1997 Indianapolis 500

Did You Know?

• The 1997 race was the last to use the three-week/four-weekend month-of-May schedule established in the mid-1970s.
• A fire swept through the storage hangar housing floats for the 500 Festival Parade days before the race; only four floats were spared.
• Buddy Lazier's 1996 winning car escaped the fire because the museum delayed delivering it to the float staging area.

Background

The 1997 race introduced new Indy Racing League rules requiring normally aspirated, production-based 4.0 L, 32-valve engines from Oldsmobile Aurora and Nissan Infiniti, along with new chassis from Dallara and G-Force. The cars produced more downforce and had a bulkier appearance with larger wings and taller sidepods. Speeds dropped significantly: Arie Luyendyk's best qualifying lap was 217 mph, down from his 1996 track record of over 237 mph. The new crossplane crankshaft engines were louder than the previous turbocharged units, drawing comparisons to NASCAR engines.

The track had been repaved in fall 1995, and after the 1996 Brickyard 400 the turn apexes were repaved with a different asphalt compound, leaving visibly darker areas. The ongoing IRL/CART split meant no CART teams entered, as the two series now used incompatible equipment. CART's alternative U.S. 500 was cancelled after one running; instead, CART teams raced at Gateway International Raceway on May 24.

Practice (week 1)

The first day of practice, set aside for Rookie Orientation, was rained out. On the first day of track activity, six rookies took laps, with Vincenzo Sospiri fastest at 211.964 mph; Jack Miller blew an engine. Robbie Groff drove for McCormack Motorsports in place of Jeret Schroeder. Team Menard confirmed Tony Stewart would continue for the rest of the 1996–97 season and 1998, and switched from Firestone to Goodyear tires.

A very windy day saw only four cars take 80 laps before rain closed the track; Kenny Bräck was fastest at 205.597 mph. The first full day of practice saw heavy activity: Arie Luyendyk set the month's fastest lap at 218.707 mph, and rookie Jeff Ward spun into the wall after blowing an engine. Five rookies completed their rookie test, and Sinden Racing Services confirmed Steve Kinser would drive their #44 entry. John Andretti passed his physical exam.

Luyendyk became the only driver to exceed 220 mph, with a lap of 220.297 mph. Scott Sharp crashed heavily in turn 1. Lyn St. James completed 34 laps, her first on a race car since her 1996 crash. Rain closed the track early.

Time trials (weekend 2)

The third day of qualifying saw sunny skies and warm temperatures. Billy Boat set the early pace at 215.544 mph, faster than team leader Davey Hamilton. Eight consecutive time trials were run within an hour, including a 215 mph run by Sam Schmidt. Johnny Unser could not attempt to qualify after a piston failure; Greg Ray suffered an engine failure on his warm-up lap; Claude Bourbonnais damaged his car after tagging the wall twice.

At day's end, only two positions were unfilled, and 22 of the 23 original locked-in entries were in the field. The only unqualified locked-in entry was A. J. Foyt's #1, which had no driver after injuries to Scott Sharp and Johnny O'Connell; Foyt said he would not sign another replacement. On Bump Day, Johnny Unser (209.344 mph) and Greg Ray (213.760 mph) filled the field to 33 cars with at-large entries, putting Alessandro Zampedri on the bubble. Foyt sent Davey Hamilton out to shake down the #1 car despite earlier remarks.

Race running

The race resumed single-file from the pits at lap 16, with the first two laps under caution. On lap 18, the green flag dropped; Tony Stewart led. Robby Gordon's engine caught fire; he jumped out with his suit burning from leaked methanol and rolled in the grass to extinguish it, suffering first- and second-degree burns that forced his retirement. On the lap 23 restart, Steve Kinser tagged Eliseo Salazar from behind; Mark Dismore was rear-ended by Roberto Guerrero, retiring on the spot. Salazar and Guerrero lost laps with repairs. The first significant green-flag racing began at lap 28, with Stewart leading Luyendyk, Robbie Buhl, Jeff Ward, Buddy Lazier, Vincenzo Sospiri, and Scott Goodyear.