1997 VisionAire 500

United States   1996–1997 Charlotte
Race details
8th Round of the 1996–97 Indy Racing League.
Date July 27, 1997
Official name VisionAire 500
Location Charlotte Motor Speedway
Course Permanent racing facility
1.500 / 2.414 km
Distance 208 laps, 312.000 mi / 502.115 km
Weather Dry with temperatures reaching up to 90.5 °F (32.5 °C); wind speeds reaching up to 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h)[1]
Pole
Driver United States Tony Stewart United States Team Menard
Time 24.866
Fastest Lap
Driver United States Billy Boat United States A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Time 25.292 (on lap 9 of 208)
Podium
First United States Buddy Lazier United States Hemelgarn Racing
Second United States Billy Boat United States A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Third Canada Scott Goodyear United States Treadway Racing

The 1997 VisionAire 500 was the eighth round of the 1996–1997 Indy Racing League. The race was held on July 26, 1997 at the 1.500 mi (2.414 km) Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina.

Report

Key Meaning
R Rookie
W Past winner

Qualifying

Pos No. Name Lap 1 Lap 2 Best (in mph)
1 2 United States Tony Stewart 24.986 24.866 217.164
2 5 Netherlands Arie Luyendyk 25.245 25.172 214.524
3 1 United States Billy Boat R 25.543 25.419 212.440
4 14 United States Davey Hamilton 25.454 25.424 212.398
5 91 United States Buddy Lazier 25.478 25.514 211.948
6 27 United States Jim Guthrie R 25.782 25.661 210.436
7 21 Colombia Roberto Guerrero 25.736 25.688 210.215
8 6 Canada Scott Goodyear 26.065 25.787 209.408
9 77 France Stephan Gregoire 25.967 25.799 209.310
10 28 United States Mark Dismore 25.827 25.808 209.237
11 70 Brazil Marco Greco 25.823 25.861 209.116
12 22 Italy Vincenzo Sospiri R 26.236 25.833 209.035
13 33 United States Jimmy Kite R 25.865 25.891 208.776
14 7 Chile Eliseo Salazar 25.891 25.961 208.567
15 51 United States Eddie Cheever 25.929 25.911 208.406
16 17 Brazil Affonso Giaffone R 26.045 26.074 207.333
17 31 United States Greg Ray R 26.120 26.054 207.262
18 4 Sweden Kenny Brack R 26.089 26.062 207.198
19 40 United States Jack Miller R 26.413 26.193 206.162
20 30 United States Robbie Groff R 26.328 26.333 205.066
21 18 United States John Paul, Jr. 26.883 26.577 203.183
22 10 United States Mike Groff 27.548 27.187 198.624
23 99 United States Sam SchmidtR Didn't qualify No speed

Failed to qualify or withdrew

Race

Buddy Lazier beat rookie Billy Boat to take his second IRL victory in the first-ever Indy car race at this long-time stock-car racing venue. The race was dominated by Tony Stewart at the beginning, but his car developed handling problems after pitting during a caution period on lap 75 and was out of contention thereafter. Lazier stayed out during the caution and assumed the lead, but had to make a green-flag stop on lap 93 and fell a lap down.

Mark Dismore moved up steadily through the field but blew an engine at full speed going down the front stretch on lap 99; he spun the car harmlessly into the infield in turn 1. Boat, Roberto Guerrero and Jimmy Kite (in only his second IRL start) swapped the lead until Guerrero touched wheels with points leader Davey Hamilton in turn 2 and both cars spun into the wall. Neither driver was hurt, but his resulting 16th-place finish cost Hamilton the points lead. Lazier unlapped himself on the subsequent caution and joined the duel with Boat and Kite; the latter's race ended when his car pushed up into the wall exiting turn 4.

After the caution, Lazier took the lead and tried to pull away from Boat, but got caught behind Scott Goodyear who was trying to stay on the lead lap. While Lazier made several high-risk pass attempts (including two runs through the grass in the quad-oval), Boat caught him and briefly assumed the lead, but then Goodyear conceded and Lazier moved back in front for the final 11 laps. In the last few laps, Kenny Brack and Eddie Cheever staged a furious duel for fifth as they picked through traffic, with Brack coming out on top.

Pos No. Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Laps Led Points
1 91 United States Buddy Lazier Hemelgarn Racing 208 1:55:29.224 5 58 35
2 1 United States Billy Boat R A.J. Foyt Enterprises 208 + 3.301 sec 3 38 33
3 6 Canada Scott Goodyear Treadway Racing 207 + 1 lap 8 1 32
4 17 Brazil Affonso Giaffone R Chitwood Motorsports 206 + 2 laps 16 0 31
5 4 Sweden Kenny Brack R Galles Racing 206 + 2 laps 18 0 30
6 51 United States Eddie Cheever Team Cheever 206 + 2 laps 15 0 29
7 2 United States Tony Stewart Team Menard 205 + 3 laps 1 74 31
8 77 France Stephan Gregoire Chastain Motorsports 202 + 6 laps 9 0 27
9 70 Brazil Marco Greco Galles Racing 202 + 6 laps 11 0 26
10 7 Chile Eliseo Salazar Team Scandia 200 + 8 laps 14 0 25
11 18 United States John Paul, Jr. PDM Racing 198 + 10 laps 21 0 24
12 27 United States Jim Guthrie R Blueprint Racing 197 + 11 laps 6 0 23
13 30 United States Robbie Groff R McCormack Motorsports 189 Half shaft 20 0 22
14 10 United States Mike Groff Byrd-Cunningham Racing 176 + 32 laps 22 0 21
15 33 United States Jimmy Kite R Team Scandia 163 Accident 13 11 20
16 14 United States Davey Hamilton A.J. Foyt Enterprises 141 Accident 4 0 19
17 21 Colombia Roberto Guerrero Pagan Racing 141 Accident 7 26 18
18 99 United States Sam Schmidt R LP Racing-PCI 114 Engine 23 0 17
19 28 United States Mark Dismore Kelley Racing-PDM 97 Engine 10 0 16
20 22 Italy Vincenzo Sospiri R Team Scandia 70 Engine 12 0 15
21 5 Netherlands Arie Luyendyk Treadway Racing 67 Handling 2 0 14
22 31 United States Greg Ray R Knapp Motorsports 30 Engine 17 0 13
23 40 United States Jack Miller R Arizona Motorsports 13 Electrical 19 0 13

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 United States Tony Stewart 233
2 United States Davey Hamilton 226
3 United States Eddie Cheever 189
4 Brazil Marco Greco 188
5 United States Buzz Calkins 183
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for the standings.

References

  1. "1997 VisionAire 500 weather information". Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2015-06-18.

External links

Previous race:
1997 Samsonite 200
IndyCar Series
1996-1997 season
Next race:
1997 Pennzoil 200
Previous race:
None
VisionAire 500 Next race:
1998 VisionAire 500K
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