1997 Food City 500

Seventh race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series February 2025 NASWINSTON Hendrick Motorsports 15.526 37th Annual Food City 500 The 1997 Food City 500 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt. Artwork by Sam Bass. 32 7 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Performance Racing Network Jerry Punch, Ned Jarrett & Benny Parsons ESPN 75.035 mph km/h 240 Penske Racing South Jeff Gordon Bristol, Tennessee, Bristol Motor Speedway Rusty Wallace 24 0.858 500 428.89 April 13 0.533 Food City 500 1997 266.5 1997 Food City 500.jpeg The 1997 Food City 500 was the seventh stock car race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 37th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 13, 1997, in Bristol, Tennessee at Bristol Motor Speedway, a 0.533 miles (0.858 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. On the final lap of the race, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would manage to complete a bump-and-run on Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace in the final two turns to take his 22nd career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third victory of the season.Poole David April 13, 1997 Gordon tap dances to prize http://www.thatsracin.com/97/docs/0413.htm dead https://web.archive.org/web/20000815213554/http://www.thatsracin.com/97/docs/0413.htm August 15, 2000 September 24, 2022 That's Racin' The Charlotte ObserverApril 14, 1997 Gordon muscles way to victory https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110098614/gordon-muscles-way-to-victory/ September 24, 2022 Ledger-Enquirer 19 Newspapers.com To fill out the top three, Wallace and Hendrick Motorsports driver Terry Labonte would finish second and third, respectively. Background thumb|The layout of Bristol Motor Speedway, the venue where the race was held. Bristol Motor Speedway is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks. Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver. #DriverTeamMake1Morgan ShepherdPrecision Products RacingPontiac2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet5Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord7Geoff BodineMattei MotorsportsFord8Hut StricklinStavola Brothers RacingFord9Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord10Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord11Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord16Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord17Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet18Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac19Gary BradberryTriStar MotorsportsFord20Greg SacksRanier-Walsh RacingFord21Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord22Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac23Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet25Jack SpragueHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28Ernie IrvanRobert Yates RacingFord29Robert PressleyDiamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet30Johnny Benson Jr.Bahari RacingPontiac31Mike Skinner (R)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet33Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet36Derrike CopeMB2 MotorsportsPontiac37Jeremy MayfieldKranefuss-Haas RacingFord40Robby Gordon (R)Team SABCOChevrolet41Steve GrissomLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet42Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet43Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac44Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet75Rick MastButch Mock MotorsportsFord77Bobby Hillin Jr.Jasper MotorsportsFord78Billy StandridgeTriad MotorsportsFord81Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord88Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord90Dick TrickleDonlavey RacingFord91Mike WallaceLJ RacingChevrolet94Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord95Ed BerrierSadler Brothers RacingChevrolet96David Green (R)American Equipment RacingChevrolet97Chad LittleMark Rypien MotorsportsPontiac98John AndrettiCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord99Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 21, at 3:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, March 22, at 12:30 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time.April 11, 1997 Food City 500 30 The Charlotte Observer https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110098672/food-city-500/ September 24, 2022 Newspapers.com Positions 26-38 would be decided on time, while positions 39-43 would be based on provisionals. Four spots are awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The fifth is awarded to a past champion who has not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champion needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points will be awarded a provisional. Rusty Wallace, driving for Penske Racing South, would win the pole, setting a time of 15.526 and an average speed of 123.586 mph km/h.Macenka Joe April 12, 1997 Drought over; Wallace on Food City 500 pole 22 Standard-Speaker https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110098703/drought-over-wallace-on-food-city-500/ September 24, 2022 Newspapers.com Four drivers would fail to qualify: Bobby Hillin Jr., Billy Standridge, Mike Wallace, and Greg Sacks. Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed12Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord15.526123.58624Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet15.548123.411316Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord15.581123.150481Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord15.583123.134524Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet15.611122.913688Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord15.626122.79578Hut StricklinStavola Brothers RacingFord15.648122.62387Geoff BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord15.654122.576941Steve GrissomLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet15.670122.4511023Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesFord15.680122.3721199Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord15.697122.2401211Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord15.713122.1151318Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac15.715122.1001444Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac15.740121.9061529Robert PressleyDiamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet15.752121.8131633Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet15.757121.774175Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet15.758121.7671894Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord15.762121.7361990Dick TrickleDonlavey RacingFord15.772121.6592040Robby Gordon (R)Team SABCOChevrolet15.781121.5892197Chad LittleMark Rypien MotorsportsPontiac15.790121.5202210Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord15.798121.405236Mark MartinRoush RacingFord15.799121.4052442Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet15.805121.4052575Rick MastButch Mock MotorsportsFord15.824121.2592698John AndrettiCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord15.828121.2282796David Green (R)American Equipment RacingChevrolet15.828121.2282831Mike Skinner (R)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet15.837121.159293Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet15.845121.0983095Ed BerrierSadler Brothers RacingChevrolet15.859120.991319Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord15.867120.9303237Jeremy MayfieldKranefuss-Haas RacingFord15.882120.8163330Johnny Benson Jr.Bahari RacingPontiac15.888120.7703443Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac15.891120.7483522Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac15.892120.7403636Derrike CopeMB2 MotorsportsPontiac15.899120.6873719Gary BradberryTriStar MotorsportsFord15.906120.6343828Ernie IrvanRobert Yates RacingFord15.907120.626Provisionals3921Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord - -4025Jack SpragueHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet - -411Morgan ShepherdPrecision Products RacingPontiac - -4271Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet - -4317Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet - -Failed to qualify4477Bobby Hillin Jr.Jasper MotorsportsFord -* -*4578Billy StandridgeTriad MotorsportsFord -* -*4691Mike WallaceLJ RacingChevrolet -* -*4720Greg SacksRanier-Walsh RacingFord -* -*Official qualifying results Race results Fin1997 Food City 500 - The Third Turn https://www.thethirdturn.com/wiki/1997_Food_City_500 September 23, 2022 The Third Turn enSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings1524Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet500125running180$83,640212Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord500240running180$64,0903175Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet5000running165$51,4904688Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord5000running160$39,2655236Mark MartinRoush RacingFord5000running155$37,5206293Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet5000running150$32,97071894Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord50090running151$27,77082197Chad LittleMark Rypien MotorsportsPontiac5000running142$18,37093237Jeremy MayfieldKranefuss-Haas RacingFord5000running138$21,565101211Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord5000running134$28,215111990Dick TrickleDonlavey RacingFord5000running130$18,745121633Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet5000running127$25,390133443Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac5000running124$29,015141529Robert PressleyDiamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet5002running126$17,965151023Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesFord49936running123$25,965163636Derrike CopeMB2 MotorsportsPontiac4990running115$13,640172575Rick MastButch Mock MotorsportsFord4990running112$24,390183522Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac4990running109$17,240192442Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet4990running106$17,1302024Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet4987running108$32,421213921Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord4970running100$23,765222796David Green (R)American Equipment RacingChevrolet4960running97$14,215233095Ed BerrierSadler Brothers RacingChevrolet4950running94$13,165242698John AndrettiCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord4910running91$23,490254317Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet4850running88$23,5952678Hut StricklinStavola Brothers RacingFord4840running85$23,215272210Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord4830running82$27,99128411Morgan ShepherdPrecision Products RacingPontiac4790running79$23,040291444Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac4770running76$12,910304271Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet4680running73$15,585313330Johnny Benson Jr.Bahari RacingPontiac4550running70$21,81532941Steve GrissomLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet4410crash67$22,7953387Geoff BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord4320crash64$18,775341318Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac4250running61$26,735352831Mike Skinner (R)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet3650engine58$11,71536319Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord3250crash55$18,695373719Gary BradberryTriStar MotorsportsFord3170running52$11,67538316Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord2960crash49$18,950393828Ernie IrvanRobert Yates RacingFord2810engine46$26,650404025Jack SpragueHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet2560crash43$18,65041481Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord2230crash40$18,750421199Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord1570engine37$26,650432040Robby Gordon (R)Team SABCOChevrolet910crash34$18,650Official race results Media Television The race was aired live on ESPN in the United States. Jerry Punch, two-time Cup Series champion Ned Jarrett and 1973 Cup Series champion Benny Parsons called the race from the broadcast booth. Punch filled in for regular commentator Bob Jenkins who missed the race after undergoing back surgery three weeks prior. Bill Weber, John Kernan and Ray Dunlap handled pit road for the television side. ESPN Booth announcers Pit reporters Lap-by-lap Color-commentators Jerry Punch Ned Jarrett Benny Parsons Bill Weber John Kernan Ray Dunlap References 1997 Interstate Batteries 500 1997 Goody's Headache Powder 500 (Martinsville) 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Category:1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Category:NASCAR races at Bristol Motor Speedway Category:April 1997 sports events in the United States Category:1997 in sports in Tennessee