The 1997 DeVilbiss 400 was the 21st stock car race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 28th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, August 17, 1997, in Brooklyn, Michigan, at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. At race's end, Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would manage to come back from a blown tire to dominate the late stages of the race to take his 21st career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon and Roush Racing driver Ted Musgrave would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

The race was held at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located in Brooklyn, Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation. MIS is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards).

Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver.

#DriverTeamMake1Lance HooperPrecision Products RacingPontiac2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet5Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord7Geoff BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord8Hut StricklinStavola Brothers RacingFord9Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord10Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord11Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord16Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord17Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet18Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac21Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord22Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac23Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet25Ricky CravenHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28Ernie IrvanRobert Yates RacingFord29Jeff Green (R)Diamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet30Johnny Benson Jr.Bahari RacingPontiac31Mike Skinner (R)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet33Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet36Derrike CopeMB2 MotorsportsPontiac37Jeremy MayfieldKranefuss-Haas RacingFord40Robby Gordon (R)Team SABCOChevrolet41Steve GrissomLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet42Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet43Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac44Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac46Wally Dallenbach Jr.Team SABCOChevrolet71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet75Rick MastButch Mock MotorsportsFord77Morgan ShepherdJasper MotorsportsFord78Gary BradberryTriad MotorsportsFord81Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord88Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord90Dick TrickleDonlavey RacingFord94Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord96David Green (R)American Equipment RacingChevrolet97Chad LittleRoush RacingPontiac98John AndrettiCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord99Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord

Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, August 15. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, August 16. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. Positions 26-38 would be decided on time, and depending on who needed it, the 39th thru either the 42nd, 43rd, or 44th position would be based on provisionals. Four spots are awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The fifth is awarded to a past champion who has not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champion needs the provisional, the field would be limited to 42 cars. If a champion needed it, the field would expand to 43 cars. If the race was a companion race with the NASCAR Winston West Series, four spots would be determined by NASCAR Winston Cup Series provisionals, while the final two spots would be given to teams in the Winston West Series, leaving the field at 44 cars.

Johnny Benson Jr., driving for Bahari Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 39.273 and an average speed of .

Dave Marcis was the only driver to fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed130Johnny Benson Jr.Bahari RacingPontiac39.273183.33226Mark MartinRoush RacingFord39.356182.945325Ricky CravenHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet39.360182.927488Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord39.395182.764599Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord39.420182.648618Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac39.441182.551716Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord39.446182.528833Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet39.448182.519990Dick TrickleDonlavey RacingFord39.450182.510107Geoff BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord39.498182.2881146Wally Dallenbach Jr.Team SABCOChevrolet39.501182.2741237Jeremy MayfieldKranefuss-Haas RacingFord39.510182.2321329Jeff Green (R)Diamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet39.559182.007145Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet39.561181.9971577Morgan ShepherdJasper MotorsportsFord39.584181.8921636Derrike CopeMB2 MotorsportsPontiac39.587181.8781724Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet39.607181.7861897Chad LittleRoush RacingPontiac39.613181.759194Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet39.620181.7262028Ernie IrvanRobert Yates RacingFord39.646181.6072175Rick MastButch Mock MotorsportsFord39.647181.6032241Steve GrissomLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet39.684181.4332396David Green (R)American Equipment RacingChevrolet39.709181.3192494Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord39.738181.1872598John AndrettiCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord39.739181.1822617Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet39.750181.1322710Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord39.762181.077283Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet39.790180.9502940Robby Gordon (R)Team SABCOChevrolet39.801180.9003042Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet39.825180.7913121Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord39.829180.773321Lance HooperPrecision Products RacingPontiac39.829180.7733344Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac39.894180.4783431Mike Skinner (R)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet39.938180.2793543Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac39.952180.2163678Gary BradberryTriad MotorsportsFord39.963180.1673711Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord39.971180.131388Hut StricklinStavola Brothers RacingFord40.024179.892Provisionals3923Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesFord -* -*4022Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac -* -*4181Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord -* -*429Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord -* -*432Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord -* -*Failed to qualify4471Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet -* -*Official qualifying results *Time not available.

Race results FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings126Mark MartinRoush RacingFord200102running185$93,04521724Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet2001running175$85,7283716Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord20039running170$59,94542028Ernie IrvanRobert Yates RacingFord2000running160$46,2955488Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord2000running155$46,8486618Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac2004running155$42,26572494Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord2000running146$38,4738599Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord20036running147$37,2909283Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet2000running138$37,94010145Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet2000running134$47,29011107Geoff BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord2007running135$31,46512325Ricky CravenHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet2006running132$31,16013432Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord2000running124$36,16514833Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet2000running121$30,065152617Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet2000running118$30,565161636Derrike CopeMB2 MotorsportsPontiac2000running115$22,015172940Robby Gordon (R)Team SABCOChevrolet2000running112$29,665181329Jeff Green (R)Diamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet1990running109$21,265193923Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesFord1990running106$27,965202396David Green (R)American Equipment RacingChevrolet1990running103$22,86521429Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord1990running100$20,315223121Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord1990running97$27,115233344Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac1990running94$19,89024130Johnny Benson Jr.Bahari RacingPontiac1995running96$32,190252241Steve GrissomLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet1990running88$26,440263543Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac1990running85$31,140273042Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet1990running82$19,065284022Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac1980running79$26,015292710Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord1980running76$30,915303431Mike Skinner (R)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet1980running73$18,365313711Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord1980running70$22,690324181Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord1980running67$22,640331237Jeremy MayfieldKranefuss-Haas RacingFord1980running64$15,59034321Lance HooperPrecision Products RacingPontiac1980running61$22,540352598John AndrettiCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord1980running58$22,49036388Hut StricklinStavola Brothers RacingFord1980running55$22,465373678Gary BradberryTriad MotorsportsFord1960running52$15,440382175Rick MastButch Mock MotorsportsFord1950running49$22,36539990Dick TrickleDonlavey RacingFord1950running46$15,365401577Morgan ShepherdJasper MotorsportsFord1670running43$15,365411146Wally Dallenbach Jr.Team SABCOChevrolet1640electrical40$16,865421897Chad LittleRoush RacingPontiac1640running37$15,36543194Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet910engine34$31,365Official race results

References