North Carolina Speedway was opened as a flat, one-mile oval on October 31, 1965. In 1969, the track was extensively reconfigured to a high-banked, D-shaped oval just over one mile in length. In 1997, North Carolina Motor Speedway merged with Penske Motorsports, and was renamed North Carolina Speedway. Shortly thereafter, the infield was reconfigured, and competition on the infield road course, mostly by the SCCA, was discontinued. Currently, the track is home to the Fast Track High Performance Driving School.[4]
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, October 24, at 2:00 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, October 25, at 9:45 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time.[5] Positions 26-38 would be decided on time, and depending on who needed it, the 39th thru either the 42nd, 43rd, or 44th position 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 field would be limited to 42 cars. If a champion needed it, the field would expand to 43 cars. If the race was a companion race with the NASCAR Winston West Series, four spots would be determined by NASCAR Winston Cup Series provisionals, while the final two spots would be given to teams in the Winston West Series, leaving the field at 44 cars.
Bobby Labonte, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 23.365 and an average speed of 156.696 miles per hour (252.178 km/h).[6]
^Poole, David (October 27, 1997). "Rain pushes AC Delco 400 to today". The Charlotte Observer. p. 15. Retrieved October 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^Poole, David (October 27, 1997). "Hamilton uses late burst to cash in at Rockingham". That's Racin'. The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on November 18, 2000. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
^Harris, Mike (October 28, 1997). "Bobby Hamilton wins race and a bet". Tallahassee Democrat. p. 30. Retrieved October 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^"Fast Track High Performance Driving School, Inc". Fasttrackracing.com. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
^"AC Delco 400". The State. October 24, 1997. p. 36. Retrieved October 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^Hembree, Mike (October 25, 1997). "Bobby Labonte claims pole". The Daily News Leader. p. 13. Retrieved October 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.