The race was held on March 22, 1998 at the 1.000 mi (1.609 km) Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.

The difference between the fastest and slowest qualifier was the 2nd closest in Indycar history at Phoenix, which, combined with traction problems in turn 2 caused by a dip in the pavement, made for a rough race.

Speeds were up from the previous year, and six cars broke the new-car track record led by surprise pole winner Jeff Ward, who jumped out to the early lead and held it until he encountered gearbox problems.

He eventually lost fifth gear and was handicapped on restarts, although once up to speed he was still one of the fastest cars on the track.

In between, Kenny Bräck, Billy Boat and Ward battled for position while Sharp moved up through the field.

The Dutch had significant damage to his helmet from the pavement but only had a hand burn caused by scraping the asphalt during the spin.

After the green flag on lap 174, Sharp quickly opened up a 3-second lead in traffic but then had to slow to conserve fuel.

On lap 186, Bräck got caught in a four wide pass in the back stretch dogleg and he touched wheels with Mike Groff.