The 1998 TranSouth Financial 400 was the fifth stock car race of the 1998 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 42nd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 22, 1998, in Darlington, South Carolina, at Darlington Raceway, a 1.366 miles (2.198 km) permanent egg-shaped oval racetrack. The race took the scheduled 293 laps to complete. In the late stages of the race, Robert Yates Racing driver Dale Jarrett would manage to defend Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon to take his 16th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season. To fill out the top 3, Gordon and Penske-Kranefuss Racing driver Rusty Wallace would finish second and third, respectively.