The 1997 Indy 200 at Walt Disney World Presented by Aurora was an open-wheel car race that was sanctioned by the United States Auto Club (USAC) and held on January 25, 1997, at Walt Disney World Speedway in Bay Lake, Florida before 54,000 spectators. It was the third of 10 rounds in the 1996–97 Indy Racing League season and the second running of the event. Cheever Racing's Eddie Cheever won the 149-lap race, shortened from the scheduled 200-lap distance due to rain, with Byrd-Cunningham Racing driver Mike Groff finishing second and Scott Goodyear coming in third for Treadway Racing.
Groff led the Drivers' Championship standings entering the race, which brought about the debut of the Indy Racing League's new car specifications that introduced normally aspirated engines as a replacement for the turbocharged engines in order to reduce the costs and speeds of the series. Tony Stewart was a clear favorite to win the race, having lapped quick speeds in preseason testing and practice sessions and earning the pole position by recording the fastest lap time of qualifying. After leading the first 130 laps, he gave up the lead to Buzz Calkins during a pit stop. He reclaimed the position 15 laps later when Calkins retired from the race with an engine failure, but spun on his own oil that leaked from his car, giving Cheever the top position. Once a large downpour developed over the track, the race was declared official, with Cheever earning his first career win.
The result meant that Groff widened his advantage over second-place Calkins in the Drivers' Championship, while Scott Sharp, Davey Hamilton, and Marco Greco were promoted by three positions to round out the top-five in the standings with seven races left in the season.
Background
The second annual edition of the Indy 200 at Walt Disney World was the third of 10 rounds in the Indy Racing League (IRL)'s 1996–97 season and was held on Saturday, January 25, 1997, making it the first race of the season to be held in the calendar year of 1997. It was the only time in the event's history that it did not act as the IRL's season opener. As it had the previous year, the event took place at Walt Disney World Speedway, a tri-oval track with varied amounts of banking in each of its three turns (10 degrees in turn one, 8.5 in turn two, and seven in turn three), in Bay Lake, Florida, United States. Buzz Calkins was the defending race winner. Heading into the race, Mike Groff led the Drivers' Championship with 63 points. Calkins and Michele Alboreto shared the second position, as they were tied on 62 points each. Roberto Guerrero and Richie Hearn rounded out the top-five in the standings, with 60 and 59 points, respectively.
The biggest uncertainty entering the race were the introduction of the IRL's car specifications. Their new engine formula replaced turbocharged engines used in 1996 with normally aspirated V8 engines – the Oldsmobile Aurora and the Nissan Infiniti Indy – in order to reduce costs and speeds. To accommodate the engines, the series' two chassis suppliers (Dallara and G-Force) constructed new cars that featured an airbox above and behind the drivers' cockpits to force air into the engine compartment. Riley & Scott also announced their intentions to field an IRL chassis, though their commitment to Oldsmobile in IMSA prevented them from doing so until the True Value 500 in June 1997. The G-Force chassis and Aurora engine debuted at Phoenix International Raceway in November 1996, with Arie Luyendyk setting speeds at around in a two-day test. Later that month, Eliseo Salazar completed a test for the new Dallara chassis at Walt Disney World Speedway, recording top lap speeds of .
The first open test at Walt Disney World Speedway was conducted on December 10–13, but Oldsmobile's engine production had been scarce, and Infiniti was not ready yet to supply theirs. Due to this, Luyendyk, Tony Stewart, and Scott Sharp were the only three participants of the test. Following several additional tests at the track with Salazar, John Paul Jr., Scott Goodyear, Calkins, and Eddie Cheever, the pre-holiday testing period concluded with Goodyear lapping the fastest overall speed of on December 23. During the second series of tests at Walt Disney World Speedway on January 6–22, 1997, the Infiniti engine made its belated first appearance in Groff's car, and Stewart logged the quickest speed among the 10 participating drivers at . However, the tests were marred by a crash on January 11 involving Salazar, who suffered a compression fracture in his lower back after slipping on oil that leaked from his engine and slamming the wall in turn one. According to IRL medical director Dr. Henry Bock, he would not be able to return to racing "at least until the beginning of May".
The tentative entry list was revealed on January 21 with 23 cars, but only 19 of the entries materialized after Mark Dismore, Robbie Buhl, Sam Schmidt, and Johnny Unser withdrew because of the engine shortage. The 19 drivers represented 16 different teams and drove a Dallara IR-7, G-Force GF01, or Reynard 95I car that were powered by an Oldsmobile, Infiniti, or Ford engine and used Firestone or Goodyear tires. Scott Goodyear, a regular in the rivaling PPG CART World Series, diverted to the IRL and teamed with Luyendyk at Treadway Racing. Veteran racer Danny Ongais partnered with the newly-formed Chitwood Motorsports team in what wound up being the final start of his Indy car racing career. Other new driver–team combinations include Davy Jones and Galles Racing, Jeret Schroeder and McCormack Motorsports, and Stéphan Grégoire and Chastain Motorsports. A notable absentee was Hearn, winner of the preceding Las Vegas 500K in October 1996, who switched to the CART World Series with Della Penna Motorsports.
