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As this year's championship battle between Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards draws to an epic conclusion,
the crisp, cool November air has begun to envelope across America's fastest speedways. This time of the year is the kind
that can produce feelings of nostalgia with some of the finest title races in stock car history.
For the last 8 years, the Sprint Cup championship hasn't been decided until the last race of the year – but that comes with
a caveat. Specifically, the Chase for the Cup format essentially makes the last 10 races of the season highly magnified
and "cheapens" the closeness of the top racers' intervals prior to and during the Chase.
The most recent and authentically close battle royale for the Cup was in 1997.
It was a year in which manufacturer politicking was at its zenith, with the Chevrolet camp, mainly by way of the #24 team's
strength and drive by Jeff Gordon, played David to the Goliaths of the sport, which were the Robert Yates and Jack Roush
Ford teams.
Gordon, who was a young gun at age 26, was racking up numbers that were unbelievable at the time (and even now), winning
races at opportune times – especially the big money ones like Daytona, Charlotte, and Darlington.
His two rivals, Dale Jarrett and Mark Martin, were cagey veterans who wanted nothing more but to hoist that trophy.
Both had compiled stellar results all season long, enough to at least stick around to the finish in case the #24 Chevy ran
out of fumes down the stretch.
A combination of factors led to the 1997 battle going from an undisputed contest in September to a harbinger in November.
Gordon's performances fell from dominant to average (to his standards), as he fell prey to his usual October and November
struggles. While nothing like his struggles in his first four seasons of Cup, his performances were often mirrored or
bettered by Martin and Jarrett.
In addition, Martin and Jarrett had consistent performances all season long as compared to Gordon's, where he would either
win or place in the top-five or just drop out of the top-20 in the finishing order. Call it go for broke or missed
opportunities, but it didn’t hurt the Nos. 6 and 88 teams whenever that DuPont Monte Carlo ran into trouble during the
races.
Additionally, the weekend of the season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway played a pivotal role in adding to the dramatics
of the 1997 title chase. From Gordon's snafu on pit road, when he wrecked his fast primary car into Bobby Hamilton's STP
Pontiac prior to qualifying to his subpar starting position, Jarrett and Martin could suddenly sense that title getting
closer to them. Crew chief Ray Evernham essentially knew the victory was all but gone for his driver and team, so they
played a very conservative strategy to just clinch that year's title.
Instead of going for the win, they made it respectable in spite of all their bad luck.
Jarrett and Martin did all they could to win it all, placing in the top-10, leading laps, and doing their part to steal the
Cup away from the Rainbow Warriors. But it was all for naught, as Gordon masterfully stuck to Evernham's game plan that
Sunday afternoon, crossing the line in 17th position, just enough to win the Cup by 14 markers over Jarrett and just 29
points over Martin.
The 1997 battle was the closest 1-2-3 title race in the history of the sport until the 2004 season,
when the Chase format was implemented into the Cup series. If there was ever a time in which the series saw a
more determined and hard fought championship saga that didn't need points adjustments or gimmicks, it was the 1997
season – one that truly lives on to this day, even if it’s in the record books.
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