Race No. 17
The California 500
Presented by Toyota
The California Speedway — Fontana, California
September 26-28, 1997
The Grid
| pos | car | driver | laptime | mph | km/h | % best time |
| 1 | 17 | Mauricio Gugelmin | 30.316 | 240.942 | 387.676 | 100.00% |
| 2 | 1 | Jimmy Vasser | 30.534 | 239.222 | 384.908 | 100.72% |
| 3 | 8 | Bryan Herta | 30.705 | 237.890 | 382.764 | 101.28% |
| 4 | 20 | Scott Pruett | 30.845 | 236.810 | 381.027 | 101.74% |
| 5 | 19 | Michel Jourdain Jr. | 30.872 | 236.603 | 380.694 | 101.83% |
| 6 | 99 | Greg Moore | 30.912 | 236.297 | 380.201 | 101.97% |
| 7 | 6 | Michael Andretti | 30.913 | 236.289 | 380.189 | 101.97% |
| 8 | 18 | Mark Blundell | 30.942 | 236.067 | 379.833 | 102.06% |
| 9 | 40 | Raul Boesel | 30.971 | 235.846 | 379.477 | 102.16% |
| 10 | 7 | Bobby Rahal | 30.975 | 235.816 | 379.428 | 102.17% |
| 11 | 31 | Andre Ribeiro | 30.988 | 235.717 | 379.269 | 102.22% |
| 12 | 5 | Gil de Ferran | 31.035 | 235.360 | 378.694 | 102.37% |
| 13 | 9 | Robbie Gordon | 31.078 | 235.034 | 378.170 | 102.51% |
| 14 | 32 | Adrian Fernandez | 31.125 | 234.680 | 377.599 | 102.67% |
| 15 | 27 | Parker Johnstone | 31.184 | 234.236 | 376.885 | 102.86% |
| 16 | 11 | Christian Fittipaldi | 31.205 | 234.078 | 376.631 | 102.93% |
| 17 | 34 | Dennis Vitolo | 31.484 | 232.004 | 373.294 | 103.85% |
| 18 | 36 | Juan Manuel Fangio II | 31.585 | 231.262 | 372.100 | 104.19% |
| 19 | 3 | Paul Tracy | 31.703 | 230.401 | 370.715 | 104.58% |
| 20 | 2 | Al Unser Jr. | 31.761 | 229.980 | 370.038 | 104.77% |
| 21 | 98 | PJ Jones | 31.995 | 228.298 | 367.332 | 105.54% |
| 22 | 21 | Richie Hearn | 32.484 | 224.861 | 361.802 | 107.15% |
| 23 | 24 | Hiro Matsushita | 33.011 | 221.272 | 356.026 | 108.89% |
| 24 | 64 | Arnd Meier | 33.593 | 217.438 | 349.858 | 110.81% |
| 25 | 25 | Max Papis | no time | no speed | no speed | |
| 26 | 77 | Gualter Salles | no time | no speed | no speed | |
| 27 | 44 | Arie Lyendyk | no time | no speed | no speed |