Third race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Motor car race
The 1995 Pontiac Excitement 400 was the third stock car race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 41st iteration of the event . The race was held on Sunday, March 5, 1995, in Richmond, Virginia , at Richmond International Raceway , a 0.75 miles (1.21 km) D-shaped oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. At race's end, Hendrick Motorsports driver Terry Labonte would manage to dominate the final stages of the race to take his 15th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.[ 1] [ 2] To fill out the top three, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt and Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
The layout of Richmond International Raceway , the venue where the race was at.
Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D -shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County . It hosts the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series . Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, an IndyCar Series race, and two USAC sprint car races.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was originally scheduled to be split into two rounds. The first round was scheduled to be held on Friday, March 3, at 10:30 AM EST . However, qualifying was snowed out and postponed until Saturday, March 4, at 12:00 PM EST . Qualifying was eventually combined into only one round.[ 3] Each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 1-34 would be decided on time,[ 4] and depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars who had not otherwise qualified but were high enough in owner's points; which is usually four.
Jeff Gordon , driving for Hendrick Motorsports , would win the pole, setting a time of 21.642 and an average speed of 124.757 miles per hour (200.777 km/h).[ 5]
Nine drivers would fail to qualify: Jimmy Hensley , Kenny Wallace , Billy Standridge , Jay Hedgecock , Steve Grissom , Gary Bradberry , Ben Hess , Eric Smith , and Davy Jones .
Full qualifying results
Race results
Fin
St
#
Driver
Team
Make
Laps
Led
Status
Pts
Winnings
1
24
5
Terry Labonte
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
400
131
running
180
$82,950
2
26
3
Dale Earnhardt
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
400
11
running
175
$57,200
3
3
2
Rusty Wallace
Penske Racing South
Ford
400
248
running
175
$29,600
4
6
25
Ken Schrader
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
400
0
running
160
$31,100
5
8
4
Sterling Marlin
Morgan–McClure Motorsports
Chevrolet
400
0
running
155
$34,400
6
5
12
Derrike Cope
Bobby Allison Motorsports
Ford
400
2
running
155
$23,900
7
17
17
Darrell Waltrip
Darrell Waltrip Motorsports
Chevrolet
400
0
running
146
$21,875
8
9
6
Mark Martin
Roush Racing
Ford
399
0
running
142
$26,075
9
2
43
Bobby Hamilton
Petty Enterprises
Pontiac
399
0
running
138
$11,875
10
21
37
John Andretti
Kranefuss-Haas Racing
Ford
399
7
running
139
$13,925
11
20
7
Geoff Bodine
Geoff Bodine Racing
Ford
398
0
running
130
$25,575
12
7
15
Dick Trickle
Bud Moore Engineering
Ford
398
0
running
127
$20,175
13
4
16
Ted Musgrave
Roush Racing
Ford
398
0
running
124
$20,025
14
10
9
Lake Speed
Melling Racing
Ford
397
0
running
121
$10,625
15
14
21
Morgan Shepherd
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford
397
0
running
118
$20,335
16
25
94
Bill Elliott
Elliott-Hardy Racing
Ford
397
0
running
115
$10,400
17
28
98
Jeremy Mayfield
Cale Yarborough Motorsports
Ford
397
0
running
112
$10,300
18
15
11
Brett Bodine
Brett Bodine Racing
Ford
397
0
running
109
$23,250
19
27
40
Greg Sacks
Dick Brooks Racing
Pontiac
396
0
running
106
$19,325
20
29
71
Dave Marcis
Marcis Auto Racing
Chevrolet
395
0
running
103
$11,700
21
30
10
Ricky Rudd
Rudd Performance Motorsports
Ford
395
0
running
100
$23,150
22
33
31
Ward Burton
A.G. Dillard Motorsports
Chevrolet
395
0
running
97
$10,125
23
35
30
Michael Waltrip
Bahari Racing
Pontiac
395
0
running
94
$19,050
24
23
23
Jimmy Spencer
Travis Carter Enterprises
Ford
393
0
running
91
$13,825
25
13
28
Dale Jarrett
Robert Yates Racing
Ford
393
0
running
88
$24,375
26
16
90
Mike Wallace
Donlavey Racing
Ford
393
0
running
85
$9,950
27
37
22
Randy LaJoie (R)
Bill Davis Racing
Pontiac
392
0
running
82
$19,625
28
36
26
Steve Kinser
King Racing
Ford
391
0
running
79
$19,000
29
38
27
Loy Allen Jr.
Junior Johnson & Associates
Ford
389
0
running
76
$17,875
30
18
18
Bobby Labonte
Joe Gibbs Racing
Chevrolet
388
0
transmission
73
$18,345
31
22
8
Jeff Burton
Stavola Brothers Racing
Ford
378
0
running
70
$18,200
32
34
87
Joe Nemechek
NEMCO Motorsports
Chevrolet
375
0
running
67
$9,775
33
19
42
Kyle Petty
Team SABCO
Pontiac
374
0
running
64
$18,060
34
12
1
Rick Mast
Precision Products Racing
Ford
302
0
engine
61
$17,950
35
11
33
Robert Pressley (R)
Leo Jackson Motorsports
Chevrolet
266
0
crash
58
$18,350
36
1
24
Jeff Gordon
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
183
1
fuel pump
60
$28,750
37
32
75
Todd Bodine
Butch Mock Motorsports
Ford
148
0
crash
52
$17,750
38
31
41
Ricky Craven (R)
Larry Hedrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
141
0
engine
49
$12,750
Failed to qualify
39
32
Jimmy Hensley
Active Motorsports
Chevrolet
40
81
Kenny Wallace
FILMAR Racing
Ford
41
47
Billy Standridge
Standridge Motorsports
Ford
42
78
Jay Hedgecock
Triad Motorsports
Ford
43
29
Steve Grissom
Diamond Ridge Motorsports
Chevrolet
44
52
Gary Bradberry
Jimmy Means Racing
Ford
45
66
Ben Hess
RaDiUs Motorsports
Ford
46
49
Eric Smith
Smith Racing
Ford
47
77
Davy Jones (R)
Jasper Motorsports
Ford
Official race results
References
^ Macenka, Joe (March 6, 1995). "Labonte wins second straight at Richmond" . Messenger-Inquirer . p. 13. Retrieved October 27, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Higgins, Tom (March 6, 1995). "Excitement's plentiful as Labonte wins Pontiac 400" . The Daily Herald . p. 8. Retrieved October 27, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Higgins, Tom (March 4, 1995). "Snow postpones qualifying" . The Charlotte Observer . p. 20. Retrieved October 27, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Pontiac Excitement 400" . The Charlotte Observer . March 3, 1995. p. 14. Retrieved October 27, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Higgins, Tom (March 5, 1995). "Qualifying deja vu: Gordon wins pole with record speed" . The Charlotte Observer . p. 103. Retrieved October 27, 2022 .
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