Links for this race (some data may be unavailable):
Race Results	Qualifying Results	Loop Data Stats	Pit Stops
Comments (52)	Video Links (2)	Crew Chiefs

1997 Mountain Dew Southern 500

Previous race results / Next race results Previous at this track / Next at this track

Post

NASCAR Winston Cup race number 23 of 32
Sunday, August 31, 1997 at Darlington Raceway, Darlington, SC
367 laps on a 1.366 mile paved track (501.322 miles)

Time of race: 4:08:17
Average speed: 121.149 mph
Pole speed: 170.661 mph

Cautions: 11 for 67 laps
Margin of victory: .144 sec
Attendance: n/a
Lead changes: 9

Glossary 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup results / 1997 standings

Pos	St	#	Driver	Sponsor / Owner	Car	Laps	Money	Status	Led	Pts
1	7	24	Jeff Gordon	DuPont Refinishes / Million Dollar Date (Rick Hendrick)	Chevrolet	367	131330	running	116	180
2	16	99	Jeff Burton	Exide Batteries (Jack Roush)	Ford	367	57280	running	24	175
3	3	88	Dale Jarrett	Quality Care / Ford Credit (Yates Racing)	Ford	367	47505	running	38	170
4	2	94	Bill Elliott	McDonald's (Bill Elliott)	Ford	367	49965	running	181	170
5	21	10	Ricky Rudd	Tide (Ricky Rudd)	Ford	367	39345	running	0	155
6	17	5	Terry Labonte	Kellogg's Corn Flakes (Rick Hendrick)	Chevrolet	367	41315	running	0	150
7	1	18	Bobby Labonte	Interstate Batteries (Joe Gibbs)	Pontiac	367	42240	running	2	151
8	4	6	Mark Martin	Valvoline (Jack Roush)	Ford	367	33550	running	0	142
9	14	21	Michael Waltrip	Citgo (Wood Brothers)	Ford	367	29020	running	2	143
10	5	33	Ken Schrader	Skoal Bandit (Andy Petree)	Chevrolet	366	32280	running	0	134
11	37	97	Chad Little	John Deere (Jack Roush)	Pontiac	366	22515	running	0	130
12	12	7	Geoffrey Bodine	QVC (Geoffrey Bodine)	Ford	366	27220	running	0	127
13	8	90	Dick Trickle	Heilig-Meyers / Simmons (Junie Donlavey)	Ford	366	19930	running	0	124
14	24	36	Derrike Cope	Skittles (Nelson Bowers)	Pontiac	365	19640	running	0	121
15	11	11	Brett Bodine	Close Call Phone Card (Brett Bodine)	Ford	365	27800	running	0	118
16	19	37	Jeremy Mayfield	Kmart / RC Cola (Michael Kranefuss)	Ford	365	18980	running	0	115
17	6	8	Hut Stricklin	Circuit City (Stavola Brothers)	Ford	365	25710	running	0	112
18	23	9	Lake Speed	Melling Engine Parts (Harry Melling)	Ford	365	18435	running	0	109
19	18	30	Johnny Benson, Jr.	Pennzoil (Chuck Rider)	Pontiac	365	25155	running	0	106
20	40	43	Bobby Hamilton	STP (Petty Enterprises)	Pontiac	365	30485	running	0	103
21	29	41	Steve Grissom	Kodiak (Larry Hedrick)	Chevrolet	365	24525	running	0	100
22	34	40	Robby Gordon	Coors Light (Felix Sabates)	Chevrolet	363	25305	running	0	97
23	20	42	Joe Nemechek	BellSouth (Felix Sabates)	Chevrolet	359	17060	running	0	94
24	25	81	Kenny Wallace	Square D (Fil Martocci)	Ford	354	23785	running	0	91
25	27	78	Gary Bradberry	Hanes (Jim Wilson)	Ford	354	13575	running	0	88
26	38	17	Darrell Waltrip	Parts America (Darrell Waltrip)	Chevrolet	353	23415	handling	0	85
27	13	22	Ward Burton	MBNA America (Bill Davis)	Pontiac	350	23305	handling	0	82
28	30	23	Jimmy Spencer	Camel Cigarettes (Travis Carter)	Ford	341	22695	running	0	79
29	15	16	Ted Musgrave	Family Channel / Primestar (Jack Roush)	Ford	296	20085	handling	4	81
30	36	3	Dale Earnhardt	GM Goodwrench Service Plus (Richard Childress)	Chevrolet	282	30925	running	0	73
31	31	25	Ricky Craven	Budweiser (Rick Hendrick)	Chevrolet	236	19840	engine	0	70
32	39	44	Kyle Petty	Hot Wheels (Kyle Petty)	Pontiac	202	12750	engine	0	67
33	10	28	Ernie Irvan	Texaco / Havoline (Yates Racing)	Ford	183	27685	engine	0	64
34	28	75	Rick Mast	Remington Arms (Butch Mock)	Ford	177	19650	crash	0	61
35	41	1	Lance Hooper	R&L Carriers (Richard Jackson)	Pontiac	175	19540	crash	0	58
36	33	31	Mike Skinner	Lowe's (Richard Childress)	Chevrolet	130	12480	crash	0	55
37	32	98	John Andretti	RCA (Cale Yarborough)	Ford	117	19416	crash	0	52
38	22	12	Jeff Purvis	Opryland USA (Larry Lockamy)	Chevrolet	114	12270	crash	0	49
39	42	29	Jeff Green	Cartoon Network (Gary Bechtel)	Chevrolet	104	12270	electrical	0	46
40	9	4	Sterling Marlin	Kodak Film (Larry McClure)	Chevrolet	102	28270	engine	0	43
41	26	46	Wally Dallenbach, Jr.	First Union (Felix Sabates)	Chevrolet	85	12270	radiator	0	40
42	35	96	Todd Bodine	Caterpillar (Buz McCall)	Chevrolet	5	12270	crash	0	37
43	43	2	Rusty Wallace	Miller Lite (Roger Penske)	Ford	5	29270	crash	0	34

Pos	Name	Nbr	Sponsor	Owner	Car
Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes:
44	Dave Marcis	71	RealTree Camouflage	Dave Marcis	Chevrolet
45	Greg Sacks	91	Spam	Joe Falk	Chevrolet
46	Morgan Shepherd	77	Jasper Engines / Federal Mogul	Doug Bawel	Ford

Condition	From Lap	To Lap	# Of Laps	Reason
Caution flag breakdown:
	1	6	6
	7	11	5	#2,44,40,96 accident turn 1
	12	108	97
	109	114	6	#12 accident turn 3
	115	119	5
	120	125	6	#12,98,25,41 accident turn 1
	126	134	9
	135	139	5	#31 spun frontstretch
	140	167	28
	168	175	8	#22,8,36 spun turn 2
	176	179	4
	180	186	7	#25,75,1 accident frontstretch
	187	210	24
	211	216	6	debris frontstretch
	217	250	34
	251	256	6	#81 accident frontstretch
	257	273	17
	274	278	5	#10,16,9 spun turn 4
	279	294	16
	295	302	8	rain
	303	333	31
	334	338	5	#22 spun turn 4
	339	367	29
Percent of race run under caution: 18.3% Average green flag run: 25.0 laps

Leader	From Lap	To Lap	# Of Laps
Lap leader breakdown:
Bobby Labonte	1	2	2
Bill Elliott	3	45	43
Jeff Burton	46	69	24
Michael Waltrip	70	71	2
Jeff Gordon	72	115	44
Bill Elliott	116	135	20
Ted Musgrave	136	139	4
Bill Elliott	140	257	118
Dale Jarrett	258	295	38
Jeff Gordon	296	367	72

Rank	Driver	Points	Diff
Points Standings after this race:
1	Jeff Gordon	3437
2	Mark Martin	3412	-25
3	Dale Jarrett	3269	-168
4	Terry Labonte	3180	-257
5	Jeff Burton	3154	-283
6	Dale Earnhardt	2938	-499
7	Bobby Labonte	2911	-526
8	Bill Elliott	2761	-676
9	Ricky Rudd	2689	-748
10	Ted Musgrave	2678	-759
11	Jeremy Mayfield	2625	-812
12	Johnny Benson, Jr.	2575	-862
13	Ken Schrader	2514	-923
14	Rusty Wallace	2473	-964
15	Michael Waltrip	2451	-986
16	Ernie Irvan	2404	-1033
17	Darrell Waltrip	2352	-1085
18	Jimmy Spencer	2295	-1142
19	Kyle Petty	2291	-1146
20	Bobby Hamilton	2233	-1204
21	Sterling Marlin	2222	-1215