1997 Pepsi 400 presented by DeVilbiss

Race details
Race 21 of 32 in the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1997 DeVilbiss 400 program cover, featuring Ricky Rudd.
Date	August 17, 1997
Official name	28th Annual DeVilbiss 400
Location	Brooklyn, Michigan, Michigan International Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 2 mi (3.2 km)
Distance	200 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km)
Scheduled Distance	200 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km)
Average speed	126.883 miles per hour (204.198 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Johnny Benson Jr.	Bahari Racing
Time	39.273
Most laps led
Driver	Mark Martin	Roush Racing
Laps	102
Winner
No. 6	Mark Martin	Roush Racing
Television in the United States
Network	NASCAR on ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1997 DeVilbiss 400 was the 21st stock car race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 28th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, August 17, 1997, in Brooklyn, Michigan, at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. At race's end, Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would manage to come back from a blown tire to dominate the late stages of the race to take his 21st career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third victory of the season.^[1][2] To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon and Roush Racing driver Ted Musgrave would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

The layout of Michigan International Speedway, the venue where the race was held.

The race was held at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located in Brooklyn, Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway as MIS's oval design was a direct basis of TWS, with moderate modifications to the banking in the corners, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation. Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards).

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, August 15. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, August 16. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. Positions 26-38 would be decided on time, and depending on who needed it, the 39th thru either the 42nd, 43rd, or 44th position would be based on provisionals. Four spots are awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The fifth is awarded to a past champion who has not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champion needs the provisional, the field would be limited to 42 cars. If a champion needed it, the field would expand to 43 cars. If the race was a companion race with the NASCAR Winston West Series, four spots would be determined by NASCAR Winston Cup Series provisionals, while the final two spots would be given to teams in the Winston West Series, leaving the field at 44 cars.

Johnny Benson Jr., driving for Bahari Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 39.273 and an average speed of 183.332 miles per hour (295.044 km/h).^[3]

Dave Marcis was the only driver to fail to qualify.

Race results

References