24th race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Motor car race
The 1997 Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400 was the 24th
stock car race of the
1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 40th iteration of the
event . The race was held on Saturday, September 6, 1997, in
Richmond, Virginia , at
Richmond International Raceway , a 0.75 miles (1.21 km) D-shaped oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. Within the closing laps of the race,
Robert Yates Racing driver
Dale Jarrett would manage to pass the mainly dominant driver of the day,
Roush Racing driver
Jeff Burton to take his 13th
NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his fifth victory of the season.
[1]
[2] To fill out the podium, Burton and
Hendrick Motorsports driver
Jeff Gordon would finish second and third, respectively.
The race served as the series debut for future Winston Cup Series driver
Kenny Irwin Jr.
[3]
Background
The layout of
Richmond International Raceway , the venue where the race was at.
Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D -shaped, asphalt race track located just outside
Richmond, Virginia in
Henrico County . It hosts the
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and
Xfinity Series . Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted a NASCAR
Camping World Truck Series race, an
IndyCar Series race, and two
USAC sprint car races.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, September 5. 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, September 6. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. Positions 26-38 would be decided on time, and depending on who needed it, the 39th thru either the 42nd, 43rd, or 44th position 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 field would be limited to 42 cars. If a champion needed it, the field would expand to 43 cars. If the race was a companion race with the
NASCAR Winston West Series , four spots would be determined by NASCAR Winston Cup Series provisionals, while the final two spots would be given to teams in the Winston West Series, leaving the field at 44 cars.
Bill Elliott , driving for
Bill Elliott Racing , would win the pole, setting a time of 21.648 and an average speed of 124.723 miles per hour (200.722 km/h).
[4]
Full qualifying results
*Time not available.
Race results
Fin
St
#
Driver
Team
Make
Laps
Led
Status
Pts
Winnings
1
23
88
Dale Jarrett
Robert Yates Racing
Ford
400
39
running
180
$91,490
2
11
99
Jeff Burton
Roush Racing
Ford
400
235
running
180
$70,240
3
10
24
Jeff Gordon
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
400
0
running
165
$52,355
4
31
7
Geoff Bodine
Geoff Bodine Racing
Ford
400
0
running
160
$40,005
5
14
2
Rusty Wallace
Penske Racing South
Ford
400
2
running
160
$39,050
6
7
42
Joe Nemechek
Team SABCO
Chevrolet
400
23
running
155
$29,325
7
12
22
Ward Burton
Bill Davis Racing
Pontiac
399
0
running
146
$29,325
8
2
27
Kenny Irwin Jr.
David Blair Motorsports
Ford
399
12
running
147
$17,825
9
38
16
Ted Musgrave
Roush Racing
Ford
399
0
running
138
$30,725
10
16
37
Jeremy Mayfield
Kranefuss-Haas Racing
Ford
399
0
running
134
$24,125
11
27
23
Jimmy Spencer
Travis Carter Enterprises
Ford
398
0
running
130
$27,625
12
33
41
Steve Grissom
Larry Hedrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
398
0
running
127
$27,325
13
37
30
Johnny Benson Jr.
Bahari Racing
Pontiac
398
0
running
124
$27,125
14
9
33
Ken Schrader
Andy Petree Racing
Chevrolet
398
0
running
121
$26,825
15
22
3
Dale Earnhardt
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
398
0
running
118
$33,775
16
19
36
Derrike Cope
MB2 Motorsports
Pontiac
398
0
running
115
$19,520
17
24
5
Terry Labonte
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
398
0
running
112
$37,320
18
21
25
Ricky Craven
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
397
0
running
109
$26,270
19
6
90
Dick Trickle
Donlavey Racing
Ford
397
0
running
106
$19,145
20
17
44
Kyle Petty
Petty Enterprises
Pontiac
397
0
running
103
$20,870
21
39
11
Brett Bodine
Brett Bodine Racing
Ford
397
0
running
100
$25,870
22
32
98
John Andretti
Cale Yarborough Motorsports
Ford
397
0
running
97
$25,745
23
20
28
Ernie Irvan
Robert Yates Racing
Ford
397
0
running
94
$30,470
24
5
81
Kenny Wallace
FILMAR Racing
Ford
396
0
running
91
$25,545
25
13
6
Mark Martin
Roush Racing
Ford
396
1
running
93
$30,395
26
30
75
Rick Mast
Butch Mock Motorsports
Ford
396
0
running
85
$25,370
27
15
8
Hut Stricklin
Stavola Brothers Racing
Ford
395
0
running
82
$25,345
28
35
10
Ricky Rudd
Rudd Performance Motorsports
Ford
395
0
running
79
$30,320
29
40
31
Mike Skinner (R)
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
395
0
running
76
$17,800
30
1
94
Bill Elliott
Bill Elliott Racing
Ford
395
43
running
78
$32,290
31
25
29
Jeff Green (R)
Diamond Ridge Motorsports
Chevrolet
394
0
running
70
$15,280
32
18
17
Darrell Waltrip
Darrell Waltrip Motorsports
Chevrolet
394
0
running
67
$22,270
33
41
1
Lance Hooper
Precision Products Racing
Pontiac
394
0
running
64
$22,260
34
34
18
Bobby Labonte
Joe Gibbs Racing
Pontiac
393
0
running
61
$30,225
35
29
21
Michael Waltrip
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford
393
0
running
58
$22,215
36
26
9
Lake Speed
Melling Racing
Ford
393
3
running
60
$15,205
37
8
96
David Green (R)
American Equipment Racing
Chevrolet
392
0
running
52
$15,195
38
3
43
Bobby Hamilton
Petty Enterprises
Pontiac
347
42
rear end
54
$31,685
39
36
4
Sterling Marlin
Morgan–McClure Motorsports
Chevrolet
335
0
running
46
$31,185
40
42
97
Chad Little
Roush Racing
Pontiac
309
0
running
43
$15,185
41
28
46
Wally Dallenbach Jr.
Team SABCO
Chevrolet
224
0
brakes
40
$15,185
42
4
40
Robby Gordon (R)
Team SABCO
Chevrolet
7
0
engine
37
$22,185
Failed to qualify
43
71
Dave Marcis
Marcis Auto Racing
Chevrolet
44
02
Mike Bliss
Ultra Motorsports
Ford
45
91
Ron Hornaday Jr.
LJ Racing
Chevrolet
46
78
Gary Bradberry
Triad Motorsports
Ford
47
77
Morgan Shepherd
Jasper Motorsports
Ford
Official race results
References
^ Poole, David (September 6, 1997).
"Jarrett runs down a victory" . That's Racin' .
The Charlotte Observer . Archived from
the original on November 18, 2000. Retrieved October 2, 2022 .
^ Kurz Jr., Hank (September 7, 1997).
"Jarrett posts first victory at Richmond in 20 tries" . Palladium-Item . p. 19. Retrieved October 2, 2022 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ Caldwell, Clayton (July 7, 2008).
"Remebering Kenny Irwin" . Bleacher Report . Retrieved October 2, 2022 .
^ Kurz Jr., Hank (September 6, 1997).
"Elliott grabs Exide 400 pole; Gordon 10th" . Standard-Speaker . p. 14. Retrieved October 2, 2022 – via
Newspapers.com .
Points races Exhibition races