1997 Mountain Dew Southern 500

Auto race held at Darlington Raceway in 1997 February 2025 CUST Race 23 of 32 in the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season Mountain Dew Southern 500 Weather information for the 1997 Mountain Dew Southern 500 at the Old Farmers' Almanac 1997 08 31 1997 23 32 1997_Southern_500_program_cover_and_logo.jpg 1997 Southern 500 program cover Mountain Dew Southern 500 Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina 1.366 2.198 367 501.3 806.7 121.149 mi/h Extremely hot with temperatures approaching 91.4 F C; wind speeds reaching up to 15 mph km/h Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Bill Elliott Bill Elliott Racing 181 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports ESPN Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons 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. Background thumb|left|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 mi km oval.http://www.cbssports.com/nascar/tracks/page/darlington/darlington-raceway Darlington Raceway CBS Sports 2013-05-07 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. The front stretch (the location of the finish line) and the back stretch is banked at six degrees. Darlington Raceway can seat up to 60,000 people. 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.Results for the 1997 Mountain Dew 500 at Racing Reference 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. 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. Jeff Gordon came out in 1st after the pit stops and kept the lead for the last 72 laps that were left. 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.Earnhardt blacked out in '97 Southern 500 at ESPN Sprint Cup NewsMarch 2013 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). 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. The total winners' purse was $1,202,356 ($ considering inflation). Gordon won $131,330 for winning plus an additional $1,000,000 for winning the Winston Million.Winnings information at Fantasy Racing Cheat Sheet Official results Pos Finishing position Grid Starting position No. Car number Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Laps completed Points 17 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 367 180 216 99 Jeff Burton Roush Racing Ford 367 175 33 88 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 367 170 42 94 Bill Elliott Bill Elliott Racing Ford 367 170 521 10 Ricky Rudd Rudd Performance Motorsports Ford 367 155 617 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 367 150 71 18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Pontiac 367 151 84 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 367 142 914 21 Michael Waltrip Wood Brothers Racing Ford 367 143 105 33 Ken Schrader Andy Petree Racing Chevrolet 366 134 1137 97 Chad Little Roush Racing Pontiac 366 130 1212 7 Geoff Bodine Geoff Bodine Racing Ford 366 127 138 90 Dick Trickle Donlavey Racing Ford 366 124 1424 36 Derrike Cope MB2 Motorsports Pontiac 365 121 1511 11 Brett Bodine Brett Bodine Racing Ford 365 118 1619 37 Jeremy Mayfield Kranefuss-Haas Racing Ford 365 115 176 8 Hut Stricklin Stavola Brothers Racing Ford 365 112 1823 9 Lake Speed Melling Racing Ford 365 109 1918 30 Johnny Benson Jr. Bahari Racing Pontiac 365 106 2040 43 Bobby Hamilton Petty Enterprises Pontiac 365 103 2129 41 Steve Grissom Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet 365 100 2234 40 Robby Gordon # Team Sabco Chevrolet 363 97 2320 42 Joe Nemechek Team Sabco Chevrolet 359 94 2425 81 Kenny Wallace FILMAR Racing Ford 354 91 2527 78 Gary Bradberry Wilson-Inman Motorsports Ford 354 88 2638 17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Ford 353 85 2713 22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Pontiac 350 82 2830 23 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter Enterprises Ford 341 79 2915 16 Ted Musgrave Roush Racing Ford 296 81 3036 3 Dale Earnhardt‡ Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 282 73 3131 25 Ricky Craven Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 236 70 3239 44 Kyle Petty PE2 Pontiac 202 67 3310 28 Ernie Irvan Robert Yates Racing Ford 183 64 3428 75 Rick Mast RahMoc Enterprises Ford 177 61 3541 1 Lance Hooper # Richard Jackson Motorsports Pontiac 175 58 3633 31 Mike Skinner # Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 130 55 3732 98 John Andretti Cale Yarborough Racing Ford 117 52 3822 12 Jeff Purvis LAR Motorsports Chevrolet 114 49 3942 29 Jeff Green # Diamond Ridge Motorsports Chevrolet 104 46 409 4 Sterling Marlin Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 102 43 4126 46 Wally Dallenbach Jr. Team Sabco Chevrolet 85 40 4235 96 Todd Bodine American Equipment Racing Chevrolet 5 37 4343 2 Rusty Wallace Penske South Ford 5 34# Rookie of the Year candidate / ‡ Relief driver Mike Dillon finished raceSource: Timeline Section reference: 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 Differential 1 10px Jeff Gordon 3437 0 2 Mark Martin 3412 -25 3 10px Dale Jarrett 3269 -168 4 10px Terry Labonte 3180 -257 5 10px Jeff Burton 3154 -283 6 10px Dale Earnhardt 2938 -499 7 10px Bobby Labonte 2911 -526 8 Bill Elliott 2761 -676 9 Ricky Rudd 2689 -748 10 Ted Musgrave 2678 -759 References 1997 Goody's Headache Powder 500 (Bristol) 1997 Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season 1997 Mountain Dew Southern 500 Mountain Dew Southern 500 Mountain Dew Southern 500 Category:NASCAR races at Darlington Raceway