The 1998 Michigan 500 was the twelfth round of the 1998 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series season, held on July 26, 1998, at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan. For sponsorship reasons, and in light of the continuing split in Championship Car racing, the race was branded as the 1998 U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota. The race saw a record 63 lead changes due to the draft of the new Hanford Device, and was won by Greg Moore after a thrilling battle in the last five laps with Jimmy Vasser, Alex Zanardi and Scott Pruett.

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1998 Michigan 500

Race details
Race 12 of 19 in the 1998 CART season
Michigan International Speedway
Date	July 26, 1998
Official name	1998 U.S. 500 Presented by Toyota
Location	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan, United States
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.000 mi / 3.219 km
Distance	250 laps 500.000 mi / 804.672 km
Weather	Dry
Pole position
Driver	Adrián Fernández (Patrick Racing)
Time	31.370
Fastest lap
Driver	Patrick Carpentier (Forsythe Racing)
Time	31.508 (on lap 131 of 250)
Podium
First	Greg Moore (Forsythe Racing)
Second	Jimmy Vasser (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Third	Alex Zanardi (Chip Ganassi Racing)

Close

The race was marred by a crash on lap 175. Adrián Fernández slammed into the outside wall in the fourth turn. His right front wheel was torn off and hurled over the fence into the stands, killing three spectators (Kenneth Fox, Sheryl Laster, and Michael Tautkus) and injuring six others.^[1] A subsequent incident in the IndyCar Series' VisionAire 500K the following year resulted in both open-wheel sanctioning bodies (and NASCAR, initially for its Modified Tour series)^[2] requiring tethers be installed in wheel hubs, as well as changes to catch fencing on oval tracks, to prevent such re-occurrence.