The 1997 Samsonite 200 (also referred to as the Colorado 200 on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's TV coverage) was the seventh round of the 1996–1997 Indy Racing League. The race was held on June 29, 1997, at the

Pikes Peak International Raceway Pikes Peak International Raceway (PPIR) is a racetrack in the Colorado Springs area within the city limits of Fountain, Colorado, that by October 12, 1997, was "the fastest 1-mile paved oval anywhere". The speedway hosted races in several series ...

Fountain, Colorado The City of Fountain is a home rule municipality located in El Paso County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 29,802 at the 2020 United States Census, a +15.31% increase since the 2010 United States Census. Fountain is a part of ...

Qualifying

# Couldn't qualify after his chassis had been damaged in a practice crash. He was allowed to start the race at the back of the field.

Failed to qualify or withdrew

* Jim Guthrie R for Blueprint Racing - crashed during Friday's first practice session and was hospitalised with a fractured vertebra. *

Robbie Buhl Robbie Buhl (born September 2, 1963) is an American former race car driver who competed in the Indy Racing League. He was a color commentator for the IndyCar races on Versus. In 2016, Robbie, along with his brother Tom Buhl, starteBuhl Sport Det ...

for

Team Menard Team Menard was an auto racing team that competed in the Indianapolis 500, CART, Indy Racing League, NASCAR Cup Series, and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The team was owned by Menards founder, John Menard Jr.. Founded in 1980 to compete in CAR ...

- suffered a concussion during testing on June 13 and was unable to compete. *

Mike Groff Michael Dennis Groff (born November 16, 1961 in Van Nuys, California) is a former race car driver who competed in CART and the IRL IndyCar Series and was the 1989 Indy Lights champion. His younger brother Robbie was also a CART and IRL driver ...

for Byrd-Cunningham Racing - entered for the race, but not cleared to drive because of the injuries suffered at Texas. Replaced by

Johnny Unser Johnny Unser (born October 22, 1958) is a former race car driver. He is the son of open wheel driver Jerry Unser Jr., cousin of Al Unser Jr. and Robby Unser, nephew of Al Unser and Bobby Unser, and first cousin once removed of Alfred Unser. Unse ...

* John Paul Jr. for

PDM Racing PDM may stand for: Computing * .pdm (disambiguation), several file formats * Personal data manager - portable hardware tool enabling secure storage and easy access to user data * Phase dispersion minimization, a data analysis technique for fin ...

- entered for the race, but not cleared to drive because of the injuries suffered at Indianapolis. Replaced by

Billy Boat William Leonard Boat (born February 2, 1966) is an American former open-wheel driver who raced in the Indy Racing League. Racing career Boat began his career in USAC where he won 11 straight Western Series races on his way to the 1995 champion ...

R *

Alessandro Zampedri Alessandro Zampedri (born 3 October 1969 in Brescia) is an Italian race car driver. He started three Indianapolis 500s (1995, 1996, and 1997). Racing career Zampedri was seriously injured in the 1996 Indianapolis 500, suffering severe foot a ...

for

Team Scandia Team Scandia was a team in the Indy Racing League owned by Andy Evans that fielded a record 7 cars in the 1996 Indianapolis 500. Evans bought the team from Dick Simon during the 1996 season and Simon was listed as the owners of some of Scandia's ...

- Although not officially withdrawn for the weekend, he didn't appear at the track, as

downgraded its operation from five to three cars following an engine shortage at Texas and a reshuffle of the team's lineup,

Race Recap

Tony Stewart Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed Smoke, is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience. He is a ...

came into this race having just missed victory in the past three IRL races, but he put the issue beyond doubt by dominating this race, leading all but seven of the 200 laps. The race started off with polesitter

Scott Sharp Scott Sharp (born February 14, 1968) is an American professional racing driver in the United SportsCar Championship. He is the son of six-time SCCA champion Bob Sharp. Sharp is best known for his years as a competitor in the Indy Racing League. E ...

wrecking on the first lap. He suffered a non-contact brain injury, despite relatively minor damage to the car. The accident (following a similar accident 2 weeks before which forced Stewart's teammate

to miss the race) revived concern about the cars' inability to absorb energy in a rear-end accident, leading to changes in the gearbox case and bellhousing. Sharp would miss the rest of the season as the result of the injury. Turns 2 and 4 were treacherous all day, and several early crashes resulted in lengthy cleanups and many laps under caution.

Eddie Cheever Edward McKay "Eddie" Cheever Jr. (born January 10, 1958) is an American former racing driver who raced for almost 30 years in Formula One, sports cars, CART, and the Indy Racing League. Cheever participated in 143 Formula One World Championshi ...

dogged Stewart all day long, and

Stéphan Grégoire Stéphan Grégoire (born May 14, 1969 in Neufchâteau, Vosges) is a French race car driver currently living in Zionsville, Indiana. Gregoire is a veteran of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Rolex Sports Car Series, the Indianapolis 500, and the Indy Ra ...

led his first-ever laps in an IRL race. In the end neither of them had enough for Stewart, but after a late caution Cheever,

Davey Hamilton David Jay "Davey" Hamilton (born June 13, 1962 in Nampa, Idaho) is a race car driver who competed in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series and Stadium Super Trucks. He has made 56 series starts and while never winning a race, finished second thr ...

, and Grégoire dueled three-wide for second. Grégoire broke out and attempted to slingshot Stewart at the finish line, missing by about a car length. Cheever and Hamilton finished side-by-side with Hamilton taking third. The win was Stewart's first in his Indy car career, and the first win for team owner John Menard Jr. after 18 years of Indy car competition. Seven cars finished the race on the lead lap, an IRL record.

Box Score

Race Statistics

*Lead changes: 5 among 4 drivers

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings * Note: Only the top five positions are included for the standings.

References

External links

IndyCar official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samsonite 200, 1997 1996–97 in IndyCar Samsonite 200 Motorsport in Colorado