The 1997 Hanes 500 was the 27th stock car race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 49th iteration of the event. The race was originally scheduled to held on Sunday, September 28, 1997, but was postponed until Monday, September 29 due to inclement weather. The race took place in Ridgeway, Virginia at Martinsville Speedway, a 0.526 miles (0.847 km) permanent oval-shaped short track. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. In the late stages of the race, Roush Racing driver Jeff Burton would manage to take advantage of a penalty-stricken Rusty Wallace to take his third career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third and final victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt and Petty Enterprises driver Bobby Hamilton w