1997 Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400
The 1997 Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400 was the 24th stock car race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 40th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, September 6, 1997, in Richmond, Virginia, at Richmond International Raceway, a 0.75 miles D-shaped oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. Within the closing laps of the race, Robert Yates Racing driver Dale Jarrett would manage to pass the mainly dominant driver of the day, Roush Racing driver Jeff Burton to take his 13th NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his fifth victory of the season. To fill out the podium, Burton and Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would finish second and third, respectively.
The race served as the series debut for future Winston Cup Series driver Kenny Irwin Jr.
Background
Richmond International Raceway is a 3/4-mile, D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, an IndyCar Series race, and two USAC sprint car races.Entry list
' denotes rookie driver.Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, September 5. 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 6. 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.Bill Elliott, driving for Bill Elliott Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 21.648 and an average speed of.