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NASCAR: Jeff Gordon Charges to Coca-Cola 600 Win

25 May 1998

By Terry Callahan
The Auto Channel
CONCORD, NC: Jeff Gordon has won the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Winston Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Gordon took on four tires while Rusty Wallace, Bobby Labonte, Mark Martin, and Dale Jarrett just took two tires. Gordon moved from fifth to first on the track in the last ten laps of the race.

Jeff Gordon

Wallace and Labonte were running for the No Bull 5 bonus money which was worth $1 million. The next No Bull 5 bonus race is at Indianapolis. The top five finishers at Charlotte will be eligible for the bonus at Indy.

Complete results of the Coca-Cola 600 follow with finishing position, (starting position), driver, hometown, car make, laps completed, reason out (if any) and money won:

1. (1) Jeff Gordon, Pittsboro, Ind., Chevrolet, 400, $346,500.
2. (4) Rusty Wallace, St. Louis, Ford, 400, $109,500.
3. (6) Bobby Labonte, Corpus Christi, Texas, Pontiac, 400, $102,550.
4. (5) Mark Martin, Batesville, Ark., Ford, 400, $95,500.
5. (10) Dale Jarrett, Hickory, N.C., Ford, 400, $78,700.
6. (26) Joe Nemechek, Lakeland, Fla., Chevrolet, 400, $63,450.
7. (3) John Andretti, Indianapolis, Pontiac, 400, $66,100.
8. (38) Jeff Burton, South Boston, Va., Ford, 400, $59,500.
9. (39) Johnny Benson, Grand Rapids, Mich., Ford, 400, $46,800.
10. (14) Ken Schrader, Fenton, Mo., Chevrolet, 399, $58,050.
11. (18) Ernie Irvan, Salinas, Calif., Pontiac, 399, $49,550.
12. (41) Ted Musgrave, Franklin, Wis., Ford, 399, $47,350.
13. (21) Jimmy Spencer, Berwick, Pa., Ford, 399, $59,800.
14. (33) Bill Elliott, Dawsonville, Ga., Ford, 399, $44,400.
15. (30) Sterling Marlin, Columbia, Tenn., Chevrolet, 399, $37,000.
16. (27) Robert Pressley, Asheville, N.C., Ford, 399, $36,550.
17. (43) Darrell Waltrip, Franklin, Tenn., Chevrolet, 399, $28,700.
18. (37) Michael Waltrip, Owensboro, Ky., Ford, 399, $39,700.
19. (12) Jeremy Mayfield, Owensboro, Ky., Ford, 398, $37,950.
20. (40) Bobby Hamilton, Nashville, Tenn., Chevrolet, 398, $43,850.
21. (7) Dick Trickle, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., Ford, 398, $37,300.
22. (32) Brett Bodine, Chemung, N.Y., Ford, 398, $36,250.
23. (13) Geoff Bodine, Chemung, N.Y., Ford, 398, $35,850.
24. (16) Rich Bickle, Edgerton, Wis., Ford, 398, $35,450.
25. (42) Kenny Wallace, St. Louis, Ford, 398, $28,700.
26. (9) Rick Mast, Lexington, Va., Ford, 398, $27,950.
27. (19) Lake Speed, Jackson, Miss., Ford, 397, $27,760.
28. (20) Todd Bodine, Chemung, N.Y., Pontiac, 397, $24,710.
29. (34) Mike Skinner, Susanville, Calif., Chevrolet, 397, $27,675.
30. (29) Kyle Petty, Randleman, N.C., Pontiac, 396, $34,150.
31. (35) Ricky Rudd, Chesapeake, Va., Ford, 396, $41,025.
32. (23) Steve Grissom, Gadsden, Ala., Chevrolet, 396, $31,620.
33. (25) Derrike Cope, Spanaway, Wash., Pontiac, 395, $31,618.
34. (2) Ward Burton, South Boston, Va., Pontiac, 395, $43,610.
35. (24) Chad Little, Spokane, Wash., Ford, 386, $24,605.
36. (15) Kevin Lepage, Shelburne, Vt., Chevrolet, 386, $25,600.
37. (8) Gary Bradberry, Chelsea, Ala., Ford, 368, wreck, $25,095.
38. (11) Randy LaJoie, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 336, wreck, $31,585.
39. (28) Dale Earnhardt, Kannapolis, N.C., Chevrolet, 336, wreck, $39,580.
40. (22) Jerry Nadeau, Danbury, Conn., Ford, 331, $24,575.
41. (36) Terry Labonte, Corpus Christi, Texas, Chevrolet, 329, $40,570.
42. (31) Elliott Sadler, Emporia, Va., Chevrolet, 208, engine, $24,565.
43. (17) David Green, Owensboro, Ky., Chevrolet, 134, engine, $ 24,560.

Race Statistics:

Time of race: 4 hours, 23 minutes, 53 seconds.
Margin of victory: 0.41 seconds (about 15 car-lengths).
Winner's average speed: 136.424 mph.
Caution flags: 8 for 52 laps.
Lead changes: 33 among 12 drivers.

Lap leaders: Gordon pole; W.Burton 1-29; Martin 30; W.Burton 31-36; K.Wallace 37-38; R.Wallace 39-41; Gordon 42-59; Martin 60; Gordon 61; Martin 62-110; Benson 111; Nemechek 112-114; Spencer 115-116; M.Waltrip 117-118; Trickle 119-120; Gordon 121-128; Martin 129-181; Spencer 182-187; Gordon 188; Martin 189-194; Spencer 195-214; Martin 215-241; R.Wallace 242-253; Jarrett 254-255; Gordon 256-265; Martin 266-278; Jarrett 279-288; Martin 289-292; Jarrett 293-327; B.Labonte 328-339; Martin 340-349; Gordon 350-354; R.Wallace 355-390; Gordon 391-400.

Series points leaders: Gordon 1,590; Mayfield 1,563; R.Wallace 1,559; Martin 1,504; T.Labonte 1,461; Jarrett 1,455; B.Labonte 1,339; Spencer 1,313; Schrader 1,292; Earnhardt 1,269; Elliott 1,260; J.Burton 1,252; M.Waltrip 1,252; Benson 1,222; W.Burton 1,202.