The 1997 Marlboro 500 Presented By Toyota was the 17th and last round of the 1997 CART season. It happened on September 28, 1997, at the then brand-new California Speedway.

Qualifying

Brazilian PacWest Racing driver Maurício Gugelmin set the pole with 240.942 mph (387.759 km).

Race

Before the start All American Racers's Juan Manuel Fangio II did not start the race due a fire on the back of his car. This brought out the races first caution even before the start.

Lap 10 - Lap 52 Chip Ganassi Racing Dutch driver Arie Luyendyk, who was replacing series champion Alex Zanardi, had a pit problem, his car was on fire, but he was able to remain in the race. The restart came out at lap 12. But one lap later, Paul Tracy had a serious crash at turn 4 resulting in the races second caution. It was Tracy's sixth DNF of the season. At lap 14, the top 6 were: Maurício Gugelmin, Jimmy Vasser, Bryan Herta, Michel Jourdain Jr., Michael Andretti and Mark Blundell. The restart came out at lap 23. At lap 40, German driver Arnd Meier spun at turn 4. Arie Luyendyk couldn't avoid him and he hit Arnd's car. Both drivers suffered slight injuries. At lap 47, Al Unser Jr. had a pit problem, just like Arie had laps before. He retired. The restart came out at lap 52, with Andretti leading the field.

Lap 59 - Lap 106 The top 6 at lap 59 were: Michael Andretti, Maurício Gugelmin, Jimmy Vasser, André Ribeiro, Mark Blundell and Greg Moore. After pitstops, Ribeiro lead on lap 90. After 106 laps, Michael Andretti retired.

Lap 119 - 133 The fourth caution came out at lap 119 because of debris. The restart came out at lap 126. At lap 133, the top 6 were: André Ribeiro, Gil de Ferran, Adrian Fernández, Jimmy Vasser, Greg Moore and Mark Blundell.

Closing stages: 98 laps to go until the finish With 98 laps to go, Adrian Fernandez stalled in the pits, but kept the engine running, and remained in the race. With 47 laps to go, André Ribeiro's car ran out of fuel, but he was able to make it back to the pit area, very slow. He came back to the track in sixth, 1 lap behind. But 5 laps later, Ribeiro suffered a bad crash at turn 2 and stopped after crashing in the infield wall. He walked away but this brought out the races fifth caution. With 35 laps to go, Maurício Gugelmin took the lead, as the restart came out. With 32 laps to go the top 10 were: Maurício Gugelmin, Gil de Ferran, Jimmy Vasser, Greg Moore, Mark Blundell, Bobby Rahal, Adrian Fernandez, Christian Fittipaldi, Scott Pruett and Robby Gordon. With 19 laps to go, Gugelmin had tyre problems, and the new leader was Greg Moore, but 8 laps later, Greg Moore had flames on the back of his car. Jimmy Vasser thought the yellow flag was out, but that was not the case, as Mark Blundell took the lead. Blundell won for the last time in CART; his only oval win and only 500-mile race win. Jimmy Vasser would finish second.

