1997 Las Vegas 500K

United States   1996–1997 Las Vegas 2
Race details
10th Round of the 1996–97 Indy Racing League.
Date October 11, 1997
Official name Las Vegas 500K
Location Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Course Permanent racing facility
1.500 / 2.414 km
Distance 208 laps, 312.000 mi / 502.115 km
Weather Night race, dry with temperatures reaching up to 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds reaching up to 34 miles per hour (55 km/h)[1]
Pole
Driver United States Billy Boat United States A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Time 26.035
Fastest Lap
Driver United States Billy Boat United States A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Time 26.424 (on lap 19 of 208)
Podium
First Chile Eliseo Salazar United States Team Scandia
Second Canada Scott Goodyear United States Treadway-Shelby Racing
Third United States Robbie Buhl United States Team Menard

The 1997 Las Vegas 500K was the tenth and final round of the 1996–1997 Indy Racing League. The race was held on October 11, 1997 at the 1.500 mi (2.414 km) Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Report

Key Meaning
R Rookie
W Past winner

Qualifying

Pos No. Name Lap 1 Lap 2 Best (in mph)
1 1 United States Billy Boat R 26.272 26.035 207.413
2 14 United States Davey Hamilton 26.373 26.303 205.300
3 2 United States Tony Stewart 26.327 26.363 205.113
4 3 United States Robbie Buhl 26.355 26.332 205.074
5 7 Chile Eliseo Salazar 26.391 26.429 204.615
6 5 Netherlands Arie Luyendyk 26.425 26.411 204.460
7 33 United States Jimmy Kite R 26.502 26.552 203.758
8 6 Canada Scott Goodyear 26.781 26.537 203.489
9 28 United States Mark Dismore 26.621 26.543 203.443
10 70 Brazil Marco Greco 26.572 26.715 203.221
11 17 Brazil Affonso Giaffone R 26.612 26.618 202.916
12 35 United States Jeff Ward R 26.643 26.820 202.680
13 4 Sweden Kenny Brack R 26.775 26.655 202.589
14 91 United States Buddy Lazier 26.701 26.752 202.240
15 22 Italy Vincenzo Sospiri R 27.003 26.790 201.568
16 77 France Stephane Gregoire 27.045 26.816 201.372
17 40 United States Jack Miller R 27.240 26.881 200.885
18 21 Colombia Roberto Guerrero 26.933 26.904 200.714
19 27 United States Jim Guthrie R 26.919 27.801 200.602
20 97 United States Greg Ray R 27.022 27.065 199.837
21 12 United States Buzz Calkins 27.382 27.200 198.529
22 99 United States Sam Schmidt R 27.602 27.241 198.231
23 95 United States Tyce Carlson R 27.320 27.273 197.998
24 18 United States John Paul, Jr. 27.593 27.317 197.679
25 19 United States Stan Wattles R 27.714 27.336 197.542
26 24 United States Billy Roe R 27.575 27.418 196.951
27 30 United States Robbie Groff R 27.566 27.574 195.893
28 23 United States Mike Shank R 28.362 28.137 191.918
29 51 United States Eddie Cheever Withdrew No speed
30 9 United States Johnny Unser Didn't qualify No speed
31 10 United States Paul DurantR 27.220 26.975 200.185

Race

Eliseo Salazar took home his first IRL victory as Tony Stewart clinched the 1997 championship. The race began under cold and windy conditions that caused tire problems, which resulted in two accidents occurring immediately after pit stops. Greg Ray slid into the wall in turn 2 on lap 38, and about 25 laps later Sam Schmidt spun coming out of turn 2 and hit the wall. Buzz Calkins and Jack Miller both ran into debris from Schmidt's car, and all three were out.

Pole sitter Billy Boat didn't stay up front very long; Jeff Ward quickly took charge until he began having engine problems and then Mark Dismore moved into the lead. Affonso Giaffone took the lead on lap 100, but during a pit stop on lap 116 a wheel wasn't tightened properly and it came off as Giaffone pulled back onto the track, damaging the suspension and undercarriage. Giaffone would finish, but well back.

