1997 TranSouth Financial 400

Race details
Race 5 of 32 in the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1997 TranSouth Financial 400 program cover, featuring Darrell Waltrip.
Date	March 23, 1997
Official name	41st Annual TranSouth Financial 400
Location	Darlington, South Carolina, Darlington Raceway
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.366 mi (2.198 km)
Distance	293 laps, 400.238 mi (644.12 km)
Scheduled Distance	293 laps, 400.238 mi (644.12 km)
Average speed	121.162 miles per hour (194.991 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing
Time	28.742
Most laps led
Driver	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing
Laps	171
Winner
No. 88	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1997 TranSouth Financial 400 was the fifth stock car race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 41st iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 23, 1997, in Darlington, South Carolina, at Darlington Raceway, a 1.366 miles (2.198 km) permanent egg-shaped oval racetrack. The race took the scheduled 293 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Robert Yates Racing driver Dale Jarrett would fiercely defend his lead against Roush Racing driver Ted Musgrave to take his tenth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his second victory of the season, and his second consecutive victory.^[1][2] To fill out the top three, Musgrave and Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would finish second and third, respectively.

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

*Replaced by Phil Parsons in order for Joe Nemechek to mourn his brother John Nemechek, who had died in a racing accident.^[3]

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 21, at 3:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, March 22, at 11:30 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time.^[4] Positions 26-38 would be decided on time, while positions 39-43 would be based on provisionals. Four spots are awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The fifth is awarded to a past champion who has not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champion needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points will be awarded a provisional.

Dale Jarrett, driving for Robert Yates Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 28.742 and an average speed of 171.095 miles per hour (275.351 km/h).^[5]

Three drivers would fail to qualify: Dick Trickle, Billy Standridge, and Steve Grissom.

*Time not available.