1997 MBNA 400

{{Short description|26th race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series}}

{{Infobox NASCAR race report|Type=NASWINSTON|Pole_Team=Roush Racing|Date=September 21|Announcers=Eli Gold, Dick Berggren, Buddy Baker|Avg={{convert|132.719|mph|km/h}}|Attendance=|Pole_Driver=Mark Martin|Pole_Time=23.679|Radio=Motor Racing Network|Network=TNN|Most_Driver=Mark Martin|Most_laps=194|Most_Team=Roush Racing|First_Driver=Mark Martin|First_Team=Roush Racing|Car=6|Location=Dover, Delaware, Dover International Speedway|Season_No=32|Race_No=26|Race_Name=MBNA 400|Official_name=29th Annual MBNA 400|Scheduled_mi=400|Distance_laps=400|Scheduled_laps=400|Distance_km=643.737|Scheduled_km=643.737|Course_km=1.6|Course_mi=1|Year=1997|Distance_mi=400|Caption=The 1997 MBNA 400 program cover, featuring Ward Burton.|Image=1997_MBNA_400.jpeg}}

The 1997 MBNA 400 was the 26th stock car race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 29th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, September 21, 1997, in Dover, Delaware at Dover International Speedway, a 1-mile (1.6 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. Depending on fuel mileage, Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would manage to save enough fuel to secure his 22nd career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his fourth and final victory of the season.{{Cite web |last=Poole |first=David |date=September 21, 1997 |title=Martin gets rich on fuel efficiency |url=http://www.thatsracin.com/97/docs/0921.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000815213400/http://www.thatsracin.com/97/docs/0921.htm |archive-date=August 15, 2000 |access-date=October 3, 2022 |website=That's Racin' |publisher=The Charlotte Observer}}{{Cite news |date=September 22, 1997 |title=Fuel management helps Mark Martin tame Monster Mile |pages=13 |work=San Angelo Standard-Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110621500/fuel-management-helps-mark-martin-tame/ |access-date=October 3, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} To fill out the top three, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt and Petty Enterprises driver Kyle Petty would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

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

Dover International Speedway is an oval race track in Dover, Delaware, United States that has held at least two NASCAR races since it opened in 1969. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the NTT IndyCar Series. The track features one layout, a 1-mile (1.6 km) concrete oval, with 24° banking in the turns and 9° banking on the straights. The speedway is owned and operated by Dover Motorsports.

The track, nicknamed "The Monster Mile", was built in 1969 by Melvin Joseph of Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company, Inc., with an asphalt surface, but was replaced with concrete in 1995. Six years later in 2001, the track's capacity moved to 135,000 seats, making the track have the largest capacity of sports venue in the mid-Atlantic. In 2002, the name changed to Dover International Speedway from Dover Downs International Speedway after Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment split, making Dover Motorsports. From 2007 to 2009, the speedway worked on an improvement project called "The Monster Makeover", which expanded facilities at the track and beautified the track. After the 2014 season, the track's capacity was reduced to 95,500 seats.

= Entry list =

(R) denotes rookie driver.

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

!Driver

!Team

!Make

!Sponsor

|Morgan Shepherd

|Precision Products Racing

1997 MBNA 400

Background

= Entry list =

Qualifying

= Full qualifying results =

Race results

References