Box Score FinishGridNameTeamChassisEngineTireLapsTime/Status 1 8 18 Mark Blundell PacWest Racing Reynard 97I Mercedes-Benz 250 3:02:42.620 11 20 2 2 1 Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 97I Honda 250 +0.847 2 16 3 14 32 Adrián Fernández Tasman Motorsports Lola T97/00 Honda 249 +1 Lap 0 14 4 1 17 Maurício Gugelmin PacWest Racing Reynard 97I Mercedes-Benz 249 +1 Lap 66 13 5 10 7 Bobby Rahal Team Rahal Reynard 97I Ford 249 +1 Lap 0 10 6 12 5 Gil de Ferran Walker Racing Reynard 97I Honda 249 +1 Lap 9 8 7 4 20 Scott Pruett Patrick Racing Reynard 97I Ford 248 +2 Laps 0 6 8 13 9 Robby Gordon Hogan Racing Reynard 97I Mercedes-Benz 247 +3 Laps 0 5 9 16 11 Christian Fittipaldi Newman/Haas Racing Swift 007.i Ford 247 +3 Laps 0 4 10 21 98 P. J. Jones All American Racers Reynard 97I Toyota 244 +6 Laps 0 3 11 15 27 Parker Johnstone Team Green Reynard 97I Honda 243 +7 Laps 0 2 12 25 25 Max Papis Arciero-Wells Racing Reynard 97I Toyota 242 +8 Laps 0 1 13 6 99 Greg Moore Forsythe Racing Reynard 97I Mercedes-Benz 240 Engine 8 0 14 26 77 Gualter Salles Davis Racing Reynard 97I Ford 238 +12 Laps 0 0 15 22 21 Richie Hearn Della Penna Motorsports Lola T97/00 Ford 238 +12 Laps 4 0 16 17 34 Dennis Vitolo Payton-Coyne Racing Reynard 97I Ford 231 +19 Laps 0 0 17 11 31 André Ribeiro Tasman Motorsports Reynard 97I Honda 207 Crash 114 1 18 5 19 Michel Jourdain Jr. Payton-Coyne Racing Reynard 97I Ford 195 Handling 0 0 19 7 6 Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Swift 007.i Ford 104 Overheating 36 0 20 9 40 Raul Boesel Patrick Racing Reynard 97I Ford 83 Electrical 0 0 21 3 8 Bryan Herta Team Rahal Reynard 97I Ford 80 Engine 0 0 22 20 2 Al Unser Jr. Marlboro Team Penske Penske PC-26 Mercedes-Benz 44 Exhaust 0 0 23 23 24 Hiro Matsushita Arciero-Wells Racing Reynard 97I Toyota 40 Suspension damage 0 0 24 27 4 Arie Luyendyk Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 97I Honda 39 Crash 0 0 25 24 64 Arnd Meier Project Indy Lola T97/00 Ford 38 Crash 0 0 26 19 3 Paul Tracy Marlboro Team Penske Penske PC-26 Mercedes-Benz 12 Crash 0 0 27 18 36 Juan Manuel Fangio II All American Racers Reynard 97I Toyota 0 Engine 0 0 Source:1997 Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota1997 Fontana Champ Cars

Tires: - Firestone - Goodyear

Failed to qualify, withdrawn, or driver change Driver change: Alex Zanardi (#4) - injured in practice crash, replaced by Arie Luyendyk Withdrawn: Patrick Carpentier (#16) - practice crash

Race statistics Lap Leaders Laps Leader 1–43 Maurício Gugelmin 44–47 Richie Hearn 48–83 Michael Andretti 84–87 André Ribeiro 88–89 Jimmy Vasser 90–161 André Ribeiro 162–163 Gil de Ferran 164–201 André Ribeiro 202–204 Gil de Ferran 205–210 Maurício Gugelmin 211–214 Gil de Ferran 215–231 Maurício Gugelmin 232–239 Greg Moore 240–250 Mark Blundell

Point Standings Alex Zanardi 195 points Gil de Ferran 162 points Jimmy Vasser 144 points Maurício Gugelmin 132 points Paul Tracy 121 points Mark Blundell 115 points Greg Moore 111 points Michael Andretti 108 points Scott Pruett 102 points Raul Boesel 91 points Bryan Herta 72 points Bobby Rahal 70 points

Rookie of the Year standings Patrick Carpentier 27 points Gualter Salles 10 points Dario Franchitti 10 points Arnd Meier 1 point

Notes Last win - Mark Blundell Fastest lap - Greg Moore: 30.900 seconds Last Race for Penske Racing - Paul Tracy Last CART Race - Arie Luyendyk, Parker Johnstone, Juan Manuel Fangio II Alex Zanardi was replaced by Arie Luyendyk after two bad crashes on free practice. Rookie of the year, Patrick Carpentier also did not start. Robby Gordon replaced Dario Franchitti in this race.

References