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Indy Racing League Honors Competitors At Awards Ceremony

24 November 1997

INDIANAPOLIS, November 22, 1997 The teams of the Indy Racing League
gathered at the University of Indianapolis in the Christel De Haan
Fine Arts Center's Ruth Lilly Performance Hall tonight for the
League's 1996-97 awards ceremony.




Tony Stewart, 1997 Indy Racing League
Champion

The 1996-97 season began on August 18, 1996 at New Hampshire
International Raceway and ended at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October
11, 1997 with the crowning of 1996-97 champion Tony Stewart, who won
by just six points over second-place finisher Davey Hamilton. With a
total of nine different winners in 10 races, the IRL's second season
thrived on diversity ranging from Arie Luyendyk winning his second
Indianapolis 500 and the first IRL night race at Texas Motor Speedway,
to a brand-new start-up team like Jim Guthrie's winning at Phoenix
International Raceway.



Leo Mehl

"We had an excellent year, and made great progress," said
Indy Racing League Executive Director Leo Mehl. "The performance of
our teams, owners, car and engine builders and officials was
outstanding. Everything we did was new new cars, engines and tracks,
as well as many new drivers and teams. It was an exciting season for
everyone, especially the fans."

The 1997 Engine Manufacturer Championship trophy was won by Oldsmobile
Aurora, and was accepted on behalf of Oldsmobile by Darwin Clark, vice
president of General Motors and general manager, Oldsmobile Division.

Six Indy Racing League Outstanding Manufacturers were also named. They
were Dallara Automobili da Competizione and G Force Precision
Engineering Ltd., engine manufacturer Nissan for the Infiniti Indy
engine, tire constructors Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, and
Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc., as well as EMCO gears.

Leo Mehl presented a special award to IRL Technical Director Phil
Casey, naming him the 1997 Indy Racing League Achievement Award winner
for outstanding contributions to the success of the League.



Jim Guthrie

Honorees at the IRL banquet included 1996-97 Indy Racing
League Champion Tony Stewart and 1996-97 Entrant Champion Team Menard.
Jim Guthrie of Blueprint Racing won Rookie of the Year honors. The top
20 League drivers and teams received a portion of the more than $1.7
million prize fund. The drivers included (1st through 20th position);
Tony Stewart, Davey Hamilton, Marco Greco, Eddie Cheever, Jr., Scott
Goodyear, Arie Luyendyk, Roberto Guerrero, Buddy Lazier, Eliseo
Salazar, Buzz Calkins, Stephan Gregoire, Jim Guthrie, Robbie Buhl,
Mike Groff, John Paul, Jr., Affonso Giaffone, Mark Dismore, Billy
Boat, Kenny Brack and Robbie Groff.



Arie Luyendyk

Accessory awards included in the total prize money above were
also presented by MBNA (Lap Leader Award) to Tony Stewart in the
amount of $25,000; from KECO to Tony Stewart in the amount of $2,000,
and $1,000 to Davey Hamilton for being the highest finishing KECO
users; Pennzoil awarded $25,000 to Bill Martin of Team Menard for
being the 1996-97 Championship Chief Mechanic; Valvoline awarded
$30,000 to Davey Hamilton for being the highest finishing Valvoline
user and Sprint PCS awarded $25,000 to Jim Guthrie for being named
Rookie of the Year.

Entertainment at the banquet was arranged by The Design Group Inc. of
Indianapolis and included Grammy Award-winning artist Kathy Mattea,
who has received two Grammy Awards and was twice named the Country
Music Association's Female Vocalist of the Year. The Purdue Varsity
Glee Club, a select men's vocal group that has performed around the
world also entertained guests as well as the Rhythms of Life, a
five-member group that is dedicated to percussion presentations. They
choreographed and presented a one-of-a-kind performance using
Indianapolis-style race car equipment and related materials.

The 1996-97 Indy Racing League banquet will be aired in its entirety
on November 29 at 10:30 p.m. on WNDY-TV, and again on January 1, 1998
at 7:00 p.m. on SpeedVision. The 1998 IRL season begins at the Indy
200 at Walt Disney World on January 22 24, 1998.

Text By IRL PR
Images By Terry Callahan

Editor's Note: The images displayed in this article (plus many more drawings) can be viewed in the Visions Of Speed Art Gallery. The Visions Of Speed Art Gallery resides on The Auto Channel.