The MBNA Platinum 400 turned out to be a fuel milage race, with pit stop strategy wining the race for Dale Jarrett in the # 88 Quality Care Ford Taurus. This was Jarrett's first win at Dover, his second of the '98 season, and the 17th of his Winston Cup career. DJ was able to win the race inside of a 105 lap pit stop window, where others had to stop for a "splash and go", including Jeff Gordon (# 24) who led for 375 of the 400 laps. Stopping for fuel with just 10 laps remaining, relegated Gordon back to a third place finish behind second place finisher Jeff Burton (# 99). Ricky Rudd ( # 10), and Jeremy Mayfield ( # 12), rounded out the top five.
Jeff Gordon hangs on the ponts lead, 47 points over second place Jeremy Mayfield (# 12). Rusty Wallace (# 2), Mark Martin (# 6), and Dale Jarrett (# 88) round out the top five for the Winston Cup Championship points race. Holding positions 5 thru 10 are Terry (# 5) and Bobby (# 19) Labonte, Jeff Burton (# 99), Ken Schrader (# 33), and Jimmy Spencer (# 23).
The first caution came on lap 10 when Johnny Benson (# 26) got loose and spun out, collecting and damaging the # 97, # 44, # 50, # 16, and # 77 cars. Kenny Wallace (# 81) and David Green (# 95) blew out right front tires and hit the wall, bringing out two caution periods. Part of the exaust system came off of the # 41 Kodiak car bringing out a caution period for debree on the track, and a soda can that was thrown on the track also brought out 1 of the 5 cautions for the race.
Busch Series regular and Winston Cup rookie Buckshot Jones finished 8th with the Stavola Bros. # 8 Circuit City car. He will be testing at Pocono Raceway the first part of the week and will drive the #8 car there on June 21st. He took over the driver duties temporarily when Hut Stricklin was released last week. A top 10 finish for a Winston Cup rookie is a feat worth mentioning.
Randy LaJoie took over driver duties on the # 16 Prime Star entry when, driver Ted Musgrave relinquished his seat due to the intense heat, and a burned foot from the long Coca- Cola 600 at Charlotte last week. LaJoie got knocked out of the race on the lap 10 wreck with the # 50 Budweiser car. He finished 22nd with the # 16 car, 4 laps down.
