1997 AC Delco 400

{{Short description|30th race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series}}

{{Infobox NASCAR race report|Type=NASWINSTON|Official_name=33rd Annual AC Delco 400|Date=October 27|Pole_Driver=Bobby Labonte|Pole_Team=Joe Gibbs Racing|Announcers=Eli Gold, Buddy Baker, Dick Berggren|Most_Driver=Ricky Craven|First_Driver=Bobby Hamilton|Most_laps=139|Most_Team=Hendrick Motorsports|First_Team=Petty Enterprises|Car=43|Network=TNN|Radio=Motor Racing Network|Avg={{convert|121.73|mph|km/h}}|Attendance=|Location=Rockingham, North Carolina, North Carolina Speedway|Distance_km=643.224|Scheduled_km=643.224|Scheduled_mi=399.681|Scheduled_laps=393|Distance_laps=393|Course_km=1.636|Course_mi=1.017|Season_No=32|Race_No=30|Race_Name=AC Delco 400|Year=1997|Pole_Time=23.365|Distance_mi=399.681|Caption=The 1997 AC Delco 400 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt Jr.|Image=1997_AC_Delco_400.jpeg}}

The 1997 AC Delco 400 was the 30th stock car race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 33rd iteration of the event. The race was originally scheduled to be held on Sunday, October 26, 1997, but was postponed to Monday, October 27, due to rain.{{Cite news |last=Poole |first=David |date=October 27, 1997 |title=Rain pushes AC Delco 400 to today |pages=15 |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110794118/rain-pushes-ac-delco-400-to-today/ |access-date=October 6, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} The race was held in Rockingham, North Carolina, at North Carolina Speedway, a {{Convert|1.017|mi|km}} permanent high-banked racetrack. The race took the scheduled 393 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Petty Enterprises driver Bobby Hamilton would manage to make a late-race charge to lead to take his second career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season.{{Cite web |last=Poole |first=David |date=October 27, 1997 |title=Hamilton uses late burst to cash in at Rockingham |url=http://www.thatsracin.com/97/docs/1027.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001118121500/http://www.thatsracin.com/97/docs/1027.htm |archive-date=November 18, 2000 |access-date=October 6, 2022 |website=That's Racin' |publisher=The Charlotte Observer}}{{Cite news |last=Harris |first=Mike |date=October 28, 1997 |title=Bobby Hamilton wins race and a bet |pages=30 |work=Tallahassee Democrat |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110794308/bobby-hamilton-wins-race-and-a-bet/ |access-date=October 6, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} To fill out the top three, Robert Yates Racing driver Dale Jarrett and Hendrick Motorsports driver Ricky Craven would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

File:Rockingham_Speedway.svg, the venue where the race was held.]]

North Carolina Speedway was opened as a flat, one-mile oval on October 31, 1965. In 1969, the track was extensively reconfigured to a high-banked, D-shaped oval just over one mile in length. In 1997, North Carolina Motor Speedway merged with Penske Motorsports, and was renamed North Carolina Speedway. Shortly thereafter, the infield was reconfigured, and competition on the infield road course, mostly by the SCCA, was discontinued. Currently, the track is home to the Fast Track High Performance Driving School.{{cite web |date= |title=Fast Track High Performance Driving School, Inc |url=http://www.fasttrackracing.com/ |accessdate=July 16, 2012 |publisher=Fasttrackracing.com}}

= Entry list =

(R) denotes rookie driver.

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%"

!Driver

!Team

!Make

!Sponsor

|Morgan Shepherd

|Precision Products Racing

1997 AC Delco 400

Background

= Entry list =

Qualifying

= Full qualifying results =

Race results

References