This is the standard paint scheme for the 1998 racing season. Its hood just has the Red Plus lettering which distinguishes it from the following years paint schemes. Unfortunately, the same is true of the 1997 Goodwrench Plus where this scheme was introduced.The differences are that the 1998 paint scheme has a small red Coca Cola decal on the window frame and the skirting has a silver bar with a small black strip at the very bottom. A hard to spot set of additional changes are the NASCAR 50th anniversary decal at the bottom of the front window frames and the words "In Loving Memory T. Wayne" under the snap on tools decal ahead of the rear wheel well. Dale would finish this season 8th, a record 1400 points behind 3 time champion Jeff Gordon.

For years, Dale Earnhardt and The Superbowl of Stock Car Racing was a sore subject. Everyone, it seemed, emphasized that Dale had never won the Daytona 500. By 1997, he was the single most successful driver at Daytona since King Richard Petty. Dale won over 2 million dollars there; more money than any other driver in NASCAR history. He was a two-time winner of the Pepsi 400, held on the Independence Day weekend every July. Dale won the Clash, now hailed as the Shootout; the sprint race for the past years pole winners, six times. Dale had even been victorious in his half of the Twin 125 Qualifiers, the weekday races that set the field for Sunday's Daytona 500, an incredible 10 times. Yet, Victory Lane after the Great American Race had somehow eluded him for two decades.