1994 Tyson Holly Farms 400 Explained
The 1994 Tyson Holly Farms 400 was the 27th stock car race of the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 45th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, October 2, 1994, in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a 0.625miles oval short track. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. In a dominant performance, owner-driver Geoff Bodine would manage to lap the entire field at race's end to take his 17th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third and final victory of the season.[1] [2] To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports driver Terry Labonte and Precision Products Racing driver Rick Mast would finish second and third, respectively.
Bodine's performance remains the last time a driver has managed to lap the field in a race.[3]
Background
North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short oval racetrack located on U.S. Route 421, about five miles east of the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, or 80 miles north of Charlotte. It measures 0.625miles and features a unique uphill backstretch and downhill frontstretch. It has previously held races in NASCAR's top three series, including 93 Winston Cup Series races. The track, a NASCAR original, operated from 1949, NASCAR's inception, until the track's original closure in 1996. The speedway briefly reopened in 2010 and hosted several stock car series races before closing again in the spring of 2011. It was re-opened in August 2022 for grassroots racing.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, September 30, at 3:00 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, October 1, at 12:00 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-34 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; 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.
Jimmy Spencer, driving for Junior Johnson & Associates, would win the pole, setting a time of 18.978 and an average speed of 118.558mph in the first round.[5]
Six drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
| Fin | St | | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|
| 1 | 18 | 7 | Geoff Bodine | Geoff Bodine Racing | Ford | 400 | 334 | running | 185 | $61,440 |
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| 2 | 10 | 5 | Terry Labonte | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | running | 170 | $39,365 |
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| 3 | 17 | 1 | Rick Mast | Precision Products Racing | Ford | 399 | 0 | running | 165 | $32,590 |
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| 4 | 19 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | Ford | 399 | 0 | running | 160 | $23,590 |
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| 5 | 4 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 398 | 0 | running | 155 | $24,090 |
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| 6 | 2 | 11 | Bill Elliott | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 398 | 4 | running | 155 | $15,940 |
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| 7 | 3 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 398 | 38 | running | 151 | $21,315 |
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| 8 | 12 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 398 | 0 | running | 142 | $16,875 |
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| 9 | 29 | 16 | Ted Musgrave | Roush Racing | Ford | 397 | 0 | running | 138 | $15,950 |
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| 10 | 9 | 28 | Kenny Wallace | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 397 | 0 | running | 134 | $20,355 |
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| 11 | 26 | 10 | Ricky Rudd | Rudd Performance Motorsports | Ford | 397 | 0 | running | 130 | $13,550 |
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| 12 | 8 | 40 | Bobby Hamilton | SABCO Racing | Pontiac | 396 | 0 | running | 127 | $13,200 |
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| 13 | 7 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Darrell Waltrip Motorsports | Chevrolet | 396 | 0 | running | 124 | $12,950 |
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| 14 | 27 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 396 | 0 | running | 121 | $12,725 |
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| 15 | 20 | 22 | Bobby Labonte | Bill Davis Racing | Pontiac | 395 | 0 | running | 118 | $12,950 |
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| 16 | 31 | 32 | Dick Trickle | Active Motorsports | Chevrolet | 394 | 0 | running | 115 | $8,225 |
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| 17 | 28 | 43 | John Andretti (R) | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 394 | 0 | running | 112 | $9,050 |
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| 18 | 21 | 31 | Ward Burton (R) | A.G. Dillard Motorsports | Chevrolet | 394 | 8 | running | 114 | $7,550 |
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| 19 | 16 | 12 | Derrike Cope | Bobby Allison Motorsports | Ford | 394 | 0 | running | 106 | $11,850 |
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| 20 | 33 | 29 | Steve Grissom (R) | Diamond Ridge Motorsports | Chevrolet | 394 | 0 | running | 103 | $7,725 |
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| 21 | 13 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 393 | 0 | running | 100 | $11,500 |
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| 22 | 25 | 23 | Hut Stricklin | Travis Carter Enterprises | Ford | 392 | 0 | running | 97 | $7,375 |
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| 23 | 1 | 27 | Jimmy Spencer | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 392 | 5 | running | 99 | $13,425 |
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| 24 | 6 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 391 | 0 | running | 91 | $6,950 |
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| 25 | 36 | 15 | Lake Speed | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 391 | 0 | running | 88 | $14,925 |
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| 26 | 22 | 42 | Kyle Petty | SABCO Racing | Pontiac | 388 | 0 | running | 85 | $15,925 |
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| 27 | 34 | 98 | Jeremy Mayfield (R) | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Ford | 387 | 0 | running | 82 | $6,800 |
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| 28 | 14 | 8 | Jeff Burton (R) | Stavola Brothers Racing | Ford | 381 | 11 | running | 84 | $10,210 |
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| 29 | 5 | 95 | Jeff Green | Sadler Brothers Racing | Ford | 354 | 0 | running | 76 | $4,700 |
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| 30 | 35 | 21 | Morgan Shepherd | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 343 | 0 | crash | 73 | $14,350 |
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| 31 | 24 | 4 | Sterling Marlin | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | 339 | 0 | engine | 70 | $14,300 |
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| 32 | 23 | 33 | Harry Gant | Leo Jackson Motorsports | Chevrolet | 324 | 0 | crash | 67 | $9,275 |
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| 33 | 15 | 26 | Brett Bodine | King Racing | Ford | 298 | 0 | rear end | 64 | $8,225 |
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| 34 | 32 | 41 | Joe Nemechek (R) | Larry Hedrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 274 | 0 | rear end | 61 | $4,250 |
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| 35 | 11 | 77 | Greg Sacks | U.