The 1997 AC Delco 400 was the 30th stock car race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 33rd iteration of the event. The race was originally scheduled to be held on Sunday, October 26, 1997, but was postponed to Monday, October 27, due to rain. The race was held in Rockingham, North Carolina, at North Carolina Speedway, a permanent high-banked racetrack. The race took the scheduled 393 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Petty Enterprises driver Bobby Hamilton would manage to make a late-race charge to lead to take his second career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Robert Yates Racing driver Dale Jarrett and Hendrick Motorsports driver Ricky Craven would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

North Carolina Speedway was opened as a flat, one-mile oval on October 31, 1965. In 1969, the track was extensively reconfigured to a high-banked, D-shaped oval just over one mile in length. In 1997, North Carolina Motor Speedway merged with Penske Motorsports, and was renamed North Carolina Speedway. Shortly thereafter, the infield was reconfigured, and competition on the infield road course, mostly by the SCCA, was discontinued. Currently, the track is home to the Fast Track High Performance Driving School.

Entry list

(R) denotes rookie driver.

#DriverTeamMake1Morgan ShepherdPrecision 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 RacingFord14Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet16Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord17Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet18Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac21Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord22Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac23Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet25Ricky CravenHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet27Kenny Irwin Jr.David Blair MotorsportsFord28Ernie IrvanRobert Yates RacingFord29Jeff Green (R)Diamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet30Johnny Benson Jr.Bahari RacingPontiac31Mike Skinner (R)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet33Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet36Derrike CopeMB2 MotorsportsPontiac37Jeremy MayfieldKranefuss-Haas RacingFord40Greg SacksTeam SABCOChevrolet41Steve GrissomLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet42Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet43Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac44Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac46Wally Dallenbach Jr.Team SABCOChevrolet71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet75Rick MastButch Mock MotorsportsFord77Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord78Gary BradberryTriad MotorsportsFord81Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord88Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord90Dick TrickleDonlavey RacingFord94Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord95Ed BerrierSadler Brothers RacingChevrolet96David 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, October 24, at 2:00 PM EST. 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, October 25, at 9:45 AM EST. 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.

Bobby Labonte, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 23.365 and an average speed of .

Four drivers would fail to qualify: Brett Bodine, Dave Marcis, Ed Berrier, and Kenny Irwin Jr.

Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed118Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac23.365156.696288Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord23.391156.52236Mark MartinRoush RacingFord23.423156.308422Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac23.499155.802544Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac23.539155.538624Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet23.541155.52477Geoff BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord23.542155.518894Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord23.548155.478925Ricky CravenHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet23.551155.4581031Mike Skinner (R)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet23.553155.4451199Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord23.563155.3791290Dick TrickleDonlavey RacingFord23.575155.3001310Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord23.585155.2341436Derrike CopeMB2 MotorsportsPontiac23.589155.2081596David Green (R)American Equipment RacingChevrolet23.596155.1621697Chad LittleRoush RacingPontiac23.606155.0961721Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord23.611155.063182Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord23.616155.0301942Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet23.618155.0172030Johnny Benson Jr.Bahari RacingPontiac23.621154.9982146Wally Dallenbach Jr.Team SABCOChevrolet23.621154.9982275Rick MastButch Mock MotorsportsFord23.622154.991238Hut StricklinStavola Brothers RacingFord23.642154.8602437Jeremy MayfieldKranefuss-Haas RacingFord23.646154.8342581Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord23.650154.808263Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet23.676154.6382777Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord23.683154.5922843Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac23.686154.5722929Jeff Green (R)Diamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet23.697154.501309Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord23.700154.481311Morgan ShepherdPrecision Products RacingPontiac23.710154.4163214Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet23.724154.325335Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet23.746154.1823416Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord23.765154.058354Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet23.767154.0463678Gary BradberryTriad MotorsportsFord23.814153.7413741Steve GrissomLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet23.824153.6773833Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet23.870153.381Provisionals3928Ernie IrvanRobert Yates RacingFord -* -*4023Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesFord -* -*4198John AndrettiCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord -* -*4240Greg SacksTeam SABCOChevrolet -* -*Champion's Provisional4317Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet -* -*Failed to qualify4411Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord -* -*4571Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet -* -*4695Ed BerrierSadler Brothers RacingChevrolet -* -*4727Kenny Irwin Jr.David Blair MotorsportsFord -* -*Official qualifying results *Time not available.

Race results FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings12843Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac39337running180$89,1502288Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord39373running175$65,1753925Ricky CravenHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet393139running175$45,6254624Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet39323running165$41,15051290Dick TrickleDonlavey RacingFord3930running155$30,800636Mark MartinRoush RacingFord3930running150$32,4007335Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet3931running151$38,4008263Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet3930running142$32,8009354Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet3930running138$32,200101942Joe NemechekTeam SABCOChevrolet3930running134$22,62511118Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac39293running135$36,87512894Bill ElliottBill Elliott RacingFord3920running127$26,575132777Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord3920running124$14,975141721Michael WaltripWood Brothers RacingFord3920running121$26,075152437Jeremy MayfieldKranefuss-Haas RacingFord3920running118$19,675161697Chad LittleRoush RacingPontiac3910running115$18,47517309Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord3910running112$18,17518182Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord3910running109$30,9751977Geoff BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord3914running111$24,575201436Derrike CopeMB2 MotorsportsPontiac3910running103$19,175212929Jeff Green (R)Diamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet3910running100$17,77522544Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac3912running102$16,475231031Mike Skinner (R)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet3910running94$16,275243741Steve GrissomLarry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet3910running91$23,07525238Hut StricklinStavola Brothers RacingFord3900running88$22,87526422Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac3900running85$22,675271596David Green (R)American Equipment RacingChevrolet3900running82$15,475283928Ernie IrvanRobert Yates RacingFord3890running79$27,375294317Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet3890running76$22,275303833Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet3890running73$21,675314198John AndrettiCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord3890running70$21,050323416Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord3880running67$18,950333214Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet3870running64$11,85034311Morgan ShepherdPrecision Products RacingPontiac3870running61$18,750352146Wally Dallenbach Jr.Team SABCOChevrolet3860running58$11,650362030Johnny Benson Jr.Bahari RacingPontiac3840running55$18,625372581Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord3790engine52$18,600381199Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord36521running54$30,050394240Greg SacksTeam SABCOChevrolet3650handling46$18,550401310Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord2410crash43$26,550413678Gary BradberryTriad MotorsportsFord2390crash40$11,550422275Rick MastButch Mock MotorsportsFord1780camshaft37$18,550434023Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesFord1110crash34$18,550Failed to qualify4411Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord4571Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet4695Ed BerrierSadler Brothers RacingChevrolet4727Kenny Irwin Jr.David Blair MotorsportsFordOfficial race results

References