1997 California 500

1997 California 500

Race details
Race 15 of 32 in the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Track map of the speedway at Auto Club Speedway AKA California Speedway
Date	June 22, 1997 (1997-06-22)
Location	California Speedway, Fontana, California
Course	Permanent racing facility 2 mi (3.22 km)
Distance	250 laps, 500 mi (804.67 km)
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 91.9 °F (33.3 °C); wind speeds up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h)[1]
Average speed	155.12 miles per hour (249.64 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Joe Nemechek	Felix Sabates
Most laps led
Driver	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Laps	113
Winner
No. 24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	ABC Sports

The 1997 California 500 presented by NAPA was the inaugural NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car race held at California Speedway in Fontana, California. The race was the 15th in the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Though Greg Sacks was the fastest qualifier, he had to start 26th due to not being a first day qualifier, and the pole position was instead given to Felix Sabates driver Joe Nemechek, who ran with an average speed of 183.015 miles per hour (294.534 km/h).^[2] The inaugural California 500 was won by Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports, who also led the most laps with 113.^[3] A crowd of 85,000 attended the race, the first race in southern California since 1988, when Riverside International Raceway held the Budweiser 400.^[4]

The national anthem was performed by 20th Century Fox Records recording arists Ambrosia but it was not shown on ABC, NAPA vice president Wayne Wells gave the command for drivers to start their engines, and track executive Les Richter was the grand marshal.^[5]

Race

On lap 29, Hut Stricklin hit the turn four wall, and was later treated for abrasions. Later in the race, Greg Sacks hit the turn two wall. Much of the race was dominated by Jeff Gordon, who led the most laps with 113 laps, though heading into the final 16 laps Mark Martin was able to pass Gordon, but had to pit to refuel three laps later. On the final lap, Gordon ran out of fuel, and with Hendrick teammate Terry Labonte closing in, Gordon coasted across the finish line to beat Labonte by 1.074 seconds^[5] and claim his fifth victory of the season. Ricky Rudd, Ted Musgrave, Jimmy Spencer and Bobby Labonte closed out the top five.^[4]

Standings after the race

References