1997 Las Vegas 500K

The 1997 Las Vegas 500K was the tenth and final round of the 1996–1997 Indy Racing League. The race was held on October 11, 1997, at the 1.500 mi (2.414 km) Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada.

1997 Las Vegas

Race details
10th round of the 1996–1997 Indy Racing League season
Date	October 11, 1997
Official name	Las Vegas 500K
Location	Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.500 mi / 2.414 km
Distance	208 laps 312.000 mi / 502.115 km
Weather	Night race, dry with temperatures reaching up to 80.1 °F (26.7 °C); wind speeds reaching up to 34 miles per hour (55 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Billy Boat (A. J. Foyt Enterprises)
Time	26.035
Fastest lap
Driver	Billy Boat (A. J. Foyt Enterprises)
Time	26.424 (on lap 19 of 208)
Podium
First	Eliseo Salazar (Team Scandia)
Second	Scott Goodyear (Treadway-Shelby Racing)
Third	Robbie Buhl (Team Menard)

Qualifying

Key	Meaning
R	Rookie
W	Past winner

Pos	No.	Name	Lap 1	Lap 2	Best (in mph)
1	1	Billy Boat R	26.272	26.035	207.413
2	14	Davey Hamilton	26.373	26.303	205.300
3	2	Tony Stewart	26.327	26.363	205.113
4	3	Robbie Buhl	26.355	26.332	205.074
5	7	Eliseo Salazar	26.391	26.429	204.615
6	5	Arie Luyendyk	26.425	26.411	204.460
7	33	Jimmy Kite R	26.502	26.552	203.758
8	6	Scott Goodyear	26.781	26.537	203.489
9	28	Mark Dismore	26.621	26.543	203.443
10	70	Marco Greco	26.572	26.715	203.221
11	17	Affonso Giaffone R	26.612	26.618	202.916
12	35	Jeff Ward R	26.643	26.820	202.680
13	4	Kenny Bräck R	26.775	26.655	202.589
14	91	Buddy Lazier	26.701	26.752	202.240
15	22	Vincenzo Sospiri R	27.003	26.790	201.568
16	77	Stéphan Grégoire	27.045	26.816	201.372
17	40	Jack Miller R	27.240	26.881	200.885
18	21	Roberto Guerrero	26.933	26.904	200.714
19	27	Jim Guthrie R	26.919	27.801	200.602
20	97	Greg Ray R	27.022	27.065	199.837
21	12	Buzz Calkins	27.382	27.200	198.529
22	99	Sam Schmidt R	27.602	27.241	198.231
23	95	Tyce Carlson R	27.320	27.273	197.998
24	18	John Paul Jr.	27.593	27.317	197.679
25	19	Stan Wattles R	27.714	27.336	197.542
26	24	Billy Roe R	27.575	27.418	196.951
27	30	Robbie Groff R	27.566	27.574	195.893
28	23	Mike Shank R	28.362	28.137	191.918
29	51	Eddie Cheever1	Waved off		No speed
30	9	Johnny Unser2	Didn't qualify		No speed
31	10	Paul Durant3 R	27.220	26.975	200.185

1. ^ Had an engine failure in the last practice session, and tried to qualify in a last-minute effort, only to wave off his attempt. He was allowed to start the race at the back of the field.
2. ^ Had an engine failure in the last practice session, and a spare was not ready on time. He was allowed to start the race at the back of the field.
3. ^ Changed to a backup car for the race, following a crash in a practice session after qualifying.

Race recap

The race began under cold and windy conditions that caused tire problems, which resulted in two accidents occurring immediately after pit stops. Greg Ray slid into the wall in turn-2 on lap 38, and about 25 laps later Sam Schmidt spun coming out of turn-2 and hit the wall. Buzz Calkins and Jack Miller both ran into debris from Schmidt's car, and all three were out.

Pole sitter Billy Boat did not stay up front very long; Jeff Ward quickly took charge until he began having engine problems and then Mark Dismore moved into the lead. Affonso Giaffone took the lead on lap 100, but during a pit stop on lap 116 a wheel was not tightened properly and it came off as Giaffone pulled back onto the track, damaging the suspension and undercarriage. Giaffone would finish, but well back.

Several drivers then dueled for the lead until Salazar took over; the veteran driver led most of the rest of the way and survived a two-lap sprint with Scott Goodyear after a late caution to win. The caution occurred when Roberto Guerrero touched wheels with a slower car and suffered a frightening accident; the car became airborne and then barrel-rolled through the infield grass on the backstretch. It was the first time an IRL car had been upside down during a live run, and the safety systems worked as planned: Guerrero walked away with minor injuries.

