18th race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Motor car race
The 1995 DieHard 500 was the 18th stock car race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 27th iteration of the event . The race was held on Sunday, July 23, 1995, 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. At race's end, Morgan–McClure Motorsports driver Sterling Marlin would manage to dominate the late stages of the race to take his fourth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third and final victory of the season.[ 1] [ 2] Robert Yates Racing driver Dale Jarrett and Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would finish second and third, respectively.
On lap 139 of the race, a 13-car pileup started when Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon tapped the left rear of teammate Ken Schrader , sending Schrader airborne. Schrader proceeded to flip numerous times end over end. In the carnage, 12 other cars suffered damage. Schrader suffered a bruised right eye in the wreck.[ 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 21, 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 22, 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 21-38 would be decided on time,[ 4]
Sterling Marlin , driving for Morgan–McClure Motorsports , would win the pole, setting a time of 49.307 and an average speed of 194.212 miles per hour (312.554 km/h) in the first round.[ 5]
Three drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
Fin
St
#
Driver
Team
Make
Laps
Led
Status
Pts
Winnings
1
1
4
Sterling Marlin
Morgan–McClure Motorsports
Chevrolet
188
57
running
180
$219,425
2
13
28
Dale Jarrett
Robert Yates Racing
Ford
188
0
running
170
$65,895
3
5
3
Dale Earnhardt
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
188
20
running
170
$57,105
4
24
21
Morgan Shepherd
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford
188
1
running
165
$40,805
5
43
94
Bill Elliott
Elliott-Hardy Racing
Ford
188
4
running
160
$32,325
6
41
42
Kyle Petty
Team SABCO
Pontiac
188
0
running
150
$34,100
7
11
6
Mark Martin
Roush Racing
Ford
188
2
running
151
$31,875
8
3
24
Jeff Gordon
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
188
97
running
152
$42,375
9
7
30
Michael Waltrip
Bahari Racing
Pontiac
188
4
running
143
$24,695
10
23
23
Jimmy Spencer
Travis Carter Enterprises
Ford
187
0
running
134
$22,925
11
33
16
Ted Musgrave
Roush Racing
Ford
187
0
running
130
$23,755
12
35
90
Mike Wallace
Donlavey Racing
Ford
187
0
running
127
$18,375
13
21
98
Jeremy Mayfield
Cale Yarborough Motorsports
Ford
187
0
running
124
$18,055
14
28
27
Elton Sawyer
Junior Johnson & Associates
Ford
187
0
running
121
$21,885
15
40
12
Derrike Cope
Bobby Allison Motorsports
Ford
187
0
running
118
$18,610
16
30
77
Bobby Hillin Jr.
Jasper Motorsports
Ford
187
0
running
115
$13,575
17
16
1
Rick Mast
Precision Products Racing
Ford
187
0
running
112
$22,110
18
22
97
Chad Little
Mark Rypien Motorsports
Ford
186
0
running
109
$14,105
19
25
71
Dave Marcis
Marcis Auto Racing
Chevrolet
186
0
running
106
$16,725
20
42
31
Ward Burton
A.G. Dillard Motorsports
Chevrolet
186
0
running
103
$18,135
21
39
43
Bobby Hamilton
Petty Enterprises
Pontiac
186
0
running
100
$16,105
22
37
8
Jeff Burton
Stavola Brothers Racing
Ford
186
0
running
97
$20,875
23
32
87
Joe Nemechek
NEMCO Motorsports
Chevrolet
186
0
running
94
$12,470
24
19
7
Geoff Bodine
Geoff Bodine Racing
Ford
185
0
running
91
$26,815
25
31
29
Steve Grissom
Diamond Ridge Motorsports
Chevrolet
185
0
running
88
$15,585
26
29
41
Ricky Craven (R)
Larry Hedrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
185
0
running
85
$16,060
27
10
33
Robert Pressley (R)
Leo Jackson Motorsports
Chevrolet
183
0
running
82
$20,390
28
34
11
Brett Bodine
Junior Johnson & Associates
Ford
181
0
running
79
$24,820
29
14
75
Todd Bodine
Butch Mock Motorsports
Ford
162
0
crash
76
$19,750
30
26
2
Rusty Wallace
Penske Racing South
Ford
158
0
crash
73
$26,880
31
2
18
Bobby Labonte
Joe Gibbs Racing
Chevrolet
144
2
crash
75
$25,090
32
4
25
Ken Schrader
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
138
0
crash
67
$20,120
33
38
5
Terry Labonte
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
138
0
crash
64
$26,240
34
9
37
John Andretti
Kranefuss-Haas Racing
Ford
138
0
crash
61
$11,395
35
20
9
Lake Speed
Melling Racing
Ford
138
0
crash
58
$11,365
36
27
26
Hut Stricklin
King Racing
Ford
126
1
engine
60
$16,320
37
36
32
Chuck Bown
Active Motorsports
Chevrolet
107
0
crash
52
$11,306
38
17
15
Dick Trickle
Bud Moore Engineering
Ford
103
0
engine
49
$16,175
39
15
19
Loy Allen Jr.
TriStar Motorsports
Ford
97
0
engine
46
$11,175
40
18
40
Randy LaJoie
Dick Brooks Racing
Pontiac
96
0
transmission
43
$16,175
41
6
10
Ricky Rudd
Rudd Performance Motorsports
Ford
68
0
piston
40
$24,175
42
12
44
Jeff Purvis
Phoenix Racing
Chevrolet
50
0
engine
37
$11,175
43
8
17
Darrell Waltrip
Darrell Waltrip Motorsports
Chevrolet
45
0
engine
34
$16,675
Failed to qualify
44
22
Jimmy Hensley
Bill Davis Racing
Pontiac
45
0
Delma Cowart
H. L. Waters Racing
Ford
46
65
Steve Seligman
O'Neil Racing
Chevrolet
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. This would be the last race Richard Petty would call for CBS as he would be replaced by Buddy Baker from 1996.
References
^ Berger, Ken (July 24, 1995). "Marlin conquers Talladega, claims pole-sitter bonus" . The Park City Daily News . p. 9. Retrieved November 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com . ^ Estes, Cary (July 24, 1995). "Marlin the big fish at Talladega" . Citizens' Voice . p. 47. Retrieved November 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com . ^ Higgins, Tom (July 24, 1995). "Schrader took wild ride, but Gordon left shaken" . The Charlotte Observer . Retrieved November 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com . ^ "DieHard 500" . The Charlotte Observer . Retrieved November 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .^ Berger, Ken (July 22, 1995). "Marlin is fastest before storm hits" . The Morning Call . p. 47. Retrieved November 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
Points races Exhibition races
