|| *Comments on the 1997 Food City 500:* View the most recent comment <#35> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. tquievryn posted: 01.02.2005 - 6:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 1997's record for cautions came in this race(20). Robby Gordon continued to struggle, wrecking 3 times in the first 100 laps before calling it a day. Meanwhile, Jeff Gordon bumped Rusty Wallace on the last lap to win his 3rd straight Food City 500. 2. CanucksAndNASCAR Fan posted: 05.17.2006 - 7:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) I remember how pissed off Rusty was after the race was over when he was talking to reporters about that bump and run. Gordon made Rusty face that same fate five years later. Only it was in the night race and it was only three laps or so from the finish. 3. Blaman posted: 07.21.2006 - 12:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Was this race televised on TBS or ESPN? 4. Steve posted: 08.01.2006 - 11:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It was on ESPN, as I have seen it on ESPN Classic. Rusty was going to win in his 400th start, until he was bumped out of the way. 5. Anonymous posted: 09.21.2006 - 8:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) After getting bumped by Gordon on the last lap, Rusty somehow held on to his car and finished side by side with Labonte, barely holding on to second. 6. FHgrad99 posted: 08.20.2007 - 10:41 pm Rate this comment: (2) (4) I'd say that Jeff Gordon used a cheap shot to win this race. Unfortunately, it wasn't the last time. 7. RaceFanX posted: 01.04.2008 - 5:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jack Sprague makes his only start of the 1997 season and "scores a hat trick." Sprague, subbing for the injured Ricky Craven, found himself involved in three seperate cautions over the course of the race. For comparsion, full-time drivers Mark Martin and David Green were only involved in three cautions during the entire 1997 season. 8. brad posted: 05.26.2008 - 11:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The 1997 Food City 500 was my first NASCAR race I went to. I hate to admit it but J. Gordon is one of my favorite drivers. Our seats in the DW grandstand an the bump'n'win happened right in front of us. Got to again to Food City 500 the next year an he won again. Then, finally got to go to the night race, it happened to be the 2002 Sharpie 500(first race since spring '98; an haven't been back since this race) in which the bump'n'win #2 took place an he won again. What's a little ironic is that between the '98 Food City 500 and the '02 Sharpie 500, Gordon had not won at Bristol and he hasn't won there since that '02 fall race. 9. Chaz posted: 07.10.2008 - 12:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A cheap shot, FHgrad99? Hardly, I'd say. He didn't spin Rusty out, that was a textbook move. Jeff just got up on Rusty's back bumper enough to make him loose and send him up the track. Jeff then slid by cleanly to take the checkered flag. If Gordon had floored through the turn and spun Rusty and possibly wrecked his teammate, that would have been different. 10. samfan09 posted: 01.12.2009 - 9:00 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I was a huge Rusty fan in his career, and I was pretty mad after this race. But looking back on it, you can't call this or the one in the 02 race a cheap shot. It was just Bristol. 11. Art D posted: 06.26.2009 - 9:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 22nd career win for J. Gordon 12. 18fan posted: 03.20.2010 - 10:56 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was a wreckfest because it was the first time Bristol ran with 43 cars. 13. Anonymous posted: 07.02.2010 - 5:35 am Rate this comment: (3) (6) Absolutely cheap and pathetic move by Gordon to win. Cheap win by a cheap driver. My 3rd and last Bristol race. I'll give Bristol credit for one thing. They cook the hamburgers with onions underneath the stands and by about lap 300 you can't help but want one. 14. Andre posted: 09.20.2010 - 3:16 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Cheap win? lol Any driver can wreck a guy to win (*cough* Bristol '99 *cough*), but it's an art form to just excuse yourself past a guy with a little wee nudge. ;) Rusty had been holding Jeff up for the last 20 laps or so, and just like anybody else with the desire to win would do (Rusty included), executed the pass beautifully. Dale did it a few times over the years and Jeff did it a few times - two of the best and hardest racers the sport has ever seen, the likes of which we'll never see again. 15. Kyle W. posted: 01.12.2011 - 11:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cracks me up the flack that Gordon gets for executing a bump and run. Like Andre said, it's not like he took Rusty out. What's Gordon supposed to do, sit back there and say I'm faster, but I'll just let Rusty have this one. Rusty showed his lack of respect for Gordon the next year at Richmond. 16. Sebastien posted: 03.10.2011 - 1:50 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) DW ran the Budweiser scheme in this race. 17. Josh C posted: 03.19.2011 - 11:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @ post #15: I am a Gordon fan, but when you have a driver that was known for bumping people around like gordon used to, i don't blame rusty one damn bit for parking jeff into the fence because i would have done the same thing. have you watched that race...can you remember what happened? look it up on youtube, jeff was knocking the hell out of him and doing very little in actually trying to *pass* him, i think he was just trying to wreck him honestly. that was being a little disrespectful imo. rusty had every right to plant him...anyone of us would have...whether you respected the guy or not. show some to get some. i hated jeremy mayfield anyway but when he bumped dale earnhardt out of the way at pocono in 2000 to win everything come around goes around...i saw dale bump mayfield before but i have also seen jeremy methlab, bump dale so...whatever. 