Both of the championship contenders, Stewart and Davey Hamilton, had problems; Stewart won the title owing to the points lead that he had coming in. This race marked the first competition for the new Riley & Scott chassis, with Stan Wattles taking one to an eighth-place finish. Eliseo Salazar took home his first IRL victory as Tony Stewart clinched the 1997 championship.

Box score

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Laps Led	Points
1	7	Eliseo Salazar	Team Scandia	208	2:11:07.000	5	70	36
2	6	Scott Goodyear	Treadway-Shelby Racing	208	+ 1.204 sec	8	5	33
3	3	Robbie Buhl	Team Menard	208	Running	4	12	32
4	27	Jim Guthrie R	Blueprint Racing	208	Running	19	9	31
5	28	Mark Dismore	Kelley Racing-PDM	208	Running	9	45	30
6	33	Jimmy Kite R	Team Scandia	208	Running	7	0	29
7	14	Davey Hamilton	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	207	+ 1 lap	2	1	28
8	19	Stan Wattles R	Metro Racing Systems	206	+ 2 laps	25	0	27
9	77	Stéphan Grégoire	Chastain Motorsports	204	Gearbox	16	0	26
10	70	Marco Greco	Galles Racing	204	+ 4 laps	10	0	25
11	2	Tony Stewart	Team Menard	204	+ 4 laps	3	0	24
12	18	John Paul Jr.	PDM Racing	201	+ 7 laps	24	0	23
13	24	Billy Roe R	Roe Racing	198	+ 10 laps	26	0	22
14	21	Roberto Guerrero	Pagan Racing	197	Accident	18	0	21
15	17	Affonso Giaffone R	Chitwood Motorsports	193	+ 15 laps	11	16	20
16	23	Mike Shank R	Nienhouse Motorsports	191	+ 17 laps	28	0	19
17	35	Jeff Ward R	SRS-ISM Racing	168	Overheat	12	41	18
18	30	Robbie Groff R	McCormack Motorsports	168	+ 40 laps	27	0	17
19	9	Johnny Unser	Hemelgarn Racing	142	Engine	30	0	16
20	4	Kenny Bräck R	Galles Racing	139	Suspension	13	6	15
21	51	Eddie Cheever	Team Cheever	129	Engine	29	0	14
22	22	Vincenzo Sospiri R	Team Scandia	114	Mechanical	15	0	13
23	1	Billy Boat R	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	97	Electrical	1	3	14
24	95	Tyce Carlson R	IZ Racing	96	Ignition	23	0	11
25	5	Arie Luyendyk	Treadway-Shelby Racing	72	Engine	6	0	10
26	10	Paul Durant R	Byrd-Cunningham Racing	62	Mechanical	31	0	9
27	99	Sam Schmidt R	LP Racing-PCI	60	Accident	22	0	8
28	12	Buzz Calkins	Bradley Motorsports	60	Accident	21	0	7
29	40	Jack Miller R	Arizona Motorsports	59	Accident	17	0	6
30	97	Greg Ray R	Knapp Motorsports	35	Accident	20	0	5
31	91	Buddy Lazier	Hemelgarn Racing	4	Mechanical	14	0	4

Race Statistics

• Lead changes: 13 among 10 drivers

Lap Leaders
Laps	Leader
1-3	Billy Boat
4	Davey Hamilton
5-45	Jeff Ward
46-51	Robbie Buhl
52-94	Mark Dismore
95-99	Robbie Buhl
100-115	Affonso Giaffone
116-120	Scott Goodyear
121-122	Mark Dismore
123-131	Jim Guthrie
132-137	Kenny Bräck
138-158	Eliseo Salazar
159	Robbie Buhl
160-208	Eliseo Salazar

Cautions: 8 for 45 laps
Laps	Reason
1-3	Additional warm up laps because of windy, cold conditions
9-12	Tow-in for Buddy Lazier (gearbox issues)
38-43	Greg Ray crash
64-71	Schmidt, Miller and Calkins crash
118-125	Affonso Giaffone's wheel loose
131-135	Eddie Cheever's engine leaks oil on track
158-163	Tow-in for Johnny Unser (engine issue)
200-204	Roberto Guerrero crash, Backstretch

Final standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

Pos	Driver	Points
1	Tony Stewart	278
2	Davey Hamilton	272
3	Marco Greco	230
4	Eddie Cheever	230
5	Scott Goodyear	226

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for the standings.

External links

• IndyCar official website