NA-F2000: Point Standings

FORMULA 2000 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

McGEHEE TAKES ATLANTA, BESNARD WINS "OVAL CROWN" TITLE

Robby McGehee of St. Louis, Mo. captured Saturday night's yellow and red-flag punctuated USAC/SCCA United States Formula 2000 Championship race on the 1.6-mile "modified" oval at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway. David Besnard of Sydney, Australia, by finishing second, earned the initial USAC racing championship of 1998, the Formula 2000 "Oval Crown." McGehee led 13 of the 30 laps in his VisionAire/Energizer Tatuus Ford, including the last eight as the race ended under yellow-flag conditions with Besnard, Andy Lally, Bobby Oergel and Sam Hornish, Jr. rounding out the "top-five." A red flag on lap 19 was necessitated when international cycling star Greg Lemond flipped his car exiting the chicane at the end of the front stretch. LeMond was uninjured in the accident. Besnard's second-place finish left him with a 58-point cushion over Ryan Hampton in the new National F2000 standings going into the 1998 series finales at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, Colo. September 26-27. Hampton, who led 11 laps, was seventh at Atlanta, slipping to third behind McGehee in the final "oval crown" points.

Formula 2000 National Point Standings: 1-David Besnard-333; 2-Ryan Hampton-275; 3-Robby McGehee-247; 4-Andy Lally-206; 5-Marc-Antoine Camirand-186; 6-Mike Johnson-172; 7-Bobby Oergel-169; 8-Jonathan Bottoms-164; 9-Sam Hornish, Jr.-151; 10-Steve Rikert-147.

Formula 2000 Oval Crown Final Point Standings: 1-David Besnard-137; 2-Robby McGehee-123; 3-Ryan Hampton-121; 4-Andy Lally-102; 5-Sam Hornish, Jr.-89; 6-Bobby Oergel-78; 7-Jonathan Bottoms-76; 8-Mike Johnson-73; 9-Tom Wood-57; 10-Marc-Antoine Camirand-54.