The 1997 Dura Lube 500 was the 31st and penultimate stock car race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 10th iteration of the event.

Going into the final race of the season, the 1997 NAPA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a tight battle between the three mathematical eligible drivers for the championship, Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, and Mark Martin was set.

[3] Phoenix International Raceway – also known as PIR – is a one-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona.

The raceway was originally constructed with a 2.5 mi (4.0 km) road course that ran both inside and outside of the main tri-oval.

Bobby Hamilton, driving for Petty Enterprises, would win the pole, setting a time of 27.360 and an average speed of 131.579 miles per hour (211.756 km/h).

[6] Four drivers would fail to qualify: Wally Dallenbach Jr., Jack Sprague, Morgan Shepherd, and Gary Bradberry.