NASCAR Winston Cup Series DieHard 500: Fact Sheet

6 October 1997

            1997 NASCAR WINSTON CUP SERIES FACT SHEET
 
 WHAT: DieHard 500
       NASCAR Winston Cup Series Race #29 of 32
 
 WHERE: Talladega Superspeedway
        Talladega, AL
        2.66-Mile Banked Paved Speedway
 
 WHEN: Sunday, October 12, 1997
        12:00 pm CDT
 
 DISTANCE: 500 Miles/188 Laps
 
 POSTED AWARDS: $1,894,817
 
 FIELD: 43 cars possible. Fastest 38 cars through time trials. Four 
 provisional starting positions based on 1997 NWC owner points and one past
 champion provisional.
 
 SANCTION: National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc.
 
 PROMOTER: International Speedway Corporation
 
 TV: CBS (Live)
     Airtime: 1:00 pm (EDT)
     Announcers: Ken Squier, Mike Joy, Ned Jarrett and Buddy Baker
     Pit Reporters: Dick Berggren, Ralph Sheheen and Bill Stephens
 
 RADIO: MRN (Live)
        Airtime: 12:45 pm (EDT)
        Announcers: Allen Bestwick and Barney Hall
 
 SCHEDULE:
           Friday, October 10
              6:00 am : Team Haulers Enter
              6:30 am : NASCAR Garage Opens
             10:00 am : Rookie Drivers' Meeting
             10:30 am : Qualifying Draw
   11:00 am - 1:30 pm : Practice
              3:00 pm : Qualifying (Positions 1-25)
 
           Saturday, October 11
              7:00 am : NASCAR Garage Opens
       8:30 - 9:45 am : Practice
             10:45 am : Qualifying (Positions 26-38)
                  TBD : Final practice following the ARCA event
 
           Sunday, October 12
             10:00 am : Drivers' & Crew Chiefs' Meeting
 
 PARTICIPATING AWARDS SPONSORS: Winston, AE Clevite Engine Parts, Aeroquip,
Auto Meter Products, Bowman Distribution, Busch Beer, Champion Spark Plugs,
Competition Cams, Craftsman Tools, Crane Cams, DuPont Automotive Finishes,
Edelbrock Manifolds, Fram Fuel Filters, Gatorade Sports Beverage, Goodyear
Tires, Goody's Headache Powders, Holley Carburetors, Hurst Shifters, JE
Pistons, Jesel Rocker Arms, Longacre Computerscales, MCI, Mac Tools, Mechanix
Wear, Moog Chassis Parts, Motorcraft Batteries, Opryland, Plasti-Kote Spray
Paint, RCA, Raybestos Brakes, Simpson Helmets, Spicer Drive Shafts, Stant
Radiator Caps, STP Oil Treatment & Oil Filters, 3M Automotive Products, True
Value Hardware, Unocal Gasoline, 76/NASCAR High Performance Motor Oil,
Western Auto Stores, Wiseco Pistons, Wix Air Filters
 
 RECORDS: Qualifying: Bill Elliott; Ford; 212.809 mph; 44.998 seconds;
                       4/30/87
          Race: Mark Martin; Ford; 188.354 mph,
                2 hours, 39 minutes, 18 seconds; 5/10/97 (Record)
 
 THE TRACK:
 Degree of Banking in Corners - 33 degrees
 Degree of Banking on Front Straight - 18 degrees
 Degree of Banking on Back Straight - 2 degrees
 Length of Front Straight - 4,300 feet
 Length of Back Straight - 4,000 feet
 
 1996 REVIEW: Dale Earnhardt dominated, but a late-race accident (12 laps 
from the weather-shortened finish) while he was leading eliminated him from 
both the DieHard 500 race and the championship point race, for which he was 
fighting at the time of the accident. Jeff Gordon, who started the race on 
the outside of the front row, won the event, 0.145-second ahead of Dale 
Jarrett, who finished second in both Talladega NASCAR Winston Cup events in 
1996 by just over three-tenths of a second. Mark Martin, Ernie Irvan and 
Jimmy Spencer rounded out the top five in a race that saw 24 lead changes 
among 10 drivers.