| Type: | NASWINSTON |
| Official Name: | 36th Annual Pepsi 400 |
| Caption: | The 1994 Pepsi 400 program cover. |
| Date: | July 2 |
| Avg: | 155.558mph |
| Season No: | 31 |
| Race No: | 15 |
| Scheduled Laps: | 160 |
| Course Km: | 4.0 |
| Distance Laps: | 160 |
| Distance Km: | 643.737 |
| Course Mi: | 2.5 |
| Scheduled Km: | 643.737 |
| Scheduled Mi: | 400 |
| Race Name: | Pepsi 400 |
| Location: | Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona International Speedway |
| Announcers: | Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons, Ned Jarrett |
| Radio: | Motor Racing Network |
| Network: | ESPN |
| First Team: | Junior Johnson & Associates |
| First Driver: | Jimmy Spencer |
| Pole Team: | Richard Childress Racing |
| Most Team: | Robert Yates Racing |
| Pole Driver: | Dale Earnhardt |
| Most Driver: | Ernie Irvan |
| Most Laps: | 86 |
| Car: | 27 |
| Year: | 1994 |
| Distance Mi: | 400 |
| Pole Time: | 47.037 |
| Attendance: | 100,000 |
The 1994 Pepsi 400 was the 15th stock car race of the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 36th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, July 2, 1994, in Daytona Beach, Florida at Daytona International Speedway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) permanent triangular-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 160 laps to complete. In a last-lap battle to the finish, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Jimmy Spencer would manage to best out Robert Yates Racing driver Ernie Irvan in one of the closest NASCAR Winston Cup Series finishes in history, besting Irvan by eight one-thousandths of a second. The win was Spencer's first 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 would finish third.
Daytona International Speedway is one of three superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other two being Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.[3] The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.[4]
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, June 30, at 2:30 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 Friday, July 1, at 1:00 PM 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,[5] 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; up to two provisionals were given. If needed, a past champion who did not qualify on either time or provisionals could use a champion's provisional, adding one more spot to the field.
Dale Earnhardt, driving for Richard Childress Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 47.037 and an average speed of 191.339mph in the first round.[6]
Six drivers would fail to qualify.
| Pos | Driver | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ernie Irvan | 2,424 | |||||||
| 2 | Dale Earnhardt | 2,336 (-88) | |||||||
| 3 | Rusty Wallace | 2,105 (-319) | |||||||
| 4 | Mark Martin | 2,096 (–328) | |||||||
| 5 | Ken Schrader | 2,085 (–344) | |||||||
| 6 | Morgan Shepherd | 1,920 (–504) | |||||||
| 7 | Ricky Rudd | 1,858 (–566) | |||||||
| 8 | Michael Waltrip | 1,844 (–580) | |||||||
| 9 | Jeff Gordon | 1,814 (–609) | |||||||
| 2 | 10 | Lake Speed | 1,744 (–680) | ||||||
| Official driver's standings | |||||||||