1995 Brickyard 400

1995 Brickyard 400
Race details
Race 19 of 31 in the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1995 Brickyard 400 program cover
1995 Brickyard 400 program cover
Date August 5, 1995 (1995-08-05)
Location Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, Indiana
Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4.0 km)
Distance 160 laps, 400 mi (643 km)
Weather Warm with temperatures approaching 79 °F (26 °C); wind speeds up to 14 miles per hour (23 km/h)
Average speed 155.206 miles per hour (249.780 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Hendrick Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver Bill Elliott Elliott-Hardy Racing
Laps 47
Winner
No. 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing
Television in the United States
Network ESPN
Announcers Bob Jenkins
Benny Parsons

The 1995 Brickyard 400, the 2nd running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on August 5, 1995. It was the 19th race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The race, contested over 160 laps, was won by Dale Earnhardt driving for Richard Childress. Rusty Wallace driving for Roger Penske finished second and Dale Jarrett driving for Robert Yates finished third.

The popular event returned for a second year, after the tremendous success of the first running. The weekend was expanded by the addition of practice on Wednesday afternoon.

Report

Background

Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Daytona International Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a four-turn rectangular-oval track that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked at 9 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, has no banking. The back stretch, opposite of the front, also has none. The racetrack has seats for 250,000 spectators.

Before the race, Jeff Gordon led the Drivers' Championship with 2,705 points, with Sterling Marlin in second and Dale Earnhardt in third. Mark Martin and Ted Musgrave filled the next two positions, with Morgan Shepherd, Rusty Wallace, Michael Waltrip, Terry Labonte and Bill Elliott rounded out the top ten. Gordon was the race's defending champion.

Pole qualifying

Defending champion Gordon won the pole position on Thursday August 3 with a track record speed of 172.536 mph. A hot day saw most speeds down, and Gordon was the only driver to break the existing track record. Bobby Hamilton put the fans on their feet when he put the popular Petty #43 Pontiac car on the outside of the front row with a run of 172.222 mph.

Second round qualifying

On Friday August 4, the remnants of Hurricane Erin overtook the midwest, and rain settled in for two days. Friday morning practice was lost, and second round qualifying was also rained out. As a result, all cars reverted to their time trials speed from the first round, and the field was filled accordingly. Without a chance in second round qualifying, A. J. Foyt notably failed to qualify, the first time he failed to qualify in a race he attempted at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 1958. The field managed a brief "happy hour" practice late Friday evening, and rain began to fall again.

Race

Dale Earnhardt's 1995 Brickyard 400-winning No. 3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet Monte Carlo

On Saturday August 5, steady rain fell all morning, and threatened to wash out the day. The forecast was marginal for Sunday as well, threatening to wash out the whole weekend. Many fans left the grounds as local media speculated (and some erroneously reported) that the race would be postponed. In an unexpected turn of events, at approximately 3:30 p.m. EST (4:30 p.m. EDT), the skies suddenly cleared, and track drying efforts began in earnest. The teams scrambled to get their cars prepared, and the field hastily lined up in the garage area. The Chevrolet C/K pace truck led them on to the track and the race began with many fans still scurrying to their seats. Many of the pit crews were also scrambling to get their equipment set up in the pit area. Some fans driving home on the interstate reportedly turned around and drove back to the track when the radio reported the race was starting.

The green flag dropped at 4:25 p.m. EST (5:25 p.m. EDT) with live coverage only on the radio. ABC-TV had already signed off and by then had decided to air the race on ESPN on tape delay on Sunday afternoon. It stands as one of the last NASCAR races not aired live on television (the 1996 DieHard 500 at Talladega, a CBS race, had its broadcast delayed a week, airing after the Brickyard 400, and the 2000 second-tier series Coca-Cola 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, also a CBS race, had its broadcast cancelled, a ploy by MTV Networks). ABC's decision prompted angry phone calls from their affiliate TV stations in North Carolina.

