1997 Indy 200 at Walt Disney World

  1996–1997 Walt Disney World

Race details
3rd Round of the 1996–97 Indy Racing League.
Date	January 25, 1997
Official name	Indy 200 at Walt Disney World
Location	Walt Disney World Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.000 / 1.609 km
Distance	149 laps, 149.000 mi / 239.792 km
Scheduled Distance	200 laps, 200.000 mi / 321.869 km
Weather	Mixture of dry weather and rain; temperatures reaching up to 75.2 °F (24.0 °C) along with wind speeds reaching up to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h)[1]
Pole
Driver	Tony Stewart	Team Menard
Time	21.685
Fastest Lap
Driver	Tony Stewart	Team Menard
Time	22.579 (on lap 5 of 149)
Podium
First	Eddie Cheever	Team Menard
Second	Mike Groff	Byrd-Cunningham
Third	Scott Goodyear	Treadway Racing

The 1997 Indy 200 at Walt Disney World was the third round of the 1996–1997 Indy Racing League. The race was held on January 25, 1997 at the 1.000 mi (1.609 km) Walt Disney World Speedway in Bay Lake, Florida. It was the first race with the new chassis and 4000 cc naturally aspirated engines. It did not make the scheduled 200 laps; it was called off on lap 149 due to heavy rain.^[2]

Report

Qualifying

Pos	No.	Name	Lap 1	Lap 2	Best (in mph)
1	2	Tony Stewart	21.760	21.685	166.013
2	5	Arie Luyendyk	21.888	21.823	164.964
3	12	Buzz Calkins W	22.037	21.945	164.046
4	1	Scott Sharp	22.011	21.980	163.785
5	51	Eddie Cheever	22.070	22.012	163.547
6	6	Scott Goodyear	22.218	22.041	163.332
7	14	Davey Hamilton	22.048	22.172	163.280
8	4	Jeff Ward R	22.132	22.317	162.660
9	27	Jim Guthrie R	22.185	22.190	162.272
10	33	Fermín Vélez R	22.379	22.272	161.638
11	91	Buddy Lazier	22.418	22.313	161.341
12	22	Marco Greco	22.671	22.470	160.214
13	18	John Paul, Jr.	22.563	22.585	159.553
14	10	Mike Groff	22.591	22.790	159.355
15	30	Jeret Schroeder R	23.247	23.565	154.859
16	17	Danny Ongais	23.834	23.765	151.483
17	21	Roberto Guerreroa	Didn't qualify		No speed
18	40	Jack Millera R	Didn't qualify		No speed
19	77	Stephan Gregoirea	Didn't qualify		No speed

• ^a Guerrero, Miller and Gregoire didn't qualify, but were allowed to start the race at the back of the field.

Failed to qualify or withdrew

• Davy Jones for Galles Racing - crashed during Thursday's first practice session and was hospitalized with head injuries.^[3] Replaced by Jeff Ward.
• Eliseo Salazar for Team Scandia - fractured a vertebra during testing on January 11 and was unable to compete.
• Sam Schmidt R for Blueprint Racing - withdrew prior to the start of practice.
• Mark Dismore for Team Menard - withdrew prior to the start of practice.
• Robbie Buhl for Beck Motorsports - withdrew prior to the start of practice.
• Johnny Unser for Project Indy - withdrew prior to the start of practice.

Race

For the first time in over thirty years, a field of normally aspirated Indy car engines fired up and rolled off the grid. Unfortunately, that grid consisted of only 19 cars, due to engine and parts shortages. Polesitter Tony Stewart ran away and hid from the start, but there was tight racing with Buzz Calkins in hot pursuit, and Scott Sharp, Mike Groff and several others just behind.

The race was very clean with only one accident, which occurred on lap 100 when rookie Jeret Schroeder spun into the wall in turn 1, and Arie Luyendyk was forced into the inside wall trying to avoid him. Neither driver was injured but both were out. After that caution, Calkins and Eddie Cheever gradually reeled in Stewart, with Calkins taking the lead when Stewart pitted on lap 130. Calkins was on his way to repeat his IRL-inaugurating triumph of a year ago, but on lap 141 his engine began smoking, and two laps later he coasted to the pits with a broken engine.

Stewart assumed the lead and appeared to be the race winner when the yellow was thrown for rain on lap 146. But as he crossed the line to take the yellow, Stewart's car broke an oil line and spun into the wall, continuing a string of IRL near-misses for him. Eddie Cheever inherited the lead and, when the red flag came three laps later, the veteran driver had his first Indy car victory after seven years of effort. Cheever accomplished a unique feat: he won the race without leading a lap under the green flag.

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Laps Led	Points
1	51	Eddie Cheever	Team Cheever	149	1:33:30.748	5	4	35
2	10	Mike Groff	Byrd-Cunningham Racing	149	+ 0.866 sec	14	0	33
3	6	Scott Goodyear	Treadway Racing	149	Running	6	0	32
4	1	Scott Sharp	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	149	Running	4	0	31
5	91	Buddy Lazier	Hemelgarn Racing	149	Running	11	0	30
6	27	Jim Guthrie R	Blueprint Racing	148	+ 1 lap	9	0	29
7	14	Davey Hamilton	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	148	+ 1 lap	7	0	28
8	22	Marco Greco	Team Scandia	147	+ 2 laps	12	0	27
9	33	Fermín Vélez R	Team Scandia	147	+ 2 laps	10	0	26
10	2	Tony Stewart	Team Menard	146	Accident T3	1	131	28
11	12	Buzz Calkins W	Bradley Motorsports	144	Engine	3	14	24
12	5	Arie Luyendyk	Treadway Racing	97	Accident T1	2	0	23
13	17	Danny Ongais	Chitwood Motorsports	94	Suspension	16	0	22
14	30	Jeret Schroeder R	McCormack Motorsports	93	Accident T1	15	0	21
15	40	Jack Miller R	Arizona Motorsport	85	Suspension	18	0	20
16	4	Jeff Ward R	Galles Racing	63	Gearbox	8	0	19
17	21	Roberto Guerrero	Pagan Racing	56	Fuel Pump	17	0	18
18	18	John Paul, Jr.	PDM Racing	46	Oil Pump	13	0	17
19	77	Stephan Gregoire	Chastain Motorsports	2	Fuel Pump	19	0	16

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Mike Groff 96 2 Buzz Calkins 86 3 Scott Sharp 85 4 Davey Hamilton 82 5 Marco Greco 81 Note: Only the top five positions are included for the standings. References ↑ "1997 Indy 200 at Walt Disney World weather information". Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2013-10-26.  ↑ Siano, Joseph (January 26, 1997). "Lucky Victory Is Sweet To Star-Crossed Cheever". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-02.  ↑ Siano, Joseph (January 24, 1997). "Davy Jones Seriously Hurt In Wreck During Practice". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-07-02.  External links IndyCar official website Walt Disney World Speedway IRL IndyCar races 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 Previous race: 1996 Las Vegas 500K IndyCar Series 1996-1997 season Next race: 1997 Phoenix 200 Previous race: 1996 Indy 200 at Walt Disney World Indy 200 at Walt Disney World Next race: 1998 Indy 200 at Walt Disney World