Reflections: 1998 CART IndyCar at Vancouver

Western Canada was a staple on CART's IndyCar calendar throughout the 1990s, and toward the end of the decade, the popular street circuit produced a popular win for sophomore driver Dario Franchitti and heartbreak for Bryan Herta.

The Scot, who would go on to win three Indy 500s and four IndyCar titles before retiring in 2013, was in his second CART season, joining Paul Tracy at the upstart Team KOOL Green outfit. Vancouver 1998 marked the second of 31 wins Franchitti would amass during his time in CART, the Indy Racing League, and the IndyCar Series. It was also his second win in a row after taking the victory at the previous round in Elkhart Lake.

Modern IndyCar drivers will likely curse when they learn Franchitti earned a $330,000 bonus for winning from the pole, another $10,000 for earning the pole, and $100,000 for the win itself, which made for a nice payday of $440,00 for an afternoon's work in British Columbia.

"That was a big money weekend for me," Franchitti (LEFT and ABOVE, in 1998) told RACER. "That was so funny because it was the Marlboro Pole Award and I'm driving the KOOL (cigarette) car and took that $100,000 Marlboro check. And it gets better (laughs), because Herta won the next week at Laguna from pole, and got jack s***!

"It was one of those deals that rolled over and kept rolling over until someone won from pole, so I got that giant check for doing it at Vancouver, and he got like $10 grand or some small amount because it started over from scratch at the next round."

Fuel saving, which was a normal part of CART racing at the time, played a role in the outcome of the 86-lap contest around the revised 1.8-mile circuit. Franchitti, in the dominant Reynard-Honda-Firestone package, led laps 1-21, and 80-86 after stretching his fuel and saving enough to allow a hard run to the checkered flag. He overtook future boss Michael Andretti, who was being mindful of fuel mileage in the final minutes of the race, with a daring pass into Turn 9 and drove home 3.4 seconds ahead of Andretti's Newman/Haas Swift-Cosworth.

"It was one of those weekends when it all came together," Franchitti continued. "Me, the car, the track. It was all just right. I drove off from the pole, and we went on a different strategy, and got to a point where I was running behind Michael, but were a good bit quicker, but couldn't get past him. Michael was very clever, and having to save a lot of fuel, and giving me a master class in how to save fuel and keep somebody behind you. It was really impressive.

"I remember putting pressure on him at the end of the back straight; it was the first year of the new layout, and I pulled out on him, he covered to defend, then I did a crossover, got him, and then I drove away. That was it. It was a pretty good time for me. I'd won my first race before Vancouver, then won after at Houston, and I was starting to find my form, learning how to win races."

Scott Pruett completed the top-3 in his Patrick Racing Reynard-Honda. Although he would return to compete in 1999, Vancouver was the final time Pruett sprayed champagne from an IndyCar podium.

Behind Pruett, Alex Zanardi (RIGHT) sealed his second CART title with Target Chip Ganassi Racing. To fully appreciate the Italian's accomplishment, and his thorough mastery of the 1998 season, Vancouver took place on Sept. 6, and was Round 15 in the 19-race championship.

On the strength of six wins and 11 top-3s leading into Vancouver, Zanardi took the crown with four round left to run in a season than went until Nov. 1. For those who are accustomed to IndyCar championship battles going down to the last lap of the final race, Zanardi and TCGR shut the season down with almost two months left to go.

Zanardi was moved by retaining the championship and dedicated it to his growing family.

"This is a great feeling, and it comes at a beautiful period in my life," he told On Track magazine. "My wife (Daniela) is expecting...it could happen any day, and I want to dedicate one to my kid, who maybe in the next few days will be starting the race of life."

With his second CART crown in hand, Zanardi would say farewell to America once the season was over and return to Formula 1 with the Williams team. In his place, a bold and brash Colombian by the name of Juan Montoya would take over the prized TCGR ride and capture the team's fourth straight championship in 1999 after Jimmy Vasser started the streak in 1996.

Of the other notable results from Vancouver 1998, Franchitti's win in front of packed grandstands – a reported audience of 69,537 – gave Firestone its 50th combined victory since returning to IndyCar (and later, the IRL) in 1995. Al Unser Jr., driving the wild-looking Penske PC27-Mercedes (TOP), claimed fifth after storming from a lowly 22nd on the grid. Rookies Tony Kanaan (P18) and Helio Castro-Neves (P24) had forgettable days, as did Bobby Rahal (P25), who announced he was retiring at the end of the year.

Local hero Greg Moore (P20), who was one of many taken out by contact on the day, was responsible for the reconfigured circuit that ran around the BC Lions CFL football stadium, and was criticized for its surprisingly narrow configuration and the addition of a few new, sharper corners.

"It's 'turnier' than last year," Moore said. "We've got 14 turns this year. You can criticize every racetrack for its lack of reaction time, but I'm still pleased with the way this race track is."

Team Rahal's Bryan Herta managed to qualify alongside Franchitti on the front row, felt he was in a position to go for his first win, but was fell victim to the narrow circuit when he was hit front behind by Richie Hearn on lap 51, smacked the wall, and retired with broken suspension. As Franchitti mentioned, he'd recover at the next race in Monterey where he put the demons of "The Pass" from 1996 to rest en route to his first win.

Looking back, Herta (LEFT, LAT photo) doesn't have many fond memories from Vancouver 1998 but, like most who attended the event, misses its place on the current IndyCar calendar.

"It was one of my all-time favorite cities to race and visit," he told RACER. "The track kept changing because there was construction always going on in the area, but the fans really loved the event and it was pretty great as a driver. And it was Greg [Moore's] home race, so you had all the Canadian fans cheering him on and P.T. (Paul Tracy) and it was a special place to go, no doubt. Hopefully, if what I keep reading about Calgary maybe coming together, we'll get to go back to Western Canada and race again."

Franchitti also misses the race, and says the celebration that followed the 1998 event still lingers.

"Greg [Moore] put on one hell of a party after the race," he recalled. "I might still be sobering up from that one."

Click on the thumbnails for larger images from the 1998 CART Vancouver race.

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