1997 Brickyard 400

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Race details
Race 19 of 32 in the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1997 Brickyard 400 program cover
August 2, 1997 (1997-08-02)
Brickyard 400
Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana
Permanent racing facility
2.5 miles (4.023 km)
160 laps, 400 mi (643.738 km)
130.814 miles per hour (210.525 km/h)
.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}Ernie Irvan	Robert Yates Racing
50.637
Ernie Irvan	Robert Yates Racing
39
Ricky Rudd	Rudd Performance Motorsports
ABC
Bob Jenkins and Benny Parsons
5.3/18

The 1997 Brickyard 400, the 4th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on August 2, 1997, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. Contested over 160 laps on the 2.5-mile (4.0-kilometre) speedway, it was the 19th race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Ricky Rudd won the race.

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway, located in Speedway, Indiana, (an enclave suburb of Indianapolis) in the United States, is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400. It is located on the corner of 16th Street and Georgetown Road, approximately 6 miles (9.7 kilometres) west of Downtown Indianapolis. It is a four-turn rectangular-oval track that is 2.5 miles (4.0 kilometres) long. The track's turns are banked at 9 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, has no banking. The back stretch, opposite of the front, also has a zero degree banking. The racetrack has seats for more than 250,000 spectators.

In the final twenty laps, Dale Jarrett, Jeff Gordon, and Mark Martin held the top three spots, but none of the three would be able to make it to the finish without one final pit stop for fuel. Jeff Burton and Ricky Rudd also were close on fuel. On lap 145, Robby Gordon brushed the wall, and Burton ran over debris. Burton was forced to pit under green, but as he was finishing his stop, the caution came out. Burton flew out of the pits to beat the leaders, and for a moment it appeared he was in the cat bird's seat with four fresh tires, and would be the leader after all other drivers cycled through their stops. However, he was penalized for speeding while exiting the pit lane, and dropped to 15th. Ricky Rudd was among a few drivers who stayed out, and his gamble put him in the lead. Rudd drove the final 46 laps without a pit stop to take the victory.

The race was the last Cup Series start attempt for Tim Steele, and Ron Barfield Jr. also raced his only NASCAR Winston Cup race here.

Pos	SP	No.	Driver	Car make	Entrant	Laps	Status
7	10	Ricky Rudd	Ford	Rudd Performance Motorsports	160	Running
25	18	Bobby Labonte	Pontiac	Joe Gibbs Racing	160	Running
3	88	Dale Jarrett	Ford	Robert Yates Racing	160	Running
24	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	160	Running
16	37	Jeremy Mayfield	Ford	Kranefuss-Haas Racing	160	Running
31	6	Mark Martin	Ford	Roush Racing	160	Running
20	30	Johnny Benson Jr.	Pontiac	Bahari Racing	160	Running
15	94	Bill Elliott	Ford	Bill Elliott Racing	160	Running
6	31	Mike Skinner	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing	160	Running
1	28	Ernie Irvan	Ford	Robert Yates Racing	160	Running
8	33	Ken Schrader	Chevrolet	Andy Petree Racing	160	Running
27	9	Lake Speed	Ford	Melling Racing	160	Running
39	44	Kyle Petty	Pontiac	PE2 Motorsports	160	Running
4	17	Darrell Waltrip	Chevy	Darrell Waltrip Motorsports	160	Running
33	99	Jeff Burton	Ford	Roush Racing	160	Running
41	25	Ricky Craven	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	160	Running
35	98	John Andretti	Ford	Cale Yarborough Motorsports	160	Running
42	11	Brett Bodine	Ford	Brett Bodine Racing	160	Running
36	22	Ward Burton	Pontiac	Bill Davis Racing	160	Running
12	43	Bobby Hamilton	Pontiac	Petty Enterprises	160	Running
34	27	Rick Wilson	Ford	David Blair Motorsports	160	Running
23	92	Ron Barfield Jr.	Ford	Bill Elliott Racing	160	Running
17	75	Rick Mast	Ford	Butch Mock Motorsports	160	Running
40	23	Jimmy Spencer	Ford	Travis Carter Enterprises	159	Running
26	29	Jeff Green	Chevrolet	Diamond Ridge Motorsports	159	Running
19	41	Steve Grissom	Chevrolet	Larry Hedrick Motorsports	159	Running
30	95	Ed Berrier	Chevrolet	Sadler Brothers Racing	159	Running
11	40	Robby Gordon	Chevrolet	Team SABCO	159	Running
5	3	Dale Earnhardt	Chevrolet	Richard Childress Racing	158	Running
29	81	Kenny Wallace	Ford	FILMAR Racing	158	Running
37	91	Greg Sacks	Chevrolet	LJ Racing	158	Running
2	42	Joe Nemechek	Chevrolet	Team SABCO	156	Running
22	16	Ted Musgrave	Ford	Roush Racing	155	Running
10	26	Rich Bickle	Chevrolet	Darrell Waltrip Motorsports	153	Crash
9	96	David Green	Chevrolet	American Equipment Racing	137	Engine
14	46	Wally Dallenbach Jr.	Chevrolet	Team SABCO	120	Ignition
28	12	Jeff Purvis	Chevrolet	LAR Motorsports	112	Running
43	2	Rusty Wallace	Ford	Penske Racing	91	Engine
18	21	Michael Waltrip	Ford	Wood Brothers Racing	89	Running
38	5	Terry Labonte	Chevrolet	Hendrick Motorsports	83	Engine
32	36	Derrike Cope	Pontiac	MB2 Motorsports	12	Crash
21	97	Chad Little	Pontiac	Mark Rypien Motorsports	2	Crash
13	4	Sterling Marlin	Chevrolet	Morgan-McClure Motorsports	2	Engine

• Mike Wallace (#1)

• Dick Trickle (#90)

• Geoff Bodine (#7)

• Bobby Hillin Jr. (#78)

• Tim Steele (#61)

• Morgan Shepherd (#77)

• Dave Marcis (#71)

• Hut Stricklin (#8)

• Larry Pearson (#15) – withdrawn

• A. J. Foyt (#50) – withdrawn

• Time of race: 3:03:28

• Average speed: 130.814 miles per hour (210.525 km/h)

• Pole speed: 177.736 miles per hour (286.038 km/h)

• Cautions: 6 for 25 laps

• Margin of victory: 0.183 seconds

• Lead changes: 19

• Percent of race run under caution: 15.6%

• Average green flag run: 19.3 laps

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The race was aired live on ABC in the United States. Bob Jenkins and 1973 NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Benny Parsons called the race from the broadcast booth. Jerry Punch, Bill Weber and Jack Arute handled pit road for the television side.

ABC
Bob Jenkins	Benny Parsons	Jerry Punch Bill Weber Jack Arute

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