The 1997 California 500 presented by NAPA was the inaugural

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...

stock car race held at

California Speedway Auto Club Speedway, originally opened as California Speedway, is a , low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in unincorporated San Bernardino County, California, near Fontana. It has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1997. It was also previo ...

in Fontana, California. The race was the 15th in the

1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series The 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 49th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 26th modern-era NASCAR Cup series. It began on February 9 and ended on November 16. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won his ...

season. Though

Greg Sacks Greg Sacks (born November 3, 1952) is an American former stock car racing driver. He is married and has three children. He lives in Ormond Beach, Florida. He and his sons are partners in Grand Touring Vodka. Sacks has spent most of his career as ...

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 Sacks' teammate, fellow

Felix Sabates Feliciano Sergio "Félix" Sabates Jr. (born September 9, 1945) is a retired Cuban-born entrepreneur and philanthropist living in the United States. He is currently a partner in Chip Ganassi Racing teams, which formerly fielded teams in the NASCA ...

driver

Joe Nemechek Joseph Frank Nemechek III (born September 26, 1963) is an American professional stock car racing driver who last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 24 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. Nemechek has made the second mos ...

, who ran with an average speed of . The race was won by

Jeff Gordon Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, who is the Vice Chairman for Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet for Hendrick M ...

of Hendrick Motorsports, who also led the most laps with 113. A crowd of 85,000 attended the race, the first race in southern California since 1988, when

Riverside International Raceway Riverside International Raceway (sometimes known as Riverside, RIR, or Riverside Raceway) was a motorsports race track and road course established in the Edgemont area of Riverside County, California, just east of the city limits of Rivers ...

held the

Budweiser 400 The Budweiser 400 was an annual summer NASCAR Winston Cup race held from 1970 to 1988 at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California, United States. A 400-mile race was also run at the track in November 1963. The race distance was ...

Background

Auto Club Speedway (formerly California Speedway) - Speedway

The track, Auto Club Speedway, is a four-turn superspeedway that is long. The track's turns are banked from fourteen degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at eleven degrees. Unlike the front stretch, the backstraightaway is banked at three degrees.

Race

The national anthem was performed by 20th Century Fox Records recording artists Ambrosia, NAPA vice president Wayne Wells gave the command for drivers to start their engines, and track executive

Les Richter Leslie Alan Richter (October 6, 1930 – June 12, 2010) was an American football linebacker who played for the Los Angeles Rams of National Football League (NFL). He also served as the head of operations for NASCAR and president of the River ...

was the grand marshal. On lap 29,

Hut Stricklin Waymond Lane "Hut" Stricklin Jr. (born June 24, 1961) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. Racing career Stricklin grew up in Calera, Alabama. He married Pam Allison, the daughter of NASCAR legend Donnie Allison after the ...

hit the turn four wall, and was later treated for abrasions. Later in the race,

hit the turn two wall. Much of the race was dominated by

, who led the most laps with 113 laps, though heading into the final 16 laps

Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series s ...

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 Terrance Lee Labonte (born November 16, 1956), nicknamed Texas Terry or The Iceman, is an American former stock car driver who raced from 1978 to 2014 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup and Sprint Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series). A tw ...

closing in, Gordon coasted across the finish line to beat Labonte by 1.074 seconds and claim his fifth victory of the season.

Ricky Rudd Richard Lee Rudd (born September 12, 1956), nicknamed "The Rooster", is an American former racing driver. He is the uncle of actor Skeet Ulrich and former NASCAR Busch Series driver Jason Rudd. He retired in 2007 with 23 career wins. He was name ...

Ted Musgrave Theodore Musgrave (born December 18, 1955) is an American former stock car racing driver. Pre-NASCAR Musgrave's father, Elmer, was a famous short-track racer in the Midwest who raced for over 25 years at Soldier Field, O'Hare, Waukegan, and Wi ...

, Jimmy Spencer and

Bobby Labonte Robert Allen Labonte (born May 8, 1964) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver and current analyst for ''NASCAR on Fox''. He also currently competes full-time in the Superstar Racing Experience, driving the No. 18 car. L ...

closed out the top five.

Timeline

Section reference: * Start of race: Joe Nemechek officially began the event with the pole position. * Lap 2: Wally Dallenbach, Jr. took over the lead from Joe Nemechek. * Lap 8: Jeff Gordon took over the lead from Wally Dallenbach, Jr.. * Lap 31: Caution given out due to Hut Stricklin's crash, ended on lap 34. * Lap 32: Brett Bodine took over the lead from Jeff Gordon. * Lap 33: Ken Schrader took over the lead from Brett Bodine. * Lap 41: Jeff Gordon took over the lead from Ken Schrader. * Lap 71: Mark Martin took over the lead from Jeff Gordon. * Lap 73: Jeff Gordon took over the lead from Mark Martin. * Lap 78: Mark Martin took over the lead from Jeff Gordon. * Lap 81: Jimmy Spencer took over the lead from Mark Martin. * Lap 82: Ricky Craven took over the lead from Jimmy Spencer. * Lap 85: Jeff Gordon took over the lead from Ricky Craven. * Lap 94: Rick Mast's vehicle suffered from engine problems. * Lap 96: Caution due to oil on the track, ended on lap 104. * Lap 97: Dale Jarrett took over the lead from Jeff Gordon. * Lap 141: Caution due to Greg Sacks spinning out on the track, ended on lap 146. * Lap 142: Ricky Craven took over the lead from Dale Jarrett. * Lap 146: Engine problems ended Dave Marcis' chances of winning the event. * Lap 147: Ernie Irvan took over the lead from Ricky Craven. * Lap 149: Caution due to Jerry Nadeau's accident, ended on lap 151. * Lap 153: Dale Jarrett took over the lead from Ernie Irvan. * Lap 157: Terry Labonte took over the lead from Dale Jarrett. * Lap 173: Electrical issues brought Wally Dallenbach, Jr. race day to a halt. * Lap 198: Jimmy Spencer took over the lead from Terry Labonte. * Lap 201: Darrell Waltrip took over the lead from Jimmy Spencer. * Lap 202: Ernie Irvan managed to blow his engine while racing at high speeds. * Lap 203: Jeff Gordon took over the lead from Darrell Waltrip. * Lap 206: Sterling Marlin's engine could not take any more high speed racing and suddenly quit. * Lap 215: Geoffrey Bodine had engine problems in his vehicle that took him out of the race. * Lap 219: Ken Schrader would be forced to exit the event because of engine troubles. * Lap 234: Mark Martin took over the lead from Jeff Gordon. * Lap 240: Jeff Gordon took over the lead from Mark Martin. * Lap 241: Bill Elliott managed to run out of gas due to bad pit strategies. * Finish: Jeff Gordon was officially declared the winner of the event.

Standings after the race

References

{{1997 Winston Cup California 500 California 500 NASCAR races at Auto Club Speedway June 1997 sports events in the United States