1997 Daytona 500

The 1997 Daytona 500, the 39th running of the event, was held on February 16 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Consisted of 200 laps and 500 miles, it was the first race of the 1997 Winston Cup season. Mike Skinner, driving the #31 car for Richard Childress Racing, won the pole and Jeff Gordon, driving the #24 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, won the race. The race was broadcast on television by CBS.

1997 Daytona 500
Race details
Race 1 of 32 in the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Track map of Daytona International Speedway showing mainly the speedway.
Date February 16, 1997 (1997-02-16)
Location Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S.
Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4.02336 km)
Distance 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather Temperatures hovering around 63 °F (17 °C); wind speeds reaching up to 23 miles per hour (37 km/h)[1]
Average speed 148.295 miles per hour (238.658 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Richard Childress Racing
Qualifying race winners
Duel 1 Winner Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing
Duel 2 Winner Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing
Most laps led
Driver Mark Martin Roush Racing
Laps 52
Winner
No. 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network CBS
Announcers Ken Squier, Buddy Baker, and Ned Jarrett
Nielsen Ratings 8.6/23
(12.8 million viewers)

Background
Daytona International Speedway, the track where the race was held.

Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida that is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway.[2] The standard track at Daytona is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track also features two other layouts that utilize portions of the primary high speed tri-oval, such as a 3.56-mile (5.73 km) sports car course and a 2.95-mile (4.75 km) motorcycle course.[3] The track's 180-acre (73 ha) infield includes the 29-acre (12 ha) Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing. The speedway is owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.

The track was built by NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. to host racing that was being held at the former Daytona Beach Road Course and opened with the first Daytona 500 in 1959.[4] The speedway has been renovated three times, with the infield renovated in 2004,[5] and the track repaved in 1978 and 2010.[6]

The Daytona 500 is regarded as the most important and prestigious race on the NASCAR calendar.[7] It is also the series' first race of the year; this phenomenon is virtually unique in sports, which tend to have championships or other major events at the end of the season rather than the start. Since 1995, U.S. television ratings for the Daytona 500 have been the highest for any auto race of the year, surpassing the traditional leader, the Indianapolis 500 which in turn greatly surpasses the Daytona 500 in in-track attendance and international viewing. The 2006 Daytona 500 attracted the sixth largest average live global TV audience of any sporting event that year with 20 million viewers.[8]

Race recap

Notes
  • Joe Nemechek's car owner Felix Sabates bought the #73 entry of Phil Barkdoll, who had qualified 38th. Nemechek went to the #73 for the 500.
  • Remington Arms placed their sponsor logos on the #19 Ford driven by Loy Allen Jr. for Tri-Star Motorsports after Rick Mast failed to qualify the RahMoc car.
  • Robert Pressley's car caught air after he spun on lap 10. The rear of the car lifted so much, the car was temporarily sliding across the track on its nose. The landing was quite hard, so after the crew repaired the car, then Busch Series competitor and future 2-time Camping World Truck Series Champion Todd Bodine hopped in to complete more laps.
  • Dale Earnhardt was involved in a crash in a six-way battle for the lead with 12 laps to go, in which his #3 Chevrolet scraped the backstretch wall by itself, then made contact with Dale Jarrett causing Earnhardt's car to roll over. While his car was on its roof, Earnhardt was contacted by Ernie Irvan in the #28 Ford. The hood of Irvan's car detached and sailed into the backstretch grandstand, injuring a few spectators. Earnhardt famously noticed that his tires were still on the car after the crash, had his car taken off the hook, and drove it back to pit road. The car was repaired and Earnhardt was able to return to the race, 5 laps down in 31st.
  • The race ended under caution after the Big One occurred on lap 196, involving 13 cars.
  • Hendrick Motorsports posted a 1-2-3 finish with Gordon winning the race, Terry Labonte finishing second, and Ricky Craven finishing third. The team used a formation finish as the race ended under the safety car, which was possible at the time.
  • At age 25, Jeff Gordon became the youngest Daytona 500 winner ever. Richard Petty had previously been the youngest winner in 1964, when he won the 500 at age 26. Gordon's record was surpassed when Trevor Bayne won the 2011 Daytona 500 at age 20.

Results
Pos Grid Car Driver Team Make Laps Laps led Status
1 624Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet20040Running
2 185Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet2000Running
3 4025Ricky CravenHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet2000Running
4 894Bill Elliott (W)Bill Elliott RacingFord20030Running
5 94Sterling Marlin (W)Morgan-McClure MotorsportsChevrolet2008Running
6 2137Jeremy MayfieldMK RacingFord2000Running
7 116Mark MartinRoush RacingFord20052Running
8 1722Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac2000Running
9 1310Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord2000Running
10 2217Darrell Waltrip (W)Darrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet2000Running
11 2399Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord2000Running
12 131Mike Skinner (R)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet2001Running
13 4116Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord2000Running
14 3044Kyle PettyPE2 MotorsportsPontiac2000Running
15 3943Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac2000Running
16 2040Robby GordonSABCO RacingChevrolet2000Running
17 2471Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet2000Running
18 3711Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord2000Running
19 288Hut StricklinStavola Brothers RacingFord2000Running
20 528Ernie Irvan (W)Robert Yates RacingFord20013Running
21 1518Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac2000Running
22 3681Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord2000Running
23 388Dale Jarrett (W)Robert Yates RacingFord2000Running
24 359Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord1990Flagged
25 3298John AndrettiCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord1980Flagged
26 3319Loy Allen, Jr.TriStar MotorsportsFord1980Flagged
27 3873Joe Nemechek2Barkdoll RacingChevrolet1960Contact T4
28 1630Johnny BensonBahari RacingPontiac1950Contact T4
29 421Morgan ShepherdPrecision Products RacingPontiac1950Contact T4
30 2790Dick TrickleDonlavey RacingFord1950Contact T4
31 43Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet19548Flagged
32 1221Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord1885Flagged
33 1033Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet1730Flagged
34 257Geoff Bodine (W)Geoff Bodine RacingFord1480Flagged
35 723Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesFord1460Flagged
36 2936Derrike Cope (W)MB2 MotorsportsPontiac1240Contact BS
37 3420Greg SacksRanier-Walsh RacingFord1203Contact BS
38 3177Bobby Hillin, Jr.Jasper MotorsportsFord1110Engine
39 1929Robert PressleyDiamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet910Contact BS
40 241Steve GrissomLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet880Contact BS
41 142Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord470Engine
42 2646Wally Dallenbach, Jr.SABCO RacingChevrolet320Engine
Failed to Qualify
75Rick MastButch Mock MotorsportsFord
97Chad LittleMark Rypien MotorsportsPontiac
15Larry PearsonBud Moore EngineeringFord
42Joe Nemechek2SABCO RacingChevrolet
78Billy Standridge (R)Triad MotorsportsFord
96David Green (R)American Equipment RacingChevrolet
95Gary Bradberry (R)Sadler Brothers RacingChevrolet
91Mike WallacePro Tech MotorsportsChevrolet
0Delma CowartH. L. Waters RacingFord
84Norm Benning (R)Norm Benning RacingChevrolet
"1997 Daytona 500 - Racing-Reference.info". Retrieved 2012-06-15.
Notes:
  1. After Rick Mast failed to qualify for the Daytona 500, his sponsor Remington Arms signed an agreement to sponsor Loy Allen's entry for the Daytona 500.
  2. After Joe Nemechek failed to qualify for the Daytona 500, his SABCO team reached an agreement to purchase Phil Barkdoll's entry and compete in the Daytona 500 in Barkdoll's car.

References
  1. Weather information for the 1997 Daytona 500 at Old Farmers Almanac
  2. "Race Tracks". NASCAR. Turner Sports. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  3. "Track facts". DaytonaInternationalSpeedway.com. Daytona International Speedway. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  4. "The History of ISC". InternationalSpeedwayCorporation.com. International Speedway Corporation. June 14, 2015. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  5. "Daytona Announces Facility Renovation Plans, No Track Alterations". Roadracing World. Lake Elsinore, California: Roadracing World Publishing, Inc. March 24, 2004. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  6. "Daytona International Speedway set to repave following the Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola". DaytonaInternationalSpeedway.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: Daytona International Speedway. April 24, 2010. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  7. What Makes Daytona Special. Daytona International Speedway. May 10, 2012. 2:51 minutes in. YouTube.
  8. "World's most watched TV sports events: 2006 Rank & Trends report". Initiative. January 19, 2007. Archived from the original on February 8, 2007. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
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