|| *Comments on the 1997 Interstate Batteries 500:* View the most recent comment <#38> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. David Anderson posted: 12.26.2003 - 4:14 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) For more information on this race see the NASCAR in Texas Site http://780bradford.com/racing/texas/texasmain.html 2. MegaRacer posted: 10.19.2004 - 9:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Exide Batteries sponsored car wins the Interstate Batteries sponsored race...ironic! 3. HomeDepotKid posted: 01.09.2005 - 1:37 am Rate this comment: (4) (0) The first race at Texas was bad. Sure, Jeff Burton won, but the inagural Interstate Batteries 500(and the race the previous day) was simply, "Survival of the Fittest", or "of the cleanest". I once read a stat, don't know if it's true or now, that said 39 cars were damaged or destroyed as a result of Texas, and at least one driver(Ricky Craven being the most prominent) was injured that inagural year. Texas's 1st race was a disaster, because of the crashfests. Thankfully, they've fixed those problems, and now it's a fun place to see a race. I, however, will never forgive Bruton Smith for taking a Wilkesboro date for this place. 4. MASH_guy posted: 06.08.2005 - 2:13 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) How bad was it? There was a double-digit wreck in the first turn of the first lap. 5. Darrell posted: 12.15.2005 - 11:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Didn't H.B. Bailey try to make this race? 6. XAC33 posted: 07.28.2006 - 6:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another example of NASCAR taking away a date from a competitive track in the heart of NASCAR country and replacing it with a boring cookie cutter super speedway. Also I believe this may be the race where Ernie Irvan demonstrates his amazing talent by simply running over, at speed, a car that off the pace and in his line of sight for at least 2000ft. 7. gomer posted: 10.23.2006 - 9:57 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Didn't Jeff Burton spin Todd Bodine out of the lead at one point? 8. Bill posted: 11.02.2006 - 1:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Irvan lost a wheel in that wreck. I'm pretty sure its the same crash that Jeff Gordon was taken out in too 9. JPM42ROTY2007 posted: 12.07.2006 - 7:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 1st Win in Cup by a Roush Driver not named Mark Martin 10. SK posted: 01.28.2007 - 12:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNQ: #02 Mike Bliss #19 Gary Bradberry #27 Rick Wilson #29 Robert Pressley #46 Wally Dallenbach #66 H.B. Bailey #74 Randy LaJoie #95 Ed Berrier #96 David Green 11. Anonymous posted: 05.21.2007 - 11:12 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Todd Bodine was substituting for Ricky Craven in this race. He was doing an amazing job and was leading when he got spun out by Jeff Burton. 12. FHgrad99 posted: 09.13.2007 - 7:24 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I remember that Rusty Wallace was very vocal about the exit of turn 4 being too narrow. They made the exit of turn 4 a lane wider the following year. 13. RaceFanX posted: 09.15.2008 - 2:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) H.B. Bailey's last attempt at NASCAR racing ends in a DNQ Randy LaJoie and his championship #74 Fina Chevrolet team from the Busch series attempted this Cup race and also DNQed 14. Frogger49 posted: 11.18.2008 - 10:16 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) In the Albany, NY market, this race was pre-empted for an Arthritis Telethon (seriously). Since I was 12 at the time, I couldn't stay up until 12:15am to catch the repeat, so I never saw the race. I only saw the carnage on rpm2night. 15. Jim posted: 06.14.2009 - 7:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The parking lot wasn't paved yet and during the week leading up to the races there was alot of rain. It was a mess according to some of my friends. I didn't make it to the races there until 1999. 16. myself posted: 08.17.2009 - 1:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I LOL when they went into turn 1 & had that huge crash on the 1st lap!!!! 17. RaceFanX posted: 10.18.2009 - 5:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Burton's first Cup win 18. 00andJoe posted: 02.24.2011 - 12:58 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The #9 of Lake Speed carried Ace Hardware "sponsorship" in this race - as part of a promotional/filming deal for the made-for-TV Movie "Steel Chariots". The #20 was also involved in the movie (but its Hardees sponsorship was genuine). 19. Anonymous posted: 08.08.2011 - 5:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #9 sponsor: Ace Hardware 20. Evan posted: 10.02.2011 - 8:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) An Arthritis Telethon, in Alabany? Seriously? Most Likely but Anyway, You did not miss much, both 1997 and 1998 were both wreckfests, at least for the first couple years anyway. 1998 there was water seepage coming from turns two and three and they finally had to reconfigure that place to make it suitable for racing, and thank god they did, its better now. 21. 83andJoe posted: 06.24.2013 - 11:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #78 crew chief: Bill Hayes 22. Evan W. posted: 04.27.2014 - 8:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsors #2 Rusty Wallace Miller Lite True To Texas Rusty ran a car with the shadow behind the words "Miller Lite" in the shape of the state of Texas. It was only ran here for the next three races at Texas, it never was used in 2000, however. Sources:Saw this race and the car up close on TV. #18 Bobby Labonte Interstate Batteries 500 In honor of Interstate Batteries sponsoring the race, they ran a Texas flag scheme. Sources:An image I have of the race, has Labonte leading the field in this scheme. 23. We need more Onion posted: 09.06.2014 - 8:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Burton may or may not have spun Todd for the lead. The only thing for sure is that Jeff tried not to do it, I believe he did end up touching the #25, but hardly his bad. 24. Jared DiCarlo posted: 11.10.2014 - 8:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^14. Whoa, Albany? I live in that market too! 25. Andy S posted: 03.01.2015 - 1:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ol' DW wrecks early. He should have retired early, too. Past Champion provisional, fooey. A few nice runs in the #1 Pennzoil car, though,.in the twilight of his career. 26. Anthony Nagle posted: 04.10.2015 - 12:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Andy S, there were no time trials for the race, so we'll never know how Darrell could have qualified. Todd Bodine ran the 25 quite well before a little nudge led to a wreck and a broken brake rotor. Dale Earnhardt, despite being involved in that huge wreck on lap 1, came back from a lap down to finish on the lead lap and top ten! Dale Jarrett lost his clutch late in the race like Bill Elliott at Daytona. Didn't help with his restarts, but I doubt he could have caught Jeff Burton. That wreck on lap 162 is a reason why I like why we don't race back to the caution. Rusty wrecked along with a couple of others. Okay I get that. Greg got Sacked by Ernie Irvan which led to Jeff Gordon smacking Irvan and the wall, which was totally unnecessary albeit unavoidable. And that was a good 10-15 seconds after the initial crash! 27. Paul M. posted: 09.26.2015 - 3:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) A lot of people had to stay another night to get out of that awful parking lot. My step dad said he was there till Tuesday cause of all the rain 28. Anthony posted: 09.20.2016 - 8:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The start of the 1.5 mile era in NASCAR - every track that's come into the schedule since this race has been of this length, except Fontana. 29. Bramblegrunt posted: 04.11.2017 - 12:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Johnny Benson had an absolutely miserable day starting right from the first turn when Darrell Waltrip had passed him however Benson didnt want to relent the spot into turn 1, the 2 ended up making contact and causing the massive wreck to start this track the way everyone remembers (The following year theyd only make it 2 more laps before an equally as big wreck took place). Benson then spun on his own in the middle portion of the race causing rear damage and then following the Grissom spin, Benson spun on the restart on the backstretch, nosing it into the wall where Joe Nemechek then spun and nosed it right into Bensons nose causing both drivers to limp away from their cars. The race overall was a total mess and almost every driver wanted major changes to overhaul this track into a multi racing groove track. Eventually that happened but no matter how many years pass in Texas Motor Speedways history, I believe the first 2 wreck fests will always be what people think of when this speedway is talked about. Sad to see HB Bailey's career end in a DNQ as well, and he couldnt even drive his famous #36 as that car number was being used this year by Derrike Cope 30. GoPM21 posted: 08.11.2017 - 9:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race with a pivotal event in Irvan losing the ride with Robert Yates. There were some of the big shots from Texaco were attending the event and Ernie was seen talking to one of them after the crash. When Dick Berggren attempted to interview Ernie, Irvan simply walked away. 31. most1305 posted: 08.11.2017 - 2:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 20 years later: 5 drivers who attempted this race are deceased: Earnhardt, Hamilton, Standridge, Trickle and Baily 2 drivers who attempted this race have ran a Cup race this year: Waltrip and Cope Bobby Labonte might make another start, Morgan Shepherd is ageless and you never know about Gordon but that's it, almost complete turnover in 20 years. 32. Josh posted: 04.06.2018 - 7:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ricky Craven got injured in practice for this race, and according to Rick Mast, prompted Dale Earnhardt to go to the NASCAR Hauler and say qualifying was not going to happen unless they wanted half a field due to dead or injured drivers. 33. BRYAN posted: 04.11.2018 - 11:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) there was 5 sets of brothers in the 1st race at Texas 4-6-1997 wow whats the record for the most sets of brothers to race in Nascar it was a great race too watch lots of stuff went on ...... CBS TV 34. CJ posted: 04.18.2018 - 11:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Season best finish for Ward Burton, Dave Marcis, Mike Wallace, and Billy Standridge. 35. @Statscrash posted: 11.22.2018 - 12:18 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) So they fixed Texas...and made it an unbelievably boring track ever since. And when they redid it again last year they somehow made it worse. 36. JSPorts posted: 11.22.2018 - 12:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) 10 cautions & 19 lead changes among 10 drivers. You'd never see that at TMS nowadays. And 52 cars attempting the race for a 43-car field, something you wouldn't see anywhere. 37. Anonymous posted: 01.12.2020 - 1:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale Earnhardt's 6th place finish with 0 laps led may seem like a solid but unspectacular finish. However it was actually a very impressive run considering the circumstances. Dale was involved in the lap 1 wreck, and he lost a lap on the track because he couldn't get the car to restart. The NASCAR officials ruled that the number 3 car had to restart at the end of the longest line rather than the inside line next to the race leader. When CBS pit road reporter Mike Joy interviewed Dale's crew chief Larry McReynolds it was explained that the number 3 car had pitted illegally. Apparently there was a rule that stated that when a car loses a lap on the track after being involved in a wreck the driver must get picked up by the pace car before pitting. Dale drove on to pit road immediately after getting the car refired, and was given the ?end of the longest line? penalty as a result. Larry McReynolds said that he had never heard of such a rule. Getting back to Dale's 6th place finish he had to come up all the way through the field just to get his lap back before settling for the solid lead lap finish. 38. SweetRich posted: 02.15.2020 - 11:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Commentators For The Race Were Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett And Buddy Baker. The Pit Road Reporters Were Mike Joy, Ralph Sheheen And Dick Berggren. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: