1997 CMT 300
The 1997 CMT 300 was the 25th stock car race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the inaugural iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, September 14, 1997, in Loudon, New Hampshire, at New Hampshire International Speedway, a permanent, oval-shaped, low-banked racetrack. The race took the scheduled 300 laps to complete. At race's end, a fuel-only call by Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon late in the race would manage to help him propel to his 29th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his 10th and final victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Robert Yates Racing driver Ernie Irvan and Petty Enterprises driver Bobby Hamilton would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
New Hampshire International Speedway is a 1.058-mile oval speedway located in Loudon, New Hampshire which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since the early 1990s, as well as an IndyCar weekend and the oldest motorcycle race in North America, the Loudon Classic. Nicknamed "The Magic Mile", the speedway is often converted into a 1.6-mile road course, which includes much of the oval. The track was originally the site of Bryar Motorsports Park before being purchased and redeveloped by Bob Bahre. The track is currently one of eight major NASCAR tracks owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports.Entry list
' denotes rookie driver.Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, September 12, at 4:00 PM EST. 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, September 13, at 11:00 AM EST. 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.Ken Schrader, driving for Andy Petree Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 29.484 and an average speed of.
Three drivers would fail to qualify: Lance Hooper, Steve Park, and Kevin Lepage.