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1997 Goody's Headache Powder 500

Race details
Race 22 of 32 in the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1997 Goody's Headache Powder 500 program cover.
Date	August 23, 1997
Official name	37th Annual Goody's Headache Powder 500
Location	Bristol, Tennessee, Bristol Motor Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.533 mi (0.858 km)
Distance	500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.89 km)
Scheduled Distance	500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.89 km)
Average speed	80.013 miles per hour (128.768 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Kenny Wallace	FILMAR Racing
Time	15.595
Most laps led
Driver	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing
Laps	210
Winner
No. 88	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons
Radio in the United States
Radio	Performance Racing Network

The 1997 Goody's Headache Powder 500 was the 22nd stock car race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 37th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, August 23, 1997, in Bristol, Tennessee at Bristol Motor Speedway, a 0.533 miles (0.858 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Robert Yates Racing driver Dale Jarrett would manage to take the lead with 30 laps to go and pull away to take his 12th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his fourth of the season. To fill out the top three, Roush Racing driver Mark Martin and Donlavey Racing driver Dick Trickle would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

The Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks.

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, August 22, at 5:30 PM EST. 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, August 23, at 12:30 PM EST. 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.

Kenny Wallace, driving for FILMAR Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 15.595 and an average speed of 123.039 miles per hour (198.012 km/h).

Three drivers would fail to qualify: Morgan Shepherd, Robby Gordon, and Dave Marcis.

Full qualifying results

Race results

References

1. Poole, David (August 23, 1997). "Jarrett captures Bristol". That's Racin'. The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on August 15, 2000. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
2. Harris, Mike (August 24, 1997). "Jarrett avoids headaches, wins Goody's". The News Journal. p. 36. Retrieved October 1, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Bristol Motor Speedway schedule". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. August 22, 1997. p. 31. Retrieved October 1, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Birthday boy wins pole". Tampa Bay Times. August 23, 1997. p. 56. Retrieved October 1, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "1997 Goody's Headache Powder 500 (Bristol) - The Third Turn". The Third Turn. Retrieved September 30, 2022.

• 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
• NASCAR races at Bristol Motor Speedway
• August 1997 sports events in the United States
• 1997 in sports in Tennessee