From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Auto race held at Texas Motor Speedway in 1997
Motor car race
The
1997 Interstate Batteries 500
was a
NASCAR
Winston Cup Series
stock car race held on April 6, 1997, at
Texas Motor Speedway
in
Fort Worth, Texas
. The race was the inaugural Cup Series race at the track, and it was the first time
Interstate Batteries
served as a sponsor for NASCAR.
[2]
The race was the sixth of the
1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
season. The
pace car
was the
Chevrolet Monte Carlo Z34
with a 3.8L engine, the first of its kind to serve as a pace car.
[3]
As qualifying was canceled due to rain,
[4]
the
pole position
was awarded to points leader
Dale Jarrett
of
Yates Racing
.
Terry Labonte
of
Hendrick Motorsports
led the most laps with 104, while
Roush Racing
's
Jeff Burton
scored his first Cup Series victory after leading 60 laps, including the final 58.
Traffic delays
[
edit
]
As a result of the rain, besides qualifying being canceled, many of the track's parking lots were flooded. Track owner
Bruton Smith
received help from the
Texas Department of Transportation
, which closed down a portion of
Texas State Highway 170
to use it as a parking lot. Although the parking lot issue was solved, traffic concerns arose, and on race day, by 8 AM, traffic on
Interstate 35W
stopped 16 miles south of the track. Due to the traffic, pianist
Van Cliburn
, who was scheduled to perform the national anthem at the race, had his helicopter delayed and could not perform.
[5]
Race
[
edit
]
The race started with a
13-car crash
on the first lap.
[4]
The crash was the first in a wreck-laden race, with ten cautions and 73 laps under the yellow flag,
[6]
the most in track history.
[7]
Late in the race,
Jeff Burton
took the lead, and led the final 58 laps of the race to win his first career Cup race.
Dale Jarrett
finished second, followed by
Bobby Labonte
,
Terry Labonte
, and
Ricky Rudd
.
[8]
Results
[
edit
]
Top 10 finishers
[
edit
]
Standings after the race
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
|
---|
Points races
| |
---|
Exhibition races
| |
---|