1997 Coca-Cola 600
| Race details[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 11 of 32 in the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
| Date | May 25, 1997 | ||
| Location | Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, North Carolina | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 1.5 miles (2.414 km) | ||
| Distance | 333 laps, 499.5 mi (803.867 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 400 laps, 600 mi (965.606 km) | ||
| Weather | Temperatures averaging around 72.4 °F (22.4 °C); wind speeds up to 17.2 miles per hour (27.7 km/h)[2] | ||
| Average speed | 136.745 mph (220.070 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 29.300 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Ernie Irvan | Robert Yates Racing | |
| Laps | 83 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | TBS | ||
| Announcers | Ken Squier, Buddy Baker, Dick Berggren & Geoff Bodine | ||
The 1997 Coca-Cola 600, the 38th running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on May 25, 1997 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. Contested over 333 laps – shortened from 400 laps due to a rain delay and a 1 a.m. curfew – on the 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometre) speedway, it was the 11th race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season. Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports won the race.
On the day of the race, 0.25 inches (6.4 millimetres) of precipitation were recorded around the speedway.[3]
Background
Charlotte Motor Speedway is a motorsports complex located in Concord, North Carolina, United States, around 13 miles (21 kilometres) from Charlotte, North Carolina. The complex features a 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometre) quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including the prestigious Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend and The Winston, as well as the UAW-GM Quality 500. The speedway was built in 1959 by Bruton Smith and is considered the home track for NASCAR with many race teams located in the Charlotte area. The track is owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (SMI).
Entry list
Race results
Race statistics
- Time of race: 3:39:10
- Average speed: 136.745 miles per hour (220.070 km/h)
- Pole speed: 184.300 miles per hour (296.602 km/h)
- Cautions: 7 for 50 laps
- Margin of victory: 0.468 seconds
- Lead changes: 27
- Percent of race run under caution: 15%
- Average green flag run: 35.4 laps
References
- ^ "1997 Coca-Cola 600 Race Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved September 29, 2025.
- ^ Weather information at The Old Farmers' Almanac
- ^ "Charlotte NASCAR Climatology" (PDF). SERCC. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 8, 2018. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
- ^ Race statistics at Race Database