18. Schroeder51 posted: 03.24.2011 - 5:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jimmy Spencer spun the lapped car of Geoff Bodine out going into turn 1 and he slid up the track into Steve Grissom, who was running in the top 10 whilst nursing injuries from his accident to Atlanta. Grissom crashed so hard he knocked a wheel off his car. 19. Sebastien posted: 03.25.2011 - 1:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dear admin, about my comment #16, it was the Budweiser scheme but it is still "Parts America" as a sponsor !!! DW ran a few scheme from his old cars that year (Gatorade/Mountain Dew/Budweiser on top of mind, but they were all sponsored by Parts America. 20. RaceFanX posted: 10.29.2011 - 10:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor change: #7 Geoff Bodine- QVC / LA West (he had a one-off sponsorship deal with the conversion van company) Yeah, DW ran all his old paint jobs (except any of his original "Terminal Trucking" ones) as well as an all-chrome car and his regular scheme in 1997 to celebrate his 25th year of racing in Cup. Here he ran his 1984-1986 Budweiser white-and-red colors to make his #17 somewhat resemble his old Junior Johnson championship car. He choose to run the Bud colors in this race because that was the car he had for his seventh win in a row at Bristol in the early 80s. D.W. also gave the command to fire engines at the start of this race while strapped in to the #17 Chevrolet. Rusty actually spun in practice for this race. 21. Anonymous posted: 12.31.2011 - 12:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think this was the race that Spencer "invited" Bodine to come to his car hauler after the race and have a chat with him. 22. 18fan posted: 01.07.2012 - 11:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bodine was extremely upset about the contact with Spencer in his interview with ESPN. 23. RaceFanX posted: 06.13.2012 - 11:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Chad Little finished 8th in this race to score his only top-10 of 1997 and his first in Cup since Talladega in the summer of 1992. Although he matched his best career finish in Cup to that time this probably wasn't the highlight of his week as his son Jesse was born two days later. (Jesse Little started racing in the NASCAR K&N East series in 2012) 24. Schroeder51 posted: 03.15.2013 - 5:08 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Ted Musgrave also crashed hard in this race...he was tapped from behind one lap after a restart, slid up the track and slammed the fourth turn wall, and actually climbed up the side of it and almost turned over. 25. sk posted: 04.04.2013 - 8:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Robert Pressley's best run in the Scooby car. 26. b4il3y posted: 11.07.2013 - 2:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lack of respect? Hey you bump me outta the way for a win, I bump you for the win. 27. Evan posted: 01.01.2014 - 9:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Comentators:Dr. Jerry Punch, Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons(I guess Bob Jenkins other commitments that week) -The ESPN cameras did not show Jeff Gordon taking the chaeckered flag, instead they showed the battle for 2nd place between Wallace and Terry Labonte, Terry took the position away from Rusty and I though Terry had won because the camera had panned to show the race for 2nd. They did show Jeff Gordon on his cool down lap and and a replay of his move on Rusty Wallace. The camera shot would have been perfect at a longer track like Atlanta where the cars are spread out but not at Bristol because everything happens so quickly, I guess ESPN knew Jeff was clear of Rusty so they wanted to show a battle for position. 28. Evan W. posted: 04.27.2014 - 8:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor: #17 Darrell Waltrip Parts America/25 Years/Retro 1985 Darrell Waltrip ran this car to promote 25 years of racing and his 1985 championship. 29. anonymous posted: 05.26.2014 - 8:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) you can see rusty's bumper cam on the replays! jeff didn't touch the 2, rusty just got loose. the 2 car got screwed by lapped traffic on the last lap. he lost a several car length lead on the final lap because he was held up. that put jeff in a good position on the last turn. 30. Evan posted: 12.19.2015 - 1:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jerry Punch was in the booth with Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons because Bob Jenkins was recovering from surgery on his back and did not make the trip, Bob mentioned this on the night race in August when Benny Parsons noted the suites and seats that were built. 31. RaceFanX posted: 04.15.2016 - 9:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rusty claims the pole and becomes the first driver other than Mark Martin since 1994 to lead the field to the green at Bristol. 32. Scott25 posted: 04.16.2017 - 10:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Grissom, Pressley and Little ran great all day in this race, sadly Steve didn't make it to the finish. 33. CJ posted: 04.19.2018 - 12:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Only Cup start of the year for Jack Sprague. Season best finish and only top 10 of the year for Chad Little. First start in the 95 for Ed Berrier and also his season best finish. 34. SweetRich posted: 07.18.2020 - 3:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) After scoring three top ten finishes in the first six races of the year, Geoff Bodine's 1997 fell apart beginning here with the first of six straight did not finishes, with the exception of the 600 in May as brother Todd drove the #7 car. Geoff's season got back on track in early June at Pocono, but by then, the damage was already done. 35. Rich posted: 08.04.2020 - 4:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators were Dr. Jerry Punch, Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons. The pit road reporters were John Kernan, Bill Weber and Ray Dunlap. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: