On this date in 1998 John Paul Jr won the “Lone Star 500” at Texas Motor Speedway. The car owner was Jonathan Byrd, a Greenwood, IN. business man whose passion for serving up great food was surpassed only by his love of God and the Indianapolis 500.
Those of you new to IndyCar racing will be surprised looking at the box score for this event. Here’s the top 5:
Driver Chassis Engine
1-John Paul Jr. G-Force Oldsmobile
2-Robby Unser G-Force Oldsmobile
3-Jeff Ward G-Force Oldsmobile
4-Roberto Guerrero G-Force Nissian
5-Kenny Brack Dallara Oldsmobile
Yep, G-Force chassis’s, Olds and Nissian engines and another Unser running up front.
What wasn’t strange was Jonathan Byrd finally getting to victory Lane. The man was successful at everything he worked on and had employed some of the best names in Motor Sports. 17 Indy 500’s with 8 top 10’s. I really like both Jonathan and John Paul so it was hard to say who I was happier for that day.
