1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The Busch Clash, a race for pole winners from the previous season, and drivers who have won the event before was run on February 9 in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Top ten results The Gatorade Twin 125s were run on February 13 in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Failed to qualify: 91-Mike Wallace, 95-Gary Bradberry, 78-Billy Standridge, 15-Larry Pearson, 42-Joe Nemechek, 97-Chad Little, 75-Rick Mast, 96-David Green*, 0-Delma Cowart, and 84-Norm Benning.
Top ten results The Pontiac Excitement 400 was held March 2 at Richmond International Raceway.
Top ten results The Primestar 500 was run on March 9 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia.
Top ten results Failed to qualify: 29-Robert Pressley, 36-Derrike Cope, 46-Wally Dallenbach Jr., 71-Dave Marcis, 77-Bobby Hillin Jr., 95-Ed Berrier, 08-Mike Miller The TranSouth Financial 400 was held March 23 at Darlington Raceway.
Top ten results Failed to qualify: 41-Steve Grissom, 78-Billy Standridge, 90-Dick Trickle The inaugural Interstate Batteries 500 was held April 6 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Top ten results Failed to qualify: 19-Gary Bradberry, 27-Rick Wilson, 29-Robert Pressley, 46-Wally Dallenbach Jr., 66-H. B. Bailey, 74-Randy LaJoie, 95-Ed Berrier, 96-David Green, 02-Mike Bliss The Food City 500 was held on April 13 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Top ten results Failed to qualify: 20-Greg Sacks, 77-Bobby Hillin Jr., 78-Billy Standridge, 91-Mike Wallace The Goody's Headache Powder 500 was held April 20 at Martinsville Speedway.
Top ten results Failed to qualify: 19-Gary Bradberry, 20-Lance Hooper, 78-Billy Standridge, 79-Randy MacDonald, 96-David Green The Save Mart Supermarkets 300 was held May 4 at Sears Point Raceway.
Teams returned on Saturday, May 10 (Mother's Day weekend), and the race was held under sunny skies.
Top ten results Failed to qualify: 71-Dave Marcis, 77-Bobby Hillin Jr., 91-Mike Wallace, 95-Ed Berrier, 97-Chad Little The Miller 500 was held June 1 at Dover Downs International Speedway.
Top ten results The Goody's Headache Powder 500 was held August 23 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Top ten results Failed to qualify: 40-Robby Gordon, 71-Dave Marcis, 77-Morgan Shepherd The Mountain Dew Southern 500 was held August 31 at Darlington Raceway.
Top ten results Failed to qualify: 71-Dave Marcis, 77-Morgan Shepherd, 91-Greg Sacks The Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400 was held September 6 at Richmond International Raceway.
Top ten results Failed to qualify: 14-Steve Park The Hanes 500 was held September 29 at Martinsville Speedway.
Top ten results The UAW-GM Quality 500 was held October 5 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Top ten results Failed to qualify: 14-Steve Park, 15-Greg Sacks, 17-Darrell Waltrip, 31-Mike Skinner, 40-Elliott Sadler*, 71-Dave Marcis, 75-Rick Mast The DieHard 500 was held October 12 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Like many Talladega races, the story was "the Big One", collecting 23 cars on lap 140 after Jeff Gordon cut a tire and turned into traffic.
Top ten results Failed to qualify: 8–Hut Stricklin, 22–Ward Burton, 29–Jeff Green, 78–Gary Bradberry, 95–Ed Berrier The AC Delco 400 was held on Monday, October 27 at North Carolina Speedway.
It was originally scheduled to be run on Sunday, October 26 but heavy rain pushed the start to Monday morning.
Top ten results Failed to qualify: 11–Brett Bodine, 71–Dave Marcis The Dura Lube 500 presented by Kmart was held November 2 at Phoenix International Raceway.
Top ten results Failed to qualify: 1-Morgan Shepherd The 1997 championship season finale was the NAPA 500 held November 16 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Geoff Bodine won the pole at a speed of 197.478 mph (317.810 km/h), which at the time was the fastest qualifying lap ever run outside of Daytona and Talladega.
During a practice session on Saturday, Gordon was driving down the pit lane, scrubbing his tires to heat them up on what was a cold morning.
Jarrett finished 2nd, Martin 3rd, and Gordon 17th, while Bobby Labonte took the victory, the first win for Joe Gibbs Racing since the team switched from Chevrolet to Pontiac.
Top ten results Failed to qualify: 8-Hut Stricklin, 35-Todd Bodine, 40-Greg Sacks, 71-Dave Marcis, 77-Robert Pressley, 95-Ed Berrier, 96-David Green The NASCAR Thunder Special Suzuka was a non points exhibition race held November 23 on the Suzuka Circuit - East Circuit in Japan.
After running the Cup series part-time for a decade, Mike Skinner finally ran a full-time schedule, and walked away with three top-tens and the Rookie of the Year title.
The last place finisher was Robby Gordon, who suffered through a tumultuous season with Team SABCO, dealing with injuries and personal disputes.
