NASCAR Winston Cup Series Mountain Dew 500: Fact Sheet
27 August 1997
1997 NASCAR WINSTON CUP SERIES FACT SHEET
WHAT: Mountain Dew Southern 500
NASCAR Winston Cup Series Race #23 of 32
WHERE: Darlington Raceway
Darlington, SC
1.366-Mile Banked Speedway
WHEN: Sunday, August 31, 1997
1:00 pm EDT
DISTANCE: 367 Laps/500 Miles
POSTED AWARDS: $1,523,632
FIELD: 43 cars possible. Fastest 38 cars through time trials. Four
provisional starting positions based on 1997 NWC owner points and one past
champion provisional.
SANCTION: National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc.
PROMOTER: South Carolina International Speedway Corp.
TV: ESPN (Live)
Airtime: 1:00 pm (EDT)
Announcers: Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons and Ned Jarrett
Pit Reporters: Dr. Jerry Punch, John Kernan, Bill Weber
RADIO: MRN (Live)
Airtime: 12:45 pm (EDT)
Announcers: Allen Bestwick and Barney Hall
SCHEDULE:
Friday, August 29
6:00 am : Team Haulers Enter
7:00 am : NASCAR Garage Opens
10:00 am : Rookie Drivers' Meeting
10:30 am : Qualifying Draw
11:00 am - 12:30 pm : Practice
1:00 - 2:00 pm : Practice
TBD : Qualifying (Positions 1-25)
Following NBS Qualifying
Saturday, August 30
9:00 am : NASCAR Garage Opens
9:30 - 11:00 am : Practice
11:30 am : Qualifying (Positions 26-38)
TBD : Final Practice following NBS event
PARTICIPATING AWARDS SPONSORS: Winston, AE Clevite Engine Parts, Aeroquip,
Auto Meter Products, Bowman Distribution, Busch Beer, Champion Spark Plugs,
Competition Cams, Craftsman Tools, Crane Cams, DuPont Automotive Finishes,
Edelbrock Manifolds, Fram Fuel Filters, Gatorade Sports Beverage, Goodyear
Tires, Goody's Headache Powders, Holley Carburetors, Hurst Shifters, JE
Pistons, Jesel Rocker Arms, Longacre Computerscales, MCI, Mac Tools, Mechanix
Wear, Moog Chassis Parts, Motorcraft Batteries, Opryland, Plasti-Kote Spray
Paint, RCA, Raybestos Brakes, Simpson Helmets, Spicer Drive Shafts, Stant
Radiator Caps, STP Oil Treatment & Oil Filters, 3M Automotive Products, True
Value Hardware, Unocal Gasoline, 76/NASCAR High Performance Motor Oil, Western
Auto Stores, Wiseco Pistons, Wix Air Filters
RECORDS: Qualifying: Ward Burton; Pontiac; 173.797 mph;
28.295 seconds; 3/22/96
Race: Dale Earnhardt; Chevrolet; 139.958 mph
3 hours, 33 minutes, 29 seconds; 3/28/93
THE TRACK:
Degree of Banking in Turns 1-2 - 25 degrees
Degree of Banking in Turns 3-4 - 23 degrees
Degree of Banking on Straights - 2 degrees
Length of Frontstretch - 1229 feet
Length of Backstretch - 1229 feet
1996 REVIEW: Jeff Gordon won for the third time in a row at Darlington,
NASCAR Winston Cup's oldest and most difficult superspeedway. But in so doing,
he prevented one of stock car racing's greatest upsets from occurring. For
much of the sunshiny day, Hut Stricklin, the 36-year-old driver from Calera,
AL, led having never won a race in 217 Winston Cup starts. He would have
broken that streak had not overheating problems slowed his red Circuit City
Ford in the late stages. Even then, he fought and clawed with Gordon like a
wounded beast. At the end of the race, Stricklin had to settle for second.
Dale Jarrett, who could have won the Winston Million bonus by winning the
Southern 500, ran afoul of the fates early. Leading at lap 46, he drove into a
turn three that had apparently been freshly oiled by the slower car driven by
Ed Berrier. Jarrett, Rusty Wallace, Ernie Irvan and Derrike Cope all spun, as
did Brett Bodine and Robert Pressley. Jarrett lost three laps in the pits and
would up in 14th place, two laps down.
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