1997 True Value 500
| Race details | |
|---|---|
| 6th round of the 1996–1997 Indy Racing League season | |
 |
|
| Date | June 7, 1997 |
| Official name | True Value 500 |
| Location | Texas Motor Speedway |
| Course | Permanent racing facility 1.500 mi / 2.414 km |
| Distance | 208 laps 312.000 mi / 502.115 km |
| Weather | Dry with temperatures reaching up to 86 °F (30 °C); wind speeds up to 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h) were sighted during the race |
| Pole position | |
| Driver | Tony Stewart (Team Menard) |
| Time | 1:36.929 (3 laps + pit stop) |
| Fastest lap | |
| Driver | Tony Stewart (Team Menard) |
| Time | 24.760 (on lap 97 of 208) |
| Podium | |
| First | Arie Luyendyk (Treadway Racing) |
| Second | Billy Boat (A. J. Foyt Enterprises) |
| Third | Davey Hamilton (A. J. Foyt Enterprises) |
The 1997 True Value 500 was the sixth round of the 1996–1997 Indy Racing League season. The race was held on June 7, 1997, at the 1.500 mi (2.414 km) Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, and it marked the first American open-wheel superspeedway night race.
3-laps qualifying, with the average speed deciding grid positions. During their 3rd lap, every driver had to enter the pit lane (with no speed limit on it), stop in a designated spot 30 feet short of the start/finish line and make a pit stop, with a maximum of 3 crew members: one jacking the car up and the other two changing only the front and rear right tires. Finally, the driver had to cross the finish line to complete his qualifying attempt.
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 assumed it on lap 76, only to lose it five laps later after blewing a tire exiting turn 4. Lazier then took over the lead while 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, who 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.
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