Several drivers then dueled for the lead until Salazar took over; the veteran driver led most of the rest of the way and survived a two-lap sprint with Scott Goodyear after a late caution to win. The caution was occasioned when Roberto Guerrero touched wheels with a slower car and suffered a frightening accident; the car became airborne and then barrel-rolled through the infield grass on the backstretch. It was the first time an IRL car had been upside down during a live run, and the safety systems worked as planned: Guerrero walked away with minor injuries.

Both of the championship contenders, Stewart and Davey Hamilton, had problems; Stewart won the title owing to the points lead that he had coming in. This race marked the first competition for the new Riley & Scott chassis, with Stan Wattles taking one to an 8th-place finish.

Pos No. Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Laps Led Points
1 7 Chile Eliseo Salazar Team Scandia 208 2:11:07.000 5 70 36
2 6 Canada Scott Goodyear Treadway-Shelby Racing 208 + 1.204 sec 8 5 33
3 3 United States Robbie Buhl Team Menard 208 Running 4 12 32
4 27 United States Jim Guthrie R Blueprint Racing 208 Running 19 9 31
5 28 United States Mark Dismore Kelley Racing-PDM 208 Running 9 45 30
6 33 United States Jimmy Kite R Team Scandia 208 Running 7 0 29
7 14 United States Davey Hamilton A.J. Foyt Enterprises 207 + 1 lap 2 1 28
8 19 United States Stan Wattles R Metro Racing Systems 206 + 2 laps 25 0 27
9 77 France Stephane Gregoire Chastain Motorsports 204 Gearbox 16 0 26
10 70 Brazil Marco Greco Galles Racing 204 + 4 laps 10 0 25
11 2 United States Tony Stewart Team Menard 204 + 4 laps 3 0 24
12 18 United States John Paul, Jr. PDM Racing 201 + 7 laps 24 0 23
13 24 United States Billy Roe R Roe Racing 198 + 10 laps 26 0 22
14 21 Colombia Roberto Guerrero Pagan Racing 197 Accident 18 0 21
15 17 Brazil Affonso Giaffone R Chitwood Motorsports 193 + 15 laps 11 16 20
16 23 United States Mike Shank R Nienhouse Motorsports 191 + 17 laps 28 0 19
17 35 United States Jeff Ward R SRS-ISM Racing 168 Overheat 12 41 18
18 30 United States Robbie Groff R McCormack Motorsports 168 + 40 laps 27 0 17
19 9 United States Johnny Unser Hemelgarn Racing 142 Engine 30 0 16
20 4 Sweden Kenny Brack R Galles Racing 139 Suspension 13 6 15
21 51 United States Eddie Cheever Team Cheever 129 Engine 29 0 14
22 22 Italy Vincenzo Sospiri R Team Scandia 114 Mechanical 15 0 13
23 1 United States Billy Boat R A.J. Foyt Enterprises 97 Electrical 1 3 14
24 95 United States Tyce Carlson R IZ Racing 96 Ignition 23 0 11
25 5 Netherlands Arie Luyendyk Treadway-Shelby Racing 72 Engine 6 0 10
26 10 United States Paul Durant R Byrd-Cunningham Racing 62 Mechanical 31 0 9
27 99 United States Sam Schmidt R LP Racing-PCI 60 Accident 22 0 8
28 12 United States Buzz Calkins Bradley Motorsports 60 Accident 21 0 7
29 40 United States Jack Miller R Arizona Motorsports 59 Accident 17 0 6
30 97 United States Greg Ray R Knapp Motorsports 35 Accident 20 0 5
31 91 United States Buddy Lazier Hemelgarn Racing 4 Mechanical 14 0 4

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1 United States Tony Stewart 278
2 United States Davey Hamilton 272
3 Brazil Marco Greco 230
4 United States Eddie Cheever 230
5 Canada Scott Goodyear 226
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for the standings.

References

  1. "1997 Las Vegas 500K weather information". Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2015-07-16.

External links

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