Practice and qualifying Four practice sessions preceded the race on Saturday, two on Thursday and two on Friday. The first session lasted 120 minutes, the second session 45 minutes, the third session 90 minutes, and the fourth session 30 minutes. Stewart set the fastest two lap times of the first practice session on Thursday morning in his primary car (21.465 seconds) and his backup car (21.610 seconds), outpacing Jones, Goodyear, Luyendyk, and Calkins. One hour and eight minutes into the session, Jones spun into the outside wall in turn three with the rear end of his car before backing into the inside wall on the front stretch and stopping in the infield grass. An unconscious Jones was transported by helicopter to the Orlando Regional Medical Center in critical condition before being upgraded to serious condition upon regaining consciousness.
Later that afternoon, Stewart topped the time charts of the second practice session at 21.721 seconds, with Calkins in second, Buddy Lazier in third, Goodyear in fourth, and Luyendyk in fifth. Stewart continued showcasing his speed the next morning by posting the fastest lap time of the third practice session at 21.551 seconds, besting Sharp, Cheever, Goodyear, and Luyendyk. Prior to the session, Galles Racing named Jeff Ward as their replacement driver for Jones, who was diagnosed with head and neck injuries and experienced weakness in his left arm.
The qualifying session began 75 minutes after the third practice session ended. Each driver was required to complete two timed laps, with the fastest of the two determining their starting position. Stewart took the pole position, the second of his career, with a time of 21.685 seconds, beating second-place qualifier Luyendyk by 0.138 seconds. After qualifying, Stewart considered it his first pole because he had only inherited the pole position in the 1996 Indianapolis 500 after his teammate, Scott Brayton, was killed in a practice crash. He also described the new cars as "a little more forgiving than last year's". Calkins started in third despite fuel pressure issues earlier in the day, Sharp was fourth, and Cheever fifth, followed by Goodyear, Davey Hamilton, Ward, Jim Guthrie, and Fermín Vélez. Lazier only took 11th after suffering a gearbox failure in morning practice; the five drivers behind him were Marco Greco, Paul, Groff, Schroeder, and Ongais.
Three drivers did not take part in qualifying: Roberto Guerrero had been waiting for a new Infiniti engine since his old engine failed during a test on Wednesday, while Jack Miller and Grégoire were off the pace in the morning practice session. Guerrero and Miller were permitted to start the race in 17th and 18th, respectively, but they and Grégoire were required to complete laps in a 30-minute systems check practice session beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (UTC−05:00) on Saturday in order to demonstrate enough speed to qualify for the race. By recorded a lap time of 21.638 seconds on Friday afternoon, Stewart led all practice sessions of the weekend, with Lazier, Sharp, Paul, and Ward rounding out the top-five. Vélez suffered an engine failure during the final practice session and replaced it with an Oldsmobile development engine, thus forcing him to partake in the systems check session the next morning.
Qualifying classification + Final qualifying results Driver Team 1 2 Tony Stewart Team Menard 21.685 166.013 1 2 5 Arie Luyendyk Treadway Racing 21.823 164.964 2 3 12 Buzz Calkins Bradley Motorsports 21.945 164.046 3 4 1 Scott Sharp A. J. Foyt Enterprises 21.980 163.785 4 5 51 Eddie Cheever Team Cheever 22.012 163.547 5 6 6 Scott Goodyear Treadway Racing 22.041 163.332 6 7 14 Davey Hamilton A. J. Foyt Enterprises 22.048 163.280 7 8 4 Jeff Ward Galles Racing 22.132 162.660 8 9 27 Jim Guthrie Blueprint Racing 22.185 162.272 9 10 33 Fermín Vélez Team Scandia 22.272 161.638 10 11 91 Buddy Lazier Hemelgarn Racing 22.313 161.341 11 12 22 Marco Greco Team Scandia 22.470 160.214 12 13 18 John Paul Jr. PDM Racing 22.563 159.553 13 14 10 Mike Groff Byrd-Cunningham Racing 22.591 159.355 14 15 30 Jeret Schroeder McCormack Motorsports 23.247 154.859 15 16 17 Danny Ongais Chitwood Motorsports 23.765 151.483 16 17 21 Roberto Guerrero Pagan Racing No time No speed 17 18 40 Jack Miller Arizona Motorsports No time No speed 18 19 77 Stéphan Grégoire Chastain Motorsports No time No speed 19 Source:
Race Prior to the race, which had a scheduled distance of 200 laps and , rain showers forced United States Auto Club (USAC) officials to delay the start of the systems-check session to 11:09 a.m. All four participants were allowed to start the race, with Grégoire inheriting the 19th and final position on the starting grid. Goodyear tire engineers measured the track surface's temperature at . An estimated 54,000 spectators attended the race. Following an invocation from IRL chaplain Mark Wingler, the command to fire the cars' engines was given by Judson Green, president of Walt Disney Attractions. The race began at 12:40 p.m. and Stewart immediately pulled clear of Luyendyk to lead the first lap. By the end of the second lap, Ward improved to fifth place and Cheever fell to the seventh position. The following lap, Grégoire pulled into pit road and retired from the race with a fuel pump issue.