1997 Coca-Cola 600
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 at 333 laps – shortened from 400 laps due to a rain delay and a 1 a.m. curfew – on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) speedway, it was the 11th race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won the race.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 11 of 32 in the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
| Date | May 25, 1997 | ||
| Location | Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.5 mi (2.4 km) | ||
| Distance | 333 laps, 499.5 mi (803.867 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 400 laps, 600 mi (965.606 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures averaging around 72.4 °F (22.4 °C); wind speeds up to 17.2 miles per hour (27.7 km/h)[1] | ||
| Average speed | 136.745 mph (220.070 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Ernie Irvan | Robert Yates Racing | |
| Laps | 83 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | TBS | ||
| Announcers | Ken Squier, Buddy Baker, Dick Berggren & Geoff Bodine | ||
On the day of the race, 0.25 inches of precipitation were recorded around the speedway.[2]
Background
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States 13 miles from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5 miles (2.4 km) 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).
Top 10 results
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 2 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | Ford |
| 3 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford |
| 4 | 94 | Bill Elliott | Bill Elliott Racing | Ford |
| 5 | 99 | Jeff Burton | Roush Racing | Ford |
| 6 | 18 | Bobby Labonte | Joe Gibbs Racing | Pontiac |
| 7 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
| 8 | 5 | Terry Labonte | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
| 9 | 1 | Morgan Shepherd | Precision Products Racing | Pontiac |
| 10 | 10 | Ricky Rudd | Rudd Performance Motorsports | Ford |
Race statistics
- Time of race: 3:39:10
- Average Speed: 136.745 miles per hour (220.070 km/h)
- Pole Speed: 184.3
- Cautions: 7 for 50 laps
- Margin of Victory: 0.468 sec
- Lead changes: 27
- Percent of race run under caution: 15%
- Average green flag run: 35.4 laps
References
- Weather information at The Old Farmers' Almanac
- "Charlotte NASCAR Climatology" (PDF). SERCC. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
- Race statistics at Race Database