The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline is an IndyCar Series race held at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, United States. The event was first held as a CART series race from 1997 to 2000, initially on Memorial Day weekend. From 2001 to 2003, it was held as an Indy Racing League (IRL) event. After a hiatus of over a decade, the race returned in 2017 as part of the unified IndyCar Series.

The 81st Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana over three days, May 25–27, 1997. It was originally scheduled for Sunday May 25, however, rain washed out all activities for the day. The race was started on Monday May 26, but rain halted the race after only 15 laps had been completed. On Tuesday May 27, the race was resumed, and was run to completion. The rain delay, as well as two controversies, put a damper on the month. Arie Luyendyk won the race from the pole position, his second Indy victory. Treadway Racing, in only their second season of competition, finished 1st-2nd with Luyendyk and teammate Scott Goodyear. The team became the first to sweep the top two finishing position at Indianapolis since Leader Cards in 1962.