|| *Comments on the 1997 Save Mart Supermarkets 300:* View the most recent comment <#44> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. tquievryn posted: 01.02.2005 - 6:29 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) This race was a last of sorts. At the time Sonoma was the track with the lowest lap count (74) However, after the race, the track was refigured and the laps changed to 112. Also, it would be the last time 44 cars would be allowed at a NASCAR race (as of the end of 2004) Mark Martin, meanwhile, blew out the field leading all but 5 laps. 2. MASH_guy posted: 06.08.2005 - 2:16 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) After going winless in 1996, Mark Martin cleans house. Rusty Wallace took the lead from him early, but then overdrove the infamous turn 7 (which was done away with in the reconfiguration), never getting the lead back and later losing an engine. 3. Matthew Sullivan posted: 12.21.2005 - 3:12 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The car Jeff Davis was driving was not an actual Harry Melling entry. The Melling team with Lake Speed was unable to run the full schedule do to no sponsorship so Melling lent his owner status to Davis in case he needed a provisional to make the field. 4. Darrell posted: 12.21.2005 - 11:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't this the last Cup race with the orginal turns 4-7? 5. CanucksAndNASCAR Fan posted: 05.17.2006 - 7:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think this was D.W.'s last top 5 as a driver/owner. He didn't get his last top 5 until he filled in for Steve Park at DEI. 6. Steve posted: 05.23.2006 - 2:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes, Darrell, this was the last Cup race on the old configuration (2.52 miles). This was also West coast driver Sean Woodside's only Winston Cup start and Brett Bodine's only Top 10 at Sonoma. 7. most posted: 12.02.2006 - 7:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ironic, Butch Gilliland drove the #38 and now David is trying to become a star with the same number. 8. myself posted: 02.19.2007 - 4:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Butch & David's relationship???? 9. yourself posted: 02.23.2007 - 5:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) They are father and son!!!! 10. most posted: 10.22.2007 - 2:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) um, if you had a clue, sorry I didnt disclose they were father and son, I surely will go drive off a cliff for forgetting to note that! 11. Brock posted: 12.06.2007 - 9:33 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Mark Martin dominated the heck out of this race largely because there were no cautions for the first 42 laps, more than half the distance. Martin, who started on the pole, kept a healthy margin all day but did in the end get a pretty good fight from Jeff Gordon in the final laps. Darrell Waltrip ran an excellent race, climbing very patiently up to 5th despite somehow punching a large hole in the right side of his front valence late in the race. Ted Musgrave tried to stretch his fuel in the final run to the checkers and was running about 7th off the final turn when he ran out, coasting across the line in 11th. Robby Gordon lost his power steering entering the fastest part of the course at turn one and ran off-course, severely damaging the front valence of his car. Mike Skinner ran off course in turn three right after. An engine failure KO'd Robby a few laps later. For the fifth straight year, Wally Dallenbach had a legitimate shot at winning the Sonoma event, passing several cars in the early going. Dallenbach's part-time #46 team had just secured full-time backing the previous week. Mechanical problems cost him valuable time on pit road, but Dallenbach still earned a surprising 15th place finish. Ken Schrader blew a right-front tire when he made contact with Ernie Irvan in turn 11 just after passing the pit road entrance, forcing him to limp around the entire track at a snail's pace. This, too, did not bring out a caution. 12. Steve.M. posted: 04.25.2008 - 10:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This version of Sonoma rocked why they wanted to change it is beyond me 13. Ricky Craven posted: 07.05.2008 - 12:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) SONOMA 14. Josh posted: 07.28.2008 - 6:22 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Mark Martin's last road course win to date. What a run for Brett Bodine. WOO HOO!!! Last race at Sonoma with over 43 cars. 15. Aaron Camp posted: 05.01.2009 - 8:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) This race was run on a Monday for an unknown reason. 16. Pacer posted: 10.18.2009 - 5:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm almost certain this was a normal Sunday race 17. James-O-Matic posted: 11.05.2009 - 6:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) i was at this race. mark martin dominated. great win. 18. John posted: 11.30.2010 - 6:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ERROR FIX: Add #16w Bill McAnally to the list of DNQ's 19. Andre posted: 07.05.2011 - 8:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) It was definitely on a Sunday. I was at a friend's place working on a school project while it was on, and we ended up just playing video games. If it was on a Monday (which I am 100% sure it wasn't), then we were badass 8th graders skipping school. lol 20. RaceFanX posted: 03.27.2012 - 1:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dave Marcis finishes 25th in his final road course start, he continued to attempt them after this until 1999 but DNQed for all of them. His best road course finishes were several fourth-place runs at the now defunct Riverside. 21. adamal82 posted: 04.22.2014 - 9:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Race was definitely Sunday I remember having friends over to watch for my 15th Birthday 22. 23andJoe posted: 06.17.2014 - 11:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #00W owner: Geoff Burney 23. Big Mac Fan posted: 10.19.2015 - 8:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The last race with more than 43 cars, in this case with 44. The only times since 1998, when 43 cars were mandated, that they had less was the 2001 New Hampshire finale and the 2014 Kentucky race. 24. psugorilla posted: 12.03.2015 - 12:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) There was an additional DNQ not listed here. Rick Scribner in a #15W attempted to make the field in a Chevy Lumina. I do have a photo of the car from the "parade" 25. RaceFanX posted: 05.07.2016 - 8:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale Jarrett's fourth-place run was his best at Sonoma and would be his best road course finish overall. 26. Maverick11 posted: 05.11.2016 - 8:00 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Final Sonoma race held in early May, in 1998 the race was moved to late June. 27. RaceFanX posted: 05.11.2016 - 9:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This indeed turned out to be Mark Martin's fourth and final road course win. It was his only Cup win at Sonoma. 28. RaceFanX posted: 02.09.2017 - 3:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gary Bradberry makes his only road course start in the Cup series. A mechanical problem knocked out the cash-strapped Tri-Star team's white #19 Ford and only the larger than normal field saved their 43rd-place effort from being a last-place finish. 29. Bramblegrunt posted: 04.19.2017 - 3:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tom Hubert, part of the 30 Bahari team (Tire changer according to the ESPN broadcast) makes his Cup debut in the 78 Diamond Rio Ford Also according to the broadcast stated in the starting lineup by Ned Jarrett, Ken Peterson, a name I am unfamiliar with, qualified the 19 and Gary Bradberry stepped in to start the race. Greg Sacks skipped this race after suffering a broken foot in an unrelated test elsewhere and defending Pro Series West title winner Lance Hooper steps into the Harry Renier ride in its penultimate race. As stated, Mark Martin dominated this race, he REALLY wanted it after he was right on pace to win it in 1996 only to get that taken right from him in the closing laps by Dale Earnhardt. Rusty Wallace appeared to be the only real contender to him but after he lost a cylinder and then the entire engine, he fell by the wayside. Darrell Waltrip had a massively impressive top 5 and Brett Bodine would also have his best finish of the season taking home 6th in what would be a very trying year for his career after Close Call Phone Card payments started falling through. 30. Jolly Mean Giant posted: 04.19.2017 - 6:48 pm Rate this comment: (4) (1) "Also according to the broadcast stated in the starting lineup by Ned Jarrett, Ken Peterson, a name I am unfamiliar with, qualified the 19 and Gary Bradberry stepped in to start the race." That would have to be Ken Pedersen, who did make at least 1 Cup Series start here a couple years before. He was an occasional competitor in the Winston West Series and Southwest Series around this time. 31. RaceFanX posted: 05.07.2017 - 4:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brett Bodine's sixth-place run was his best finish during his post-1996 stint as an owner-driver. 32. Jahn1234567890 posted: 11.30.2017 - 9:14 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) @20 Dave Marcis his best road course finish was a third at The Glen in 1987. 33. Josh posted: 12.13.2017 - 12:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Darrell Waltrip's final Top 5 as an owner/driver of his own #17 team. 34. RaceFanX posted: 02.17.2018 - 9:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race was originally supposed to be the tenth race of the 1997 season but became the ninth when Talladega was rained out and delayed two weeks. One race after starting on the front row and leading a good chunk of laps at Martinsville Joe Nemechek ends up a shock DNQ. This was actually the second straight DNQ for the BellSouth squad since they also missed the field for the rained out Talladega race...although Nemechek would get to run that race in teammate Robby Gordon's car when Indy 500 time trials prevented Gordon from being present on the makeup date. 35. Jay posted: 02.17.2018 - 10:04 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Terry got credited for leading a lap due to NASCAR error. During the caution Terry was first out of pit road but NASCAR decided that Martin won the race off pit road and Labonte second. Later after they realized their mistake they gave Terry 5 points and credited him with leading lap 44. 36. CJ posted: 04.19.2018 - 12:18 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Season best finish for Darrell Waltrip and also his only top 5 of the year. Season best for Brett Bodine. Michael Waltrip equals his season best finish. Only start of the year for Tom Hubert, Sean Woodside, Jeff Davis, Butch Gilliland, and Larry Gunselman 37. joey2448 posted: 06.21.2018 - 4:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last race until Aug. 2000 that a driver not named Jeff Gordon won a Cup road course race. Gordon won six straight road races, starting from Watkins Glen 1997 until Sonoma 2000. Steve Park's win at the Glen snapped Jeff's remarkable streak. 38. Evan posted: 12.09.2018 - 2:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Update Last place finisher #7 Geoffrey Bodine-Dawn Gillis/QVC Ford QVC ran a sweepstakes that a lucky fan would get their name and picture on the hood of Geoffrey Bodine's car that would run at Sears Point. Dawn Gillis from Mississippi would win the sweepstakes. Unfortunately, Geoffrey would finish last in the 44-car field. 39. Altracing posted: 06.17.2019 - 5:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Will this track configuration be used this weekend at Sonoma? 40. Canadianfan posted: 06.17.2019 - 6:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @39 Not quite since it doesn't exist anymore. Turn 7 is much different now. 41. Corey posted: 06.17.2019 - 7:04 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) @40 I think that configuration still exist for the most part, they just added so many more options so they kind of blend in know. Gaurenteed it won't be the same configuration as the entire start/finish stretch is different. For 1997, they were going all the way onto the drag strip. 42. RaceFanX posted: 06.22.2019 - 8:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DW's fifth place finish here qould be his best at Sonoma. While he won five times at Riverside he only had two top-10s at Sears Point. The next Cup race with the Carousel in 2019 was his last as a FOX announcer. 43. acerogers58 posted: 07.07.2020 - 7:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Interesting quote by Jeff Davis, who drove the 9 car in this race via Facebook "That was the year Melling Racing couldn't afford the trip out to Sears so they entered me and sent me some #9 car decals and Melling for the rear quarters. That sure raised a stink since that gave me their owner's points provisional start. NASCAR made a new rule immediately that nobody could do that again that could be used if necessary for a provisional start at the tail end of the field." 44. Rich posted: 08.04.2020 - 4:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators were Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons. The pit road reporters were Dr. Jerry Punch and Bill Weber. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: