1997 True Value 500: Difference between revisions

{{refimproveUse mdy dates|date=JuneAugust 20152023}}

|Weather = Dry with temperatures reaching up to {{convert|86|F|C}}; wind speeds up to {{convert|9.9|mph|km/h}} were sighted during the race<ref>{{cite web|title=Weather information for the ''1997 True Value 500''|url=http://m.almanac.com/weather/history/TX/Fort%20Worth/1997-06-07|publisher=The Old Farmers' Almanac|accessdateaccess-date=January 25, 2015}}</ref>

|Second_Team = [[A. J. Foyt Enterprises]]

|Third_Team = [[A. J. Foyt Enterprises]]

==ReportQualifying==

| {{flagicon|SWE}} [[Kenny BrackBräck]] '''<span style="padding:1px 4px; color:black; background-color:yellowgreen;">R</span>'''

==== Failed to qualify or withdrew= ===

*{{flagicon|USA}} [[Scott Harrington (racing driver)|Scott Harrington]] '''<span style="padding:1px 4px; color:black; background-color:yellowgreen;">R</span>''' for [[Johansson Motorsports]] - withdrew prior to the start of practice.

*{{flagicon|FRA}} [[StephanStéphan GregoireGrégoire]] for [[Chastain Motorsports]] - withdrew prior to the start of practice.

===Race= recap==

[[Arie Luyendyk]], fresh off his Indy 500 victory, became the first driver to win two IRL races in a row, but it took almost a week to determine. At the start, [[Marco Greco]]'s engine exploded and trailed oil and metal pieces all over the track, leading to a lengthy cleanup. When the green flag finally fell on lap 20, the Menard cars pulled off, with only [[Buddy Lazier]] and [[Greg Ray]] being able to keep up. However, the four stayed out too long after everyone else had pitted and lost time on old tires; [[Tony Stewart]] ran out of fuel on lap 69 and fell a lap down. By lap 70, a four-way battle for the lead was occurring for the lead, and popular [[Jim Guthrie (racing driver)|Jim Guthrie]] assumed it on lap 76, only to lose it five laps later after blewingblowing a tire exiting turn 4. Lazier then took over the lead while [[Arie Luyendyk]] worked his way towards the front, having rookie [[Billy Boat]] within striking distance, and Stewart rapidly reeling them in.

During a caution around lap 140, the scoring problems began. After Lazier and Stewart had had a furious wheel-to-wheel duel, Luyendyk inexplicably dropped out of the top 10 in the electronic scoring system, whowhich was not properly counting his laps and those of several other drivers, including [[Scott Goodyear]]. [[Tyce Carlson]] and Goodyear got bottled up on a restart on lap 143, made contact, and spun into the quad-oval infield. Lazier retired on lap 157 with engine failure and Stewart and Boat appeared to be on the lead lap by themselves. Stewart set off to lap the field, which he appeared to have done by lap 180.

On lap 190, Stewart, in traffic, handed the lead to Luyendyk by waving him, thinking the Dutch driver was a lap down. Stewart, thus, was scored as the leader in the final laps, and appeared to have nearly a one-lap lead over Billy Boat. However, as he crossed the line with two laps to go, the engine blew. His car spun in turn 1, and crashed into the outside wall. Boat caught up, appeared to take the lead and, due to the scoring error, race officials showed him the checkered flag as the winner of the race. While Boat and his legendary car owner [[A. J. Foyt]] were celebrating in victory lane, Luyendyk stormed in, claiming he had won the race and demanding an explanation from the officials. He was intercepted by Foyt, who slapped Luyendyk, told him to leave and shoved him brieflyto the ground before security separated the two wereand separatedled Luyendyk away. The incident was not shown live in the broadcast, as it happened right after the interviews, but was caught on camera by the TV crew. Both Foyt and Luyendyk were fined $20.,000 and $14.,000 respectively, for unsportsmanlike behavior.<ref name="Beyondtheflag">{{cite web |url=https://beyondtheflag.com/2016/06/12/raceday-rewind-1997-indycar-true-value-500/ |title=RaceDay Rewind - 1997 IndyCar True Value 500 |first=Alex |last=Herbst |website=Beyond the Flag |date=12 June 2016 |access-date=March 19, 2022}}</ref>

The race tape was reviewed and it was determined that Luyendyk was right; he had finished on a lap by himself and had actually completed more laps than the scheduled race distance, being declared the official winner the following day. The results was revised back to the proper ending lap, shuffling the entire top 10. Luyendyk, fresh off his Indy 500 victory, became the first driver to win two IRL races in a row, but it took almost a week to determine. Foyt, however refused to return the trophy and retains the original to this day. A duplicate was awarded to Luyendyk. The outcome of this race had far-reaching implications for the IRL far beyond the race itself. From the beginning of the IRL until this time, [[United States Automobile Club|USAC]] performed the timing and scoring of IRL races, as well as other functions such as technical inspection. The following week, in the wake of the Texas scoring scandal, the restart problems two weeks earlier at Indianapolis and the ensuing bad publicity, USAC was immediately removed from sanctioning the series, putting that organization completely out of Indy car racing after 42 years. The league switched to in-house sanctioning starting with the next event.<ref name="Beyondtheflag"/>

|[[A. J. Foyt Enterprises]]

|[[A. J. Foyt Enterprises]]

|[[Cheever Racing|Team Cheever]]

|{{flagicon|ITA}} [[Alessandro Zampedri]] &nbsp;&nbsp;

|{{flagicon|SWE}} [[Kenny BrackBräck]] '''<span style="padding:1px 4px; color:black; background-color:yellowgreen;">R</span>'''

==== Official results= ===

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

|[[A. J. Foyt Enterprises]]

|[[A. J. Foyt Enterprises]]

|{{flagicon|ITA}} [[Alessandro Zampedri]] &nbsp;&nbsp;

|{{flagicon|SWE}} [[Kenny BrackBräck]] '''<span style="padding:1px 4px; color:black; background-color:yellowgreen;">R</span>'''

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"

Name_of_race = [[FirestoneRainguard Water Sealers 600|True Value 500]] |