Because of the rain earlier in the day, the starting grid was assembled in the garage area rather than along pit lane or frontstretch as normal. After the command to start engines, the field emerged from behind the pit road grandstands near turn one to begin their pace laps. While this was the only time such a situation occurred, it nevertheless provided for an impromptu, yet dramatic entrance of the cars onto the race track.

Dale Earnhardt beat Rusty Wallace to the finish line, in a race slowed by only one caution for four laps. Jeff Burton spun off turn two right in front of eventual winner Earnhardt with 27 laps to go. The race was completed at 7:03 p.m. EST (8:03 p.m. EDT), shortly before sunset. It was the latest cars had ever raced at Indianapolis until the 2017 Brickyard 400, which ended at 8:57 p.m. EDT (Indiana had begun daylight saving time observation by the time).

Race results

Pos SP No. Driver Manufacturer Entrant Laps Status
1 13 3 Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing 160 Running
2 24 2 Rusty Wallace Ford Penske Racing 160 Running
3 26 28 Dale Jarrett Ford Robert Yates Racing 160 Running
4 4 94 Bill Elliott Ford Elliott-Hardy Racing 160 Running
5 14 6 Mark Martin Ford Roush Racing 160 Running
6 1 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 160 Running
7 3 4 Sterling Marlin Chevrolet Morgan-McClure Motorsports 160 Running
8 9 1 Rick Mast Ford Richard Jackson 160 Running
9 5 18 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Joe Gibbs Racing 160 Running
10 33 21 Morgan Shepherd Ford Wood Brothers Racing 160 Running
11 2 43 Bobby Hamilton Pontiac Petty Enterprises 160 Running
12 23 37 John Andretti Ford Kranefuss-Haas Racing 160 Running
13 15 5 Terry Labonte Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 160 Running
14 7 30 Michael Waltrip Pontiac Bahari Racing 160 Running
15 25 7 Geoffrey Bodine Ford Geoff Bodine Racing 160 Running
16 19 16 Ted Musgrave Ford Roush Racing 160 Running
17 20 17 Darrell Waltrip Chevrolet DarWal Inc. 160 Running
18 11 15 Dick Trickle Ford Bud Moore Engineering 160 Running
19 10 25 Ken Schrader Chevrolet Hendrick Motorsports 160 Running
20 22 10 Ricky Rudd Ford Rudd Performance Motorsports 159 Running
21 34 75 Todd Bodine Ford Butch Mock Motorsports 159 Running
22 29 26 Hut Stricklin Ford King Racing 159 Running
23 38 23 Jimmy Spencer Ford Travis Carter Enterprises 159 Running
24 12 11 Brett Bodine Ford Junior Johnson & Associates 159 Running
25 32 42 Kyle Petty Pontiac Team SABCO 159 Running
26 40 90 Mike Wallace Ford Donlavey Racing 158 Running
27 6 87 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet NEMCO Motorsports 158 Running
28 21 33 Robert Pressley Chevrolet Leo Jackson Motorsports 158 Running
29 8 98 Jeremy Mayfield Ford Cale Yarborough Motorsports 158 Running
30 39 29 Steve Grissom Chevrolet Diamond Ridge Motorsports 158 Running
31 28 41 Ricky Craven Chevrolet Larry Hedrick Motorsports 158 Running
32 35 22 Jimmy Hensley Pontiac Bill Davis Racing 158 Running
33 16 32 Greg Sacks Chevrolet Dick Brooks Racing 157 Flagged
34 27 9 Lake Speed Ford Melling Racing 157 Running
35 30 31 Ward Burton Chevrolet Bill Davis Racing 154 Engine
36 31 81 Kenny Wallace Ford FILMAR Racing 154 Running
37 36 40 Rich Bickle Pontiac Dick Brooks Racing 152 Running
38 18 8 Jeff Burton Ford Stavola Brothers Racing 141 Running
39 17 77 Bobby Hillin Jr. Ford Jasper Motorsports 106 Engine
40 37 12 Derrike Cope Ford Bobby Allison Motorsports 104 Engine
41 41 27 Elton Sawyer Ford Junior Johnson & Associates 17 Valve
Source:

Failed to qualify


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