1997 Mountain Dew Southern 500

The 1997 Mountain Dew Southern 500, the 48th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on August 31, 1997 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. Bobby Labonte won the pole position and Jeff Gordon won the race for the third time in his career and clinched the Winston Million.

1997 Mountain Dew Southern 500
Race details[1]
Race 23 of 32 in the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Layout of Darlington Raceway
Date August 31, 1997 (1997-August-31)
Official name Mountain Dew Southern 500
Location Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina
Course Permanent racing facility
1.366 mi (2.198 km)
Distance 367 laps, 501.3 mi (806.7 km)
Weather Extremely hot with temperatures approaching 91.4 °F (33.0 °C); wind speeds reaching up to 15 miles per hour (24 km/h)
Average speed 121.149 miles per hour (194.970 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Joe Gibbs Racing
Most laps led
Driver Bill Elliott Bill Elliott Racing
Laps 181
Winner
No. 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network ESPN
Announcers Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons

Background

Layout of Darlington Raceway, the track where the race was held.

Darlington Raceway, nicknamed by many NASCAR fans and drivers as "The Lady in Black" or "The Track Too Tough to Tame" and advertised as a "NASCAR Tradition", is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that will be effective at both ends.

The track is a four-turn 1.366 miles (2.198 km) oval.[2] The track's first two turns are banked at twenty-five degrees, while the final two turns are banked two degrees lower at twenty-three degrees.[2] The front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch is banked at six degrees.[2] Darlington Raceway can seat up to 60,000 people.[2]

Darlington has something of a legendary quality among drivers and older fans; this is probably due to its long track length relative to other NASCAR speedways of its era and hence the first venue where many of them became cognizant of the truly high speeds that stock cars could achieve on a long track. The track allegedly earned the moniker The Lady in Black because the night before the race the track maintenance crew would cover the entire track with fresh asphalt sealant, in the early years of the speedway, thus making the racing surface dark black. Darlington is also known as "The Track Too Tough to Tame" because drivers can run lap after lap without a problem and then bounce off of the wall the following lap. Racers will frequently explain that they have to race the racetrack, not their competition. Drivers hitting the wall are considered to have received their "Darlington Stripe" thanks to the missing paint on the right side of the car.

Summary

Dave Marcis, Greg Sacks and Morgan Shepherd all failed to qualify. The race had 11 cautions for 67 laps. Ernie Irvan had just gotten a lap back and as he was catching up to the field, the wrecked 12 of Jeff Purvis pulled down in front of Irvan and tore up the 28. It did damage to the cooling system and his pit stall was covered in water after every stop. He would eventually drop out of the race on lap 183 due to engine issues.[3] A very odd instance of the race occurred when all the lead lap cars came in during the caution on lap 295 because of the nasty rain.[3] Dale Jarrett was in the lead since lap 258 and his pit crew was telling him to stay out but for some reason he came in at the last second possible instead of staying out in case the race was called.[3] Jeff Gordon came out in 1st after the pit stops and kept the lead for the last 72 laps that were left.[3]

Dale Earnhardt suffered a blackout during the pace laps and crashed, ending his day. After the car was repaired, Busch Series driver Mike Dillon (the son-in-law of car owner Richard Childress) replaced him in the No. 3 car and got a 30th-place finish, 85 laps behind winner Jeff Gordon.[4]

Several crashes and a brief instance of rain allowed the race to last for four hours and eight minutes. Gordon held off a late charge by Jeff Burton to win his ninth race of the year and the Winston Million by less than 0.2 seconds (his 28th overall).[3] ESPN's Bob Jenkins called the ending thus:

Jeff Burton will make a challenge off the corner, onto the straightaway...but Jeff Gordon wins it!

The only other driver to have accomplished the Winston Million was Bill Elliott, who finished fourth and led the most laps. Rusty Wallace finished 43rd after a crash that collected Kyle Petty, Robby Gordon, and Todd Bodine on lap 5. He ended up with $29,270.[3] The total winners' purse was $1,202,356 ($1,914,946.34 considering inflation). Gordon won $131,330 for winning plus an additional $1,000,000 for winning the Winston Million.[5]

Official results

Pos Grid No. Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Points
1724Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet367180
21699Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord367175
3388Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord367170
4294Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord367170
52110Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord367155
6175Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet367150
7118Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac367151
846Mark MartinRoush RacingFord367142
91421Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord367143
10533Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet366134
113797Chad LittleRoush RacingPontiac366130
12127Geoff BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord366127
13890Dick TrickleDonlavey RacingFord366124
142436Derrike CopeMB2 MotorsportsPontiac365121
151111Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord365118
161937Jeremy MayfieldKranefuss-Haas RacingFord365115
1768Hut StricklinStavola Brothers RacingFord365112
18239Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord365109
191830Johnny Benson, Jr.Bahari RacingPontiac365106
204043Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac365103
212941Steve GrissomLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet365100
223440Robby Gordon #Team SabcoChevrolet36397
232042Joe NemechekTeam SabcoChevrolet35994
242581Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord35491
252778Gary BradberryWilson-Inman MotorsportsFord35488
263817Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsFord35385
271322Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac35082
283023Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesFord34179
291516Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord29681
30363Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet28273
313125Ricky CravenHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet23670
323944Kyle PettyPE2Pontiac20267
331028Ernie IrvanRobert Yates RacingFord18364
342875Rick MastRahMoc EnterprisesFord17761
35411Lance Hooper #Richard Jackson MotorsportsPontiac17558
363331Mike Skinner #Richard Childress RacingChevrolet13055
373298John AndrettiCale Yarborough RacingFord11752
382212Jeff PurvisLAR MotorsportsChevrolet11449
394229Jeff Green #Diamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet10446
4094Sterling MarlinMorgan-McClure MotorsportsChevrolet10243
412646Wally Dallenbach, Jr.Team SabcoChevrolet8540
423596Todd BodineAmerican Equipment RacingChevrolet537
43432Rusty WallacePenske SouthFord534
# Rookie of the Year candidate / ‡ Relief driver Mike Dillon finished race
Source:[3]

Timeline

Section reference: [3]

  • Start of race: Bobby Labonte started the race with the pole position.
  • Lap 3: Bill Elliott took over the lead from Bobby Labonte.
  • Lap 7: First caution of the race, ended on lap 11.
  • Lap 46: Jeff Burton took over the lead from Bill Elliott.
  • Lap 70: Michael Waltrip took over the lead from Jeff Burton.
  • Lap 72: Jeff Gordon took over the lead from Michael Waltrip.
  • Lap 109: Second caution of the race, ended on lap 114.
  • Lap 116: Bill Elliott took over the lead from Jeff Gordon.
  • Lap 120: Third caution of the race, ended on lap 125.
  • Lap 135: Fourth caution of the race, ended on lap 139.
  • Lap 136: Ted Musgrave took over the lead from Bill Elliott.
  • Lap 140: Bill Elliott took over the lead from Ted Musgrave.
  • Lap 168: Fifth caution of the race, ended on lap 175.
  • Lap 180: Sixth caution of the race, ended on lap 186.
  • Lap 211: Seventh caution of the race, ended on lap 216.
  • Lap 251: Eighth caution of the race, ended on lap 256.
  • Lap 258: Dale Jarrett took over the lead from Bill Elliott.
  • Lap 274: Ninth caution of the race, ended on lap 278.
  • Lap 295: Tenth caution of the race, ended on lap 302.
  • Lap 296: Jeff Gordon took over the lead from Dale Jarrett.
  • Lap 344: Eleventh caution of the race, ended on lap 367.
  • Finish: Jeff Gordon was officially declared the winner.

Standings after the race

Pos Driver Points[3] Differential
1 Jeff Gordon 3437 0
2 Mark Martin 3412 -25
3 Dale Jarrett 3269 -168
4 Terry Labonte 3180 -257
5 Jeff Burton 3154 -283
6 Dale Earnhardt 2938 -499
7 Bobby Labonte 2911 -526
8 Bill Elliott 2761 -676
9 Ricky Rudd 2689 -748
10 Ted Musgrave 2678 -759

References

  1. Weather information for the 1997 Mountain Dew Southern 500 at the Old Farmers' Almanac
  2. "Darlington Raceway". CBS Sports. Retrieved 2013-05-07.
  3. Results for the 1997 Mountain Dew 500 at Racing Reference
  4. Earnhardt blacked out in '97 Southern 500 at ESPN Sprint Cup News
  5. Winnings information at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet
Preceded by
1997 Goody's Headache Powder 500
NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
1997
Succeeded by
1997 Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400
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