1997 Pennzoil 200


The 1997 Pennzoil 200 was the ninth round of the 1996–1997 Indy Racing League. The race was held on August 17, 1997 at the New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire.

Report

Qualifying

  1. Didn't qualify because of handling issues. He was allowed to start the race at the back of the field.
  2. Changed his Riley & Scott chassis, which was making its debut, for a Dallara chassis and was demoted to the back of the field.
  3. Couldn't qualify after his chassis had been damaged in a practice crash. He was allowed to start the race at the back of the field.

    Failed to qualify or withdrew

The first 10 laps were run almost entirely under caution, after a spin by Robbie Groff and a gearbox failure for Jim Guthrie on the opening lap and a botched restart when Jimmy Kite spun coming off turn 4. Once racing finally got started, unexpected pole sitter Marco Greco was strong in the lead but he handed it over to Scott Goodyear on lap 35 when he pitted under caution after a crash by Sam Schmidt. On lap 63, a broken oil line fitting made him spin off turn 4 and the resulting caution and pit stop by Goodyear allowed Eliseo Salazar to take the lead, which he maintained. Not long after the restart, Buddy Lazier also spun on the tricky turn 4, bringing out the fifth caution in less than 70 laps.
Meanwhile, Eddie Cheever who started from 18th spot, moved into second place by lap 40 and assumed the lead on lap 96 when Salazar pitted under caution after a crash by Affonso Giaffone. Cheever held the lead until the next round of pit stops, starting on lap 133. Buhl had remained in the top 10 since early in the race, running in the top 5 most of the time. Goodyear's engine failed on lap 153, bringing out another caution and a round of pit stops that shuffled the field. The then-leader, Kenny Bräck, had a slow pit stop, while Stéphan Grégoire, who was running second, suffered a mechanical failure.
Cheever took over the lead again after the green, followed by Buhl. Both had gambled on stopping earlier, strategy that paid off due to the caution, as they were able to stretch his fuel load to the finish, running very close to each other. But on the second-to-last lap Cheever's gearbox failed, slowing abruptly on the backstretch. Buhl had to slow significantly too to avoid a crash and Vincenzo Sospiri rapidly made up a gap of several seconds. On the last lap, Buhl encountered heavy traffic on the backstretch. Sospiri, with less worn tires, avoided it by running high, came off turn 4 nose to tail with Buhl, and made it side by side to the finish line, but Buhl won by a nose. Robbie Buhl, coming off an injury suffered at Pikes Peak, took the closest victory in IRL history. Buhl survived a race of attrition that saw several drivers suffer mechanical failures while leading.
With only one race left in the calendar, Tony Stewart slightly increased his advantage in the championship. Despite blowing his engine with 26 laps to go in what already was a difficult weekend, he got 3 more points than Davey Hamilton, who also had engine troubles 53 laps earlier. Hamilton was the only driver with mathematical chances to beat Stewart, as Cheever was 38 points behind the leader.
PosNo.DriverTeamLapsTime/RetiredGridLaps
Led		Points
13 Robbie BuhlTeam Menard2001:46:50.5747335
222 Vincenzo Sospiri R Team Scandia200+ 0.064 sec9133
35 Arie LuyendykTreadway Racing200+ 4.626 sec8232
47 Eliseo SalazarTeam Scandia200+ 9.363 sec53931
54 Kenny Bräck RGalles Racing200+ 10.164 sec3930
621 Roberto GuerreroPagan Racing200+ 15.917 sec10029
718 John Paul, Jr.PDM Racing199+ 1 lap11128
81 Billy Boat RA. J. Foyt Enterprises199+ 1 lap16027
951 Eddie CheeverTeam Cheever198Gearbox188027
1030 Robbie Groff RMcCormack Motorsports198+ 2 laps19025
1128 Mark DismoreKelley Racing-PDM197+ 3 laps23024
1291 Buddy LazierHemelgarn Racing195+ 5 laps15023
1310 Johnny UnserByrd-Cunningham Racing189+ 11 laps20022
142 Tony StewartTeam Menard174Engine14021
1577 Stéphan GrégoireChastain Motorsports154Electrical6020
166 Scott GoodyearTreadway Racing152Engine23119
1714 Davey HamiltonA. J. Foyt Enterprises121Engine12018
1817 Affonso Giaffone RChitwood Motorsports93Accident17017
1940 Jack Miller RArizona Motorsports81Handling22016
2070 Marco GrecoGalles Racing59Oil fitting13417
2112 Buzz CalkinsBradley Motorsports36Electrical13014
2299 Sam Schmidt RLP Racing-PCI30Accident24013
2333 Jimmy Kite RTeam Scandia4Accident4012
2427 Jim Guthrie RBlueprint Racing0Gearbox21011

Race Statistics

;Drivers' Championship standings
PosDriverPoints
1 Tony Stewart254
2 Davey Hamilton244
3 Eddie Cheever216
4 Arie Luyendyk213
5 Buddy Lazier205