|| *Comments on the 1997 CMT 300:* View the most recent comment <#24> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Darrell posted: 03.19.2006 - 4:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Steve Grissom's career best finish. 2. CanucksAndNASCAR Fan posted: 05.17.2006 - 8:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And the first time there was a second date at New Hampshire on the schedule. 3. Potato posted: 10.22.2006 - 7:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Grissom also had a fourth on the first Loudon race. 4. most posted: 12.17.2006 - 9:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Burton was relieved by Todd Bodine, Burton had an inner ear problem. I am watching the tape right now.... 5. Destiny posted: 08.27.2007 - 8:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Steve Grissom had the 4th place finish two times at Loudon in 1997. 6. Anonymous posted: 09.13.2008 - 4:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Geoffrey Bodine astonishngly crashed 4 times in this race and still came home in 16th on the lead lap. Terry Labonte had a very hard crash with Sterling Marlin on lap 263 when he wheelhopped over Sterling's car and then hit the outside wall nearly head-on, setting the car on fire. 7. Art D posted: 06.26.2009 - 9:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 29th career win for J. Gordon 8. Andre posted: 09.21.2010 - 10:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was the second race of the season that I was able to attend. Great racing near the end, Geoffrey Bodine getting involved in almost every caution of the day, and getting our car rear-ended by a drunk driver coming out of post-race traffic... Indeed, days don't get much more memorable than this. lol 9. Clayton posted: 01.15.2011 - 8:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ricky Craven was having a whale of a run until guess who Michael Waltrip slammed into his left front under a caution when the moron was trying to clean his tires! 10. jwdog posted: 06.25.2011 - 11:12 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) How Michael Waltrip managed to keep a ride and sponsorship over the years makes him a genius. 11. RaceFanX posted: 08.29.2011 - 5:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bill Elliott's #94 was sponsored in this race by McDonald's Mac Tonight. 12. Evan posted: 01.01.2014 - 10:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale Jarrett's car used in this race was an old short track car used by the late Davey Allison in his final NASCAR start at New Hampshire before Davey was killed in a helicopter crash a week later. 13. RaceFanX posted: 03.18.2016 - 10:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hut Stricklin records his only top-10 of the 1997 season with a 10th place run. It was a rough year for Stavola Brothers' #8 Ford with this as a very rare highlight. 14. RaceFanX posted: 03.18.2016 - 10:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Robert Pressley returns to the Cup series for the first time since Talladega in the spring, after which point Diamond Ridge released him, to take over Doug Bawel's #77 Jasper Ford. Presley had started racing Tad Geschickter's #47 Sunoco Busch Series entry during the interim and finished out the season running for both teams in both series. Robert's first run in the #77 was a misfire, he started 42nd and finished 43rd after a wreck, but it proved to be a winning combination in the long term as he remained with the team through the end of the 2001 season. Pressley replaced Morgan Shepherd in the Jasper entry, freeing Shepherd up to return to Richard Jackson's #1 Pontiac he started the season with after Lance Hooper was released following his DNQ here. Bawel's team went through three drivers in 1997 after having started the season with Bobby Hillin, Jr. 15. We need more Onion posted: 07.05.2016 - 10:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The #79 should be listed as a WD, given that he did not start the 1st round of qualifying and was not present for the 2nd. 16. Anthony posted: 12.15.2016 - 4:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If anyone wants to watch a race that shows the contrast between this era and 2016, watch this one. Several incidents where cars spun in front of the field didn't bring out the caution, not a single caution for debris, a good crowd, etc. etc. 17. most1305 posted: 05.03.2017 - 1:04 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) This was Gordo's 10th win of the season and last, I remember most feeling like he would win 12-14 total that year but was held to 10 win seasons in 96 and 97 before getting 13 in 98. 18. HD11 posted: 01.23.2018 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Late in the race TNN had a neat story about a young 18-year-old crew member for Jeff Gordon from Nee England named Steve Letarte who would obviously become a big name in the sport. Letarte's Dad worked with the chassis dept with Robert Yates Racing and when Dale Jarrett won at Bristol Steve found a victory lane hat from Dad on his pillow. When Gordon won the Winston Million, Dad found a Gordon million dollar bill on his pillow. No word on what Steve did next but no doubt he returned the favor again. This race went from a two caution only beginning to a final 100 lap demolition derby. Had the race gone green longer it appeared Ernie could've gotten Jeff but we will never know. 19. CJ posted: 04.23.2018 - 11:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Steve Grissom matches his season and career best finish. It would be the final Cup Series Top 5 for both he and the 41 team. First start in the 77 for Robert Pressley. Hut Stricklin gets his season best finish and only Top 10 of the year. It would be his final Top 10 with the 8 team. 20. Andrew S posted: 06.11.2018 - 11:04 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) I actually have the left front fender from Brett Bodine's #11 Close Call Thunderbird. my grandfather was in the pits and it was handed to him. 21. Josh posted: 08.01.2018 - 10:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rusty Wallace crashed on the frontstretch after the leaders had taken the white flag. There was no caution for it and the race finished under green. Rusty moved his car out of the way before the leaders came back around to take the checkered, but evidently couldn't or didn't complete all 300 laps. It would not have made a difference in his finishing position had he completed all 300 laps anyway. 22. SK posted: 09.14.2018 - 12:29 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Crew Chief for Robert Pressley #77: Steve Plattenberger (per a Jayski item; he brought his BGN crew chief over for what at the time was his only confirmed race in the 77 car. He would be named the full-time driver a couple of weeks later.) 23. Darrell posted: 10.28.2018 - 2:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Driver change: Todd Bodine practice and qualified (1st round) Jeff Burton's Ford as Burton was suffering from an inner ear infection. 24. Rich posted: 08.04.2020 - 7:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators were Eli Gold, Buddy Baker and Dr. Dick Berggren. The pit road reporters were Steve Byrnes, Glenn Jarrett and Matt Yocum. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: