1997 Daytona 500

Auto race held at Daytona International Speedway in 1997 February 2025 May 2026 CUST Race 1 of 32 in the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season 1997 2 16 1997 1 32 1997_Daytona_500_logo.jpg 1997 Daytona 500 logo Daytona International SpeedwayDaytona Beach, Florida, U.S. 2.5 4.02336 200 500 804.672 Temperatures hovering around 63 F C; wind speeds reaching up to 23 mph km/hWeather information for the 1997 Daytona 500 at Old Farmers Almanac 148.295 mi/h Mike Skinner Richard Childress Racing Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Mark Martin Roush Racing 52 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports CBS Ken Squier, Buddy Baker, and Ned Jarrett 8.6/23 (12.8 million viewers) 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. 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 TriStar 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. While sitting in an ambulance after the crash, Earnhardt noticed that his tires were still on the car after the crash, had it taken off the tow truck, and drove it back to pit road. The car was repaired as best as the team could, 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 Number of laps completed Laps led Number of laps led Status 1 6 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 40 Running 2 18 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 0 Running 3 40 25 Ricky Craven Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 200 0 Running 4 8 94 Bill Elliott (W) Bill Elliott Racing Ford 200 30 Running 5 9 4 Sterling Marlin (W) Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 200 8 Running 6 21 37 Jeremy Mayfield MK Racing Ford 200 0 Running 7 11 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 200 52 Running 8 17 22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Pontiac 200 0 Running 9 13 10 Ricky Rudd Rudd Performance Motorsports Ford 200 0 Running 10 22 17 Darrell Waltrip (W) Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet 200 0 Running 11 23 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford 200 0 Running 12 1 31 Mike Skinner (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 200 1 Running 13 41 16 Ted Musgrave Roush Racing Ford 200 0 Running 14 30 44 Kyle Petty PE2 Motorsports Pontiac 200 0 Running 15 39 43 Bobby Hamilton Petty Enterprises Pontiac 200 0 Running 16 20 40 Robby Gordon SABCO Racing Chevrolet 200 0 Running 17 24 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 200 0 Running 18 37 11 Brett Bodine Brett Bodine Racing Ford 200 0 Running 19 28 8 Hut Stricklin Stavola Brothers Racing Ford 200 0 Running 20 5 28 Ernie Irvan (W) Robert Yates Racing Ford 200 13 Running 21 15 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 200 0 Running 22 36 81 Kenny Wallace FILMAR Racing Ford 200 0 Running 23 3 88 Dale Jarrett (W) Robert Yates Racing Ford 200 0 Running 24 35 9 Lake Speed Melling Racing Ford 199 0 Flagged 25 32 98 John Andretti Cale Yarborough Motorsports Ford 198 0 Flagged 26 33 19 Loy Allen Jr. TriStar Motorsports Ford 198 0 Flagged 27 38 73 Joe Nemechek2 Barkdoll Racing Chevrolet 196 0 Accident 28 16 30 Johnny Benson Bahari Racing Pontiac 195 0 Accident 29 42 1 Morgan Shepherd Precision Products Racing Pontiac 195 0 Accident 30 27 90 Dick Trickle Donlavey Racing Ford 195 0 Accident 31 4 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 195 48 Flagged 32 12 21 Michael Waltrip Wood Brothers Racing Ford 188 5 Flagged 33 10 33 Ken Schrader Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet 173 0 Flagged 34 25 7 Geoff Bodine (W) Geoff Bodine Racing Ford 148 0 Flagged 35 7 23 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter Enterprises Ford 146 0 Flagged 36 29 36 Derrike Cope (W) MB2 Motorsports Pontiac 124 0 Accident 37 34 20 Greg Sacks Ranier-Walsh Racing Ford 120 3 Accident 38 31 77 Bobby Hillin Jr. Jasper Motorsports Ford 111 0 Engine 39 19 29 Robert Pressley Diamond Ridge Motorsports Chevrolet 91 0 Accident 40 2 41 Steve Grissom Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet 88 0 Accident 41 14 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Ford 47 0 Engine 42 26 46 Wally Dallenbach Jr. SABCO Racing Chevrolet 32 0 EngineFailed to Qualify 75 Rick Mast Butch Mock Motorsports Ford 97 Chad Little Mark Rypien Motorsports Pontiac 15 Larry Pearson Bud Moore Engineering Ford 42 Joe Nemechek2 SABCO Racing Chevrolet 78 Billy Standridge (R) Triad Motorsports Ford 96 David Green (R) American Equipment Racing Chevrolet 95 Gary Bradberry (R) Sadler Brothers Racing Chevrolet 91 Mike Wallace LJ Racing Chevrolet 0 Delma Cowart H. L. Waters Racing Ford 84 Norm Benning (R) Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet 1997 Daytona 500 - Racing-Reference.info http://www.racing-reference.info/race/1997_Daytona_500/W 2012-06-15 Notes: 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. 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. Media Television The Daytona 500 was covered by CBS for the nineteenth time in the United States. Ken Squier, two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Ned Jarrett and 1980 race winner Buddy Baker called the race from the broadcast booth. Mike Joy, Dick Berggren and Ralph Sheheen reported from pit road. CBS Booth announcers Pit reporters Lap-by-lap Color-commentators Ken Squier Ned Jarrett Buddy Baker Mike Joy Dick Berggren Ralph Sheheen References 1996 NAPA 500 1997 Goodwrench Service 400 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Daytona 500 Daytona 500 Category:NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway