81st Indianapolis 500

Updated August 28, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Date— Tuesday, May 27, 1997, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race was rained out Sunday and postponed one day. The race was started on Monday but then stopped after more rain and suspended again until Tuesday. It was the fifth time in history that the Indy 500 had been postponed overnight. The other postponements came in 1915, 1967, 1973 and 1986. Distance— 500 miles; Course— 2.5 mile oval; Field—35 cars; Winner's average speed—145.827 mph; Margin of victory— 0.570 seconds; Time of race— 3 hours, 25 minutes, 43.388 seconds; Caution flags— 10 for 59 laps; Lead changes— 15 by 5 drivers; Lap leaders— Stewart (64), Luyendyk (61), Ward (49), Buhl (16), Lazier (7), Goodyear (2), Boat (1); Pole Sitter—Arie Luyendyk at 218.263 mph; Attendance—100,000 (est.); TV Rating— 6.6/18 share on Mon., 5.0/18 share on Tues. (ABC). Note that (r) indicates rookie driver.

Driver (start pos.) CountryCar Laps Ended Earnings
1Arie Luyendyk (1)NetherlandsG/A/F200Running$1,568,150
2Scott Goodyear (5)CanadaG/A/F200Running513,300
3r-Jeff Ward (7)ScotlandG/A/G200Running414,250
4Buddy Lazier (10)United StatesD/A/F200Running279,250
5Tony Stewart (1)United StatesG/A/F200Running345,050
6Davey Hamilton (8)United StatesG/A/G199Running214,000
7r-Billy Boat (22)United StatesD/A/G199Running269,700
8Robbie Buhl (4)United StatesG/A/F199Running235,200
9r-Robbie Groff (4)United StatesG/A/G197Running222,350
10Fermin Velez (29)SpainG/A/G195Running216,400
11Buzz Calkins (16)United StatesG/A/G188Rt Half Shaft201,000
12Mike Groff (18)United StatesG/I/F188Running197,300
13Lyn St. James (34)United StatesD/I/F186Accident188,000
14Steve Kinser (20)United StatesD/A/G185Accident193,250
15Dennis Vitolo (28)United StatesD/I/F173Running210,000
16Marco Greco (27)BrazilD/A/G166Gearbox193,000
17r-Vincenzo Sospiri (3)ItalyD/A/G163Running196,250
18Johnny Unser (35)United StatesD/I/F158Oil Pressure158,000
19r-Tyce Carlson (26)United StatesD/A/G156Accident173,250
20r-Dr. Jack Miller (17)United StatesD/I/F131Accident171,250
21Paul Durant (33)`United StatesG/A/G111Accident178,000
22Billy Roe (24)United StatesD/A/F110Accident150,250
23Eddie Cheever Jr. (11)United StatesG/A/G84Timing Chain176,000
24Eliseo Salazar (9)ChileD/A/G70Accident164,000
25Greg Ray (30)United StatesD/A/F48Water Pump171,250
26r-Jim Guthrie (6)United StatesD/A/F43Engine164,500
27Roberto Guerrero (19)ColombiaD/I/G25Steering Gear160,000
28Mark Dismore (25)United StatesD/A/G24Accident159,000
29Robby Gordon (12)United StatesG/A/G19Fire139,500
30Claude Bourbonnais (32)CanadaD/A/F9Engine152,250
31Stephan Gregoire (13)FranceG/A/G0Accident158,000
32r-Alphonse Giaffone (14)BrazilD/A/G0Accident158,250
33r-Kenny Brack (15)SwedenG/A/G0Accident202,250
34r-Sam Schmidt (23)United StatesD/A/F0Engine150,250
34Alessandro Zampedri (31)ItalyD/A/G0Oil Leak145,000
Car Legend: Chassis/Engine/Tires. D-Dallara; G-G Force/A-Oldsmobile Aurora V-8; I-Nissan Infiniti V-8/F-Firestone; G-Goodyear.

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