IndyCar
IRL: Dover Friday Practice
STEWART BLAZES DOVER WITH 184 MPH PRACTICE LAP DOVER, Del., July 17, 1998 - Defending Pep Boys Indy Racing League champion Tony Stewart turned the fastest unofficial lap ever at Dover Downs International Speedway, 184.455 mph, to lead ...
Edited: Mar 27, 2008, 5:32 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
STEWART BLAZES DOVER WITH 184 MPH PRACTICE LAP
DOVER, Del., July 17, 1998 - Defending Pep Boys Indy Racing League champion Tony Stewart turned the fastest unofficial lap ever at Dover Downs International Speedway, 184.455 mph, to lead practice Friday for the Pep Boys 400K.
Stewart covered the 1-mile, high-banked concrete oval in 19.517 seconds during his fastest lap in the Glidden-Menards Special G Force/Aurora/Firestone. He previously set an unofficial track record of 183.393 in mid-June during the Pep Boys IRL Open Test. Rusty Wallace set the track record of 155.898 in a NASCAR Winston Cup stock car while winning the pole for the MBNA Platinum 400 in May 1998.
"The track is a lot smoother than when we tested here," Stewart said. "I'd say some of (the speed gain) is the team, and some of it is the racetrack. It's a little bit of both. "The track has so much grip you're able to go two- and three-wide. The drivers are able to go where they want. It's just a matter of who can go the fastest."
PPG Pole qualifying for the inaugural Pep Boys IRL race at the "Monster Mile" starts at noon (EDT) Saturday. The 248-lap, 248-mile race starts at noon Sunday.
Ten of the 22 drivers who participated in practice turned at least one lap faster than 180 mph, as Dover Downs quickly became the fastest 1-mile oval on the circuit. The impressive speed came despite temperatures in the low 90's, high humidity and track temperatures approaching 110 degrees.
"We're all running really close times," said two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Arie Luyendyk. "We hope it cools down because it's going to be hard on us if it stays this warm."
Luyendyk was second fastest at 183.477 in the Sprint PCS-RadioShack-QUALCOMM G Force/Aurora/Firestone.
Greg Ray, Steve Knapp and Jim Guthrie each debuted with new teams.
Ray recorded a top speed of 178.288 in his first race as driver of the Conseco-A.J. Foyt Racing Dallara/Aurora/Goodyear. Ray is substituting for Billy Boat, who suffered a broken leg and pelvis in an accident during the New England 200 on June 28 at Loudon, N.H.
1998 Indianapolis 500 Bank One Rookie of the Year Knapp topped out at 178.456 in the Earl's Performance Products-Parker Machinery G Force/Aurora/Goodyear fielded by PDM Racing.
1996-97 IRL Rookie of the Year Guthrie debuted with CBR-Cobb Racing, reaching only 156.148 due to fuel pump problems. Guthrie missed the last two races due to injuries suffered in the Indianapolis 500, in which he drove for ISM Racing.
PEP BOYS 400K TOP FIVE PRACTICE TIMES, SPEEDS Pos. No. Driver Chassis/Engine/Tire Time Speed 1 1 Tony Stewart G Force/Aurora/Firestone 19.517 184.455 2 5 Arie Luyendyk G Force/Aurora/Firestone 19.621 183.477 3 35 Jeff Ward G Force/Aurora/Goodyear 19.672 183.001 4 16 Marco Greco G Force/Aurora/Firestone 19.723 182.528 5 8 Scott Sharp Dallara/Aurora/Goodyear 19.737 182.399 ***
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article CHAMPCAR/CART: MCI Supports Motorsports Ministries
Next article CHAMPCAR/CART: Magneti Marelli's ECU-The Brain of a Champ Car - Part 1
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Tony Stewart
The most unexpected driver and team breakups in modern NASCAR Cup history
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
The most unexpected driver and team breakups in modern NASCAR Cup history
The wildest fights in modern NASCAR Cup history
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Bristol II
The wildest fights in modern NASCAR Cup history
Tony Stewart will be racing at Talladega with Kaulig Ram NASCAR Truck team
NASCAR Truck
NASCAR Truck
Kansas
Tony Stewart will be racing at Talladega with Kaulig Ram NASCAR Truck team
Latest news
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
Indy NXT
IndL Indy NXT 1 h
Niels Koolen makes switch to Abel Motorsports ahead of 2027 Indy NXT campaign
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 1 h
GT World Challenge Portimao: All you need to know about season finale featuring Max Verstappen
13 Autosport retains unchanged lineup for 2027 IMSA campaign, eyes global expansion
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 2 h
13 Autosport retains unchanged lineup for 2027 IMSA campaign, eyes global expansion
Bourdais, Moss headline second batch of Sebring's 75 all-time greatest drivers
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 2 h
Bourdais, Moss headline second batch of Sebring's 75 all-time greatest drivers
Feature
Discover prime content
Inside AJ Foyt Racing’s transition: Hauger’s arrival, Ferrucci’s future, and the Pierson waiting game
Feature
IndyCar
Feature
IndyCar
By Joey Barnes
Inside AJ Foyt Racing’s transition: Hauger’s arrival, Ferrucci’s future, and the Pierson waiting game
You Ask The Questions: David Malukas
IndyCar
By Joey Barnes
You Ask The Questions: David Malukas
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe