Indy Racing League 199(6)-97 Recap
The 1996-1997 Indy Racing League season was a result of the league
abandoning the concept of ending each season with the Indianapolis 500.
Following the races at Loudon and Las Vegas, on October 9, 1996, the
Indy Racing League announced that the league would revert to a calendar-based
schedule for 1998. The 1996-97 season was originally scheduled to begin
at Loudon in August 1996 and end with the Indianapolis 500 in May 1997.
To prevent awarding two championships in less than six months, the last
two races in 1996 were added to a complete 1997 season to create a single
championship awarded in October 1997.
The two remaining races in 1996 were contested with the same outdated
equipment as the 1996 season. All races that took place in 1997, starting
with the race at Walt Disney World Speedway, were contested with all
new purpose-built oval chassis from G-Force and Dallara with stock block
naturally aspirated 4.0 liter V8's from Oldsmobile and Infiniti. Only
seven drivers competed in all ten races of this seventeen month long
marathon schedule.
199(6)-7 Indy Racing League Race Results
Date |
Race |
Track |
Miles |
Type |
Winner |
8/18/96 |
|
Loudon |
200 |
PO |
Scott
Sharp |
9/15/96 |
|
Las
Vegas |
300 |
PO |
Richie
Hearn |
1/25/97 |
|
Orlando |
149 |
PO |
Eddie
Cheever |
3/23/97 |
|
Phoenix |
200 |
PO |
Jim
Guthrie |
5/25/97 |
|
Indianapolis |
500 |
PO |
Arie
Luyendyk |
6/7/97 |
|
Ft.
Worth |
312 |
PO |
Arie
Luyendyk |
6/29/97 |
|
PPIR |
200 |
PO |
Tony
Stewart |
7/26/97 |
|
Charlotte |
312 |
PO |
Buddy
Lazier |
8/17/97 |
|
Loudon |
200 |
PO |
Robbie
Buhl |
10/11/97 |
|
Las
Vegas |
312 |
PO |
Eliseo
Salazar |
199(6)-7 Indy Racing League Driver Points
Rank |
Driver |
Points |
Behind |
Starts |
Poles |
Wins |
Top 5 |
Top 10 |
Winnings |
1 |
Tony Stewart |
278 |
Leader |
10 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
6 |
$1,142,450 |
2 |
Davey Hamilton |
272 |
-6 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
7 |
$816,950 |
3 |
Eddie Cheever Jr. |
230 |
-48 |
10 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
$725,400 |
4 |
Marco Greco |
230 |
-48 |
10 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
$554,850 |
5 |
Scott Goodyear |
226 |
-52 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
6 |
$953,350 |
6 |
Arie Luyendyk |
223 |
-55 |
10 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
$2,079,150 |
7 |
Roberto Guerrero |
221 |
-57 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
$601,000 |
8 |
Buddy Lazier |
209 |
-69 |
10 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
$736,550 |
9 |
Eliseo Salazar |
208 |
-70 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
6 |
$586,650 |
10 |
Buzz Calkins |
204 |
-74 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
$599,750 |
11 |
Stephan Gregoire |
192 |
-86 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
5 |
$410,550 |
12 |
Jim Guthrie |
186 |
-92 |
9 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
$627,200 |
13 |
Robbie Buhl |
170 |
-108 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
$528,400 |
14 |
Mike Groff |
169 |
-109 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
$562,850 |
15 |
John Paul Jr. |
163 |
-115 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
$346,850 |
16 |
Affonso Giaffone |
159 |
-119 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
$397,500 |
17 |
Mark Dimore |
158 |
-120 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
$433,300 |
18 |
Billy Boat |
151 |
-127 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
$604,150 |
19 |
Kenny Brack |
139 |
-139 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
$419,200 |
20 |
Robbie Groff |
135 |
-143 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
$441,450 |
21 |
Vincenzo Sospiri |
134 |
-144 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
$432,100 |
22 |
Scott Sharp |
119 |
-159 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
$324,150 |
23 |
Dr. Jack Miller |
114 |
-164 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$439,100 |
24 |
Johnny Unser |
107 |
-171 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
$318,150 |
25 |
Tyce Carlson |
84 |
-194 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$315,050 |
26 |
Fermin Velez |
82 |
-196 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
$345,150 |
27 |
Jimmy Kite |
76 |
-202 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
$155,000 |
28 |
Sam Schmidt |
76 |
-202 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
$224,700 |
29 |
Greg Ray |
73 |
-205 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
$238,300 |
30 |
Jeff Ward |
69 |
-209 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
$449,150 |
31 |
Stan Wattles |
63 |
-215 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
$92,000 |
32 |
Michele Alboreto |
62 |
-216 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
$137,250 |
33 |
Richie Hearn |
59 |
-219 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
$181,000 |
34 |
Billy Roe |
55 |
-223 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$185,700 |
35 |
Jeret Schroeder |
37 |
-241 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$81,500 |
36 |
Michel Jourdain Jr. |
33 |
-245 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
$95,250 |
37 |
Robby Gordon |
27 |
-251 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$156,500 |
38 |
Brad Murphey |
25 |
-253 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$47,000 |
39 |
Alessandro Zampedri |
24 |
-254 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$167,150 |
40 |
Paul Durant |
23 |
-255 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$209,000 |
41 |
Johnny OConnell |
23 |
-255 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$22,000 |
42 |
Lyn St. James |
22 |
-256 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$188,000 |
43 |
Danny Ongais |
22 |
-256 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$24,500 |
44 |
Steve Kinser |
21 |
-257 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$193,250 |
45 |
Dennis Vitolo |
20 |
-258 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$200,000 |
46 |
Mike Shank |
19 |
-259 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$13,000 |
47 |
Dave Kudrave |
18 |
-260 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$14,000 |
48 |
Juan Carlos Carbonell |
16 |
-262 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$34,000 |
49 |
Joe Gosek |
14 |
-264 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$10,000 |
50 |
Allen May |
13 |
-265 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$13,700 |
51 |
Johnny Parsons |
7 |
-271 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$10,000 |
52 |
Claude Bourbonnais |
5 |
-273 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
$152,250 |
|
