18th race of the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Motor car race
The 1994 DieHard 500 was the 18th stock car race of the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 26th iteration of the event . The race was held on Sunday, July 24, 1994, in Lincoln, Alabama , at Talladega Superspeedway , a 2.66-mile (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shaped superspeedway . The race took the scheduled 188 laps to complete. In the final nineteen laps of the race, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Jimmy Spencer would manage to hold off the field to take his second and final career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season.[ 1] [ 2] Bill Elliott and Robert Yates Racing driver Ernie Irvan would finish second and third, respectively. With his third place finish, Irvan would regain the points lead in the overall driver's standings.[ 3]
Background
The layout of Talladega Superspeedway , the venue where the race was held. Talladega Superspeedway , originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS) , is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama . It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln . The track is a tri-oval and was constructed in the 1960s by the International Speedway Corporation , a business controlled by the France family . Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line that's located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the NASCAR Cup Series , Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series . Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval, a 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway , which also is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) tri-oval.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, July 22, at 4:00 PM EST . Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, July 23, at 11:45 AM EST . As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 would be decided on time,[ 4]
Dale Earnhardt , driving for Richard Childress Racing , would win the pole, setting a time of 49.496 and an average speed of 193.470 miles per hour (311.360 km/h) in the first round.[ 5]
Ten drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
Fin
St
#
Driver
Team
Make
Laps
Led
Status
Pts
Winnings
1
2
27
Jimmy Spencer
Junior Johnson & Associates
Ford
188
21
running
180
$81,450
2
11
11
Bill Elliott
Junior Johnson & Associates
Ford
188
14
running
175
$52,445
3
5
28
Ernie Irvan
Robert Yates Racing
Ford
188
90
running
175
$47,130
4
4
25
Ken Schrader
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
188
8
running
165
$33,530
5
8
4
Sterling Marlin
Morgan–McClure Motorsports
Chevrolet
188
7
running
160
$32,675
6
6
6
Mark Martin
Roush Racing
Ford
188
0
running
150
$29,550
7
28
10
Ricky Rudd
Rudd Performance Motorsports
Ford
188
1
running
151
$19,350
8
10
43
Wally Dallenbach Jr.
Petty Enterprises
Pontiac
188
0
running
142
$17,700
9
16
44
Kenny Wallace
Charles Hardy Racing
Ford
188
0
running
138
$13,370
10
12
5
Terry Labonte
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
188
0
running
134
$25,250
11
9
30
Michael Waltrip
Bahari Racing
Pontiac
188
0
running
130
$19,830
12
35
22
Bobby Labonte
Bill Davis Racing
Pontiac
188
0
running
127
$21,450
13
14
90
Mike Wallace (R)
Donlavey Racing
Ford
188
0
running
124
$16,130
14
18
15
Lake Speed
Bud Moore Engineering
Ford
188
1
running
126
$21,960
15
31
21
Morgan Shepherd
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford
188
1
running
123
$22,135
16
7
75
Todd Bodine
Butch Mock Motorsports
Ford
188
0
running
115
$14,450
17
19
26
Brett Bodine
King Racing
Ford
187
0
running
112
$18,185
18
24
29
Steve Grissom (R)
Diamond Ridge Motorsports
Chevrolet
187
0
running
109
$14,480
19
23
42
Kyle Petty
SABCO Racing
Pontiac
187
0
running
106
$22,200
20
38
1
Rick Mast
Precision Products Racing
Ford
186
0
running
103
$18,110
21
33
33
Harry Gant
Leo Jackson Motorsports
Chevrolet
186
0
running
100
$17,180
22
41
40
Bobby Hamilton
SABCO Racing
Pontiac
186
0
running
97
$16,950
23
32
20
Bobby Hillin Jr.
Moroso Racing
Ford
185
0
running
94
$10,470
24
22
17
Darrell Waltrip
Darrell Waltrip Motorsports
Chevrolet
185
0
running
91
$16,640
25
37
23
Hut Stricklin
Travis Carter Enterprises
Ford
184
0
running
88
$12,210
26
39
8
Jeff Burton (R)
Stavola Brothers Racing
Ford
184
0
running
85
$16,035
27
34
71
Dave Marcis
Marcis Auto Racing
Chevrolet
184
0
running
82
$12,040
28
40
52
Brad Teague
Jimmy Means Racing
Ford
184
0
running
79
$9,985
29
29
77
Greg Sacks
U.S. Motorsports Inc.
Ford
174
0
crash
76
$11,325
30
36
55
Jimmy Hensley
RaDiUs Motorsports
Ford
165
0
crash
73
$9,780
31
15
24
Jeff Gordon
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
149
0
engine
70
$19,660
32
25
98
Jeremy Mayfield (R)
Cale Yarborough Motorsports
Ford
140
0
wheel bearing
67
$9,590
33
20
7
Geoff Bodine
Geoff Bodine Racing
Ford
136
0
engine
64
$13,520
34
1
3
Dale Earnhardt
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
80
41
engine
66
$30,725
35
42
41
Joe Nemechek (R)
Larry Hedrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
75
0
ignition
58
$9,430
36
30
51
Jeff Purvis
Phoenix Racing
Chevrolet
71
0
engine
55
$9,395
37
3
19
Loy Allen Jr. (R)
TriStar Motorsports
Ford
66
4
engine
57
$9,781
38
27
12
Tim Steele
Bobby Allison Motorsports
Ford
54
0
quit
49
$13,345
39
13
18
Dale Jarrett
Joe Gibbs Racing
Chevrolet
34
0
piston
46
$20,690
40
21
14
John Andretti (R)
Hagan Racing
Chevrolet
28
0
crash
43
$14,525
41
17
16
Ted Musgrave
Roush Racing
Ford
24
0
crash
40
$13,228
42
26
2
Rusty Wallace
Penske Racing South
Ford
8
0
piston
37
$21,425
Failed to qualify
43
45
Rich Bickle (R)
Terminal Trucking Motorsports
Ford
44
32
Dick Trickle
Active Motorsports
Chevrolet
45
53
Ritchie Petty
Petty Brothers Racing
Ford
46
02
Derrike Cope
Taylor Racing
Ford
47
31
Ward Burton (R)
A.G. Dillard Motorsports
Chevrolet
48
95
Ben Hess
Sadler Brothers Racing
Ford
49
47
Billy Standridge (R)
Johnson Standridge Racing
Ford
50
80
Joe Ruttman
Hover Motorsports
Ford
51
0
Delma Cowart
H. L. Waters Racing
Ford
52
89
Ronnie Sanders
Mueller Racing
Ford
Official race results
Television
The Diehard 500 was covered by CBS in the United States. Ken Squier , two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Ned Jarrett and 1974 race winner Richard Petty called the race from the broadcast booth. Mike Joy , David Hobbs and Dick Berggren handled pit road for the television side.
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings
Pos
Driver
Points
1
1
Ernie Irvan
2,739
1
2
Dale Earnhardt
2,723 (-16)
1
3
Mark Martin
2,481 (-258)
1
4
Rusty Wallace
2,450 (–289)
1
5
Ken Schrader
2,382 (–357)
1
6
Morgan Shepherd
2,348 (–391)
7
Ricky Rudd
2,339 (–400)
8
Michael Waltrip
2,152 (–587)
1
9
Lake Speed
2,091 (–648)
1
10
Jeff Gordon
2,078 (–661)
Official driver's standings
Note : Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
References
^ Harris, Mike (July 25, 1994). "Spencer's late rush wins DieHard" . Arizona Republic . p. 14. Retrieved December 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com . ^ Higgins, Tom (July 25, 1994). "Spencer beats Elliott in Talladega thriller" . The Bradenton Herald . p. 21. Retrieved December 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com . ^ Tutor, Phillip (July 25, 1994). "Despite parking car early, Earnhardt's attitude upbeat" . The Anniston Star . p. 14. Retrieved December 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com . ^ "NASCAR today" . The Charlotte Observer . Retrieved December 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .^ Coble, Don (July 23, 1994). "Earnhardt, Spencer to do battle in DieHard 500" . The Courier-News . p. 19. Retrieved December 10, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
Points races Exhibition races
