1997 VisionAire 500


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 Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It was telecast the following day by CBS, under the CBS Sports Show banner.

Report

Qualifying

  1. Failed to qualify after breaking a cam sensor in practice, but was allowed to start the race at the back of the field.

    Failed to qualify or withdrew

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 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, 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 Bräck and Eddie Cheever staged a furious duel for fifth as they picked through traffic, with Bräck coming out on top.
PosNo.DriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridLaps
Led		Points
191 Buddy LazierHemelgarn Racing2081:55:29.22455835
21 Billy Boat RA. J. Foyt Enterprises208+ 3.301 sec33833
36 Scott GoodyearTreadway Racing207+ 1 lap8132
417 Affonso Giaffone RChitwood Motorsports206+ 2 laps16031
54 Kenny Bräck RGalles Racing206+ 2 laps18030
651 Eddie CheeverTeam Cheever206+ 2 laps15029
72 Tony StewartTeam Menard205+ 3 laps17431
877 Stéphan GrégoireChastain Motorsports202+ 6 laps9027
970 Marco GrecoGalles Racing202+ 6 laps11026
107 Eliseo SalazarTeam Scandia200+ 8 laps14025
1118 John Paul, Jr.PDM Racing198+ 10 laps21024
1227 Jim Guthrie RBlueprint Racing197+ 11 laps6023
1330 Robbie Groff RMcCormack Motorsports189Half shaft20022
1410 Mike GroffByrd-Cunningham Racing176+ 32 laps22021
1533 Jimmy Kite RTeam Scandia163Accident131120
1614 Davey HamiltonA. J. Foyt Enterprises141Accident4019
1721 Roberto GuerreroPagan Racing141Accident72618
1899 Sam Schmidt RLP Racing-PCI114Engine23017
1928 Mark DismoreKelley Racing-PDM97Engine10016
2022 Vincenzo Sospiri R Team Scandia70Engine12015
215 Arie LuyendykTreadway Racing67Handling2014
2231 Greg Ray RKnapp Motorsports30Engine17013
2340 Jack Miller RArizona Motorsports13Electrical19013

Race Statistics

;Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Tony Stewart233
2 Davey Hamilton226
3 Eddie Cheever189
4 Marco Greco188
5 Buzz Calkins183