Here’s the second part to Gateway International Raceway’s countdown to the Nationwide series race on July 19 …

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Seven a Lucky Number for Earnhardt at GIR
by Josh Weinrich

In mid-October of 1998, the NASCAR Nationwide (formerly Busch) Series made its second trip to the Gateway. With the wild action delivered in the series’ inaugural event a year prior, St. Louis race fans were enthusiastic about the NASCAR’s return and witnessed history and a friendly rivalry.

Now two of the most well-known drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, 2003 Cup Champion Matt Kenseth, and two-time Busch Series champion and Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. began a highly-competitive and friendly rivalry. That rivalry was just getting warmed up by the time they rolled into GIR.

Coming into the Carquest Auto Parts 250, Kenseth trailed Earnhardt by just 97 points with four races remaining. The two had swapped the point lead throughout the year but Earnhardt had held the series lead since mid July. In addition to going back and forth for the top spot, the two drivers had traded wins throughout the year. Kenseth had three wins to his credit as opposed to Junior’s six coming into the St. Louis area. If Kenseth wanted to mount a final charge for the title, he needed to close the gap on Earnhardt at Gateway.

From the drop of the green flag, Jeff Purvis drove James Finch’s #4, which finished third in 1997 with Dale Shaw, to the front of the field and began to dominate the early stages. Purvis scored the second-straight top-three finish for James Finch at Gateway by coming home third.

With the end of the 250 miles in sight, series veteran Buckshot Jones began to mount a comfortable lead over Earnhardt in second and Kenseth in third. However, Jones’ Pontiac ruptured an oil line with less than 50 laps to go and handed the lead over to Earnhardt. From there, Earnhardt went on to build a 3.2-second lead on his title rival Kenseth at the checkered flag.

The win was Earnhardt’s seventh and final of the 1998 season. Leaving Gateway, Kenseth trailed Earnhardt by 102 points, and only had three events to make a charge for the title. “Little E” went on to win his first Busch Series title thanks to his Gateway victory.

Another Sprint Cup Series star made a race appearance at GIR that day. Tony Stewart made his first and only Busch start at Gateway driving a Joe Gibbs Racing entry. Stewart, who won the 1997 IRL Championship, made the move to the NASCAR Busch Series in 1998 to prepare for his rookie campaign in the then-Winston Cup Series the following year. Stewart found instant success at Gateway in a stock car by finishing 5th.

The Nationwide Series returns on July 19th, and race fans can witness more history and rivalries by ordering tickets to the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250. Tickets can be purchased by calling 866-35-SPEED or logging on to GatewayRaceway.com.

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