truck Series and 4 from Japan.

Qualifying

Qualifying took place on November 21. Jeremy Mayfield won the pole position for the race with a lap time of 35.116 seconds, and a speed of 158.799 mph, his second pole of 1998. Three-time and reigning Cup champion Jeff Gordon qualified second with 35.122 seconds and 158.772 mph, followed by Mike Skinner with 35.162 seconds and 158.592 mph. Elliott Sadler and Darrell Waltrip, filling in for the injured Dale Jarrett, rounded out the top five, while Jeff Burton, Bill Elliott, Rusty Wallace, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Lance Norick closed out the top ten.

Race

Although Jeremy Mayfield led the first lap, Jeff Gordon claimed the lead on the ensuing lap and led until lap 21, relinquishing first to Jeff Burton. From laps 28 to 49, the lead would be exchanged by Mike Skinner and Rusty Wallace, with Sterling Marlin, Burton and Mayfield also gaining the lead afterwards. Skinner, Wallace, Burton and Mayfield would all lead laps until lap 90, when Gordon took the lead, holding it for 49 laps. On lap 139, Dale Earnhardt took the lead, but Skinner passed him and Gordon on the following lap, and led for the remainder of the race, defeating Gordon by 0.153 seconds. Gordon, Mayfield, Burton and Wallace comprised the remainder of the top five, while Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt, Sterling Marlin and Michael Waltrip finished in the top ten. Scott Gaylord was the highest-finishing Winston West driver, finishing 13th.

Aftermath

In the post-race press conference, NASCAR president Mike Helton stated that since the three-year Cup Series contract to run in Japan expired after the 1998 race, the Winston West Series would hold the event as the series' season-ending race in 1999; Kevin Richards won the race. However, due to high costs for transport to the event and poor attendance, the series did not return after the 1999 race. Later in the conference, Helton was asked whether Japanese manufacturer Honda would join NASCAR, but stated that it did not "have a motor that meets specifications for NASCAR racing." National rivals Toyota would eventually join the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2004 and eventually the Cup Series in 2007. In 2024, reports of Honda's potential entry began to resurface, amidist questions on the future of their IndyCar Series program.

The international exhibition race was later speculated to be moved to EuroSpeedway Lausitz in Germany. As of 2013, NASCAR has not expressed any interest in having its national series run an international exhibition race; senior vice president Steve O'Donnell stated, "We've had 20 groups approach us from China. But most of them are one-offs. We keep pushing back and saying we're going to do this but in a smart way. If you can show us how we build stock-car racing, that's something we want to pursue." The second-tier series did hold international races (albeit for championship points) in Mexico and Canada in the 2000s, and NASCAR considered a Canadian race for the 2024 Cup Series schedule, but the proposal fell through and a race at Iowa Speedway took its place in the final 2024 schedule. (A points-paying Cup race in the country was previously held in 1958, the Jim Mideon 500, at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario.) The first points-paying international NASCAR Cup Series race since 1958 was finally held in 2025, at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico, which previously hosted second-tier series races.

Results

Qualifying

Race results

References

References

1. [http://classic.wunderground.com/history/airport/RJTU/1998/11/22/DailyHistory.html?req_city=Motegi&req_state=&req_statename=Japan Weather information for the ''Coca-Cola 500''] at Weather Underground
2. "RACING WITH THE INTIMIDATOR". [[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]].
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10. Borden, Brett. (November 21, 1998). "Motegi Qualifying Report". Motorsport.
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