The 1997 Pocono 500 was the 13th stock car race of the 1997 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 16th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, June 8, 1997, in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, at Pocono Raceway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) triangular permanent course. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. At race's end, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would manage to dominate the late stages of the race, taking advantage of a mechanical failure from leader Ward Burton to take his 25th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his sixth victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Roush Racing driver Jeff Burton and Robert Yates Racing driver Dale Jarrett would finish second and third, respectively.