The 1997 Coca-Cola 600, the 38th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on May 25, 1997 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. Contested over 333 laps – shortened from 400 laps due to a rain delay and a 1 a.m. curfew – on the speedway, it was the 11th race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won the race.
On the day of the race, of precipitation were recorded around the speedway.
Background Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States, around from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and The Winston, as well as the UAW-GM Quality 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI).
Entry list DriverTeamManufacturer1Morgan ShepherdPrecision Products RacingPontiac2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet5Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord7Todd BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord8Hut StricklinStavola Brothers RacingFord9Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord10Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord11Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord16Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord17Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet18Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac19Gary BradberryTriStar MotorsportsFord21Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord22Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac23Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesFord24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet25Ricky CravenHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28Ernie IrvanYates RacingFord29Jeff GreenDiamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet30Johnny Benson Jr.Bahari RacingPontiac31Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet33Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet36Derrike CopeMB2 MotorsportsPontiac37Jeremy MayfieldKranefuss-Haas RacingFord40Robby GordonTeam SABCOChevrolet41Steve GrissomLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet42Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet43Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac44Kyle PettyPE2 MotorsportsPontiac46Wally Dallenbach Jr.Team SABCOChevrolet71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet75Rick MastButch Mock MotorsportsFord77Bobby Hillin Jr.Jasper MotorsportsFord78Billy StandridgeTriad MotorsportsFord81Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord88Dale JarrettYates RacingFord90Dick TrickleDonlavey RacingFord91Mike WallaceLJ RacingChevrolet94Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord95Ed BerrierSadler Brothers RacingChevrolet96David GreenAmerican Equipment RacingChevrolet97Chad LittleMark Rypien MotorsportsPontiac98John AndrettiCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord99Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord
Race results PosDriverTeamManufacturerLaps124Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet33322Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord33336Mark MartinRoush RacingFord333494Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord333599Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord333618Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac33373Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet33385Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet33391Morgan ShepherdPrecision Products RacingPontiac3331010Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord3331141Steve GrissomLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet3331236Derrike CopeMB2 MotorsportsPontiac3331328Ernie IrvanYates RacingFord3331444Kyle PettyPE2 MotorsportsPontiac3331530Johnny Benson Jr.Bahari RacingPontiac3331696David GreenAmerican Equipment RacingChevrolet3331721Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord3331823Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesFord3321942Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet3322075Rick MastButch Mock MotorsportsFord3322117Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet3322229Jeff GreenDiamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet3322316Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord332249Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord332258Hut StricklinStavola Brothers RacingFord3322611Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord3322788Dale JarrettYates RacingFord3322837Jeremy MayfieldKranefuss-Haas RacingFord3312943Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac3313098John AndrettiCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord3313119Gary BradberryTriStar MotorsportsFord3313278Billy StandridgeTriad MotorsportsFord3283390Dick TrickleDonlavey RacingFord3233431Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet2923546Wally Dallenbach Jr.Team SABCOChevrolet2463622Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac2393725Ricky CravenHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet2333833Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet2313981Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord192404Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet1884140Robby GordonTeam SABCOChevrolet186427Todd BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord47Race Results
Race statistics Time of race: 3:39:10 Average speed: Pole speed: Cautions: 7 for 50 laps Margin of victory: 0.468 seconds Lead changes: 27 Percent of race run under caution: 15% Average green flag run: 35.4 laps Race statistics at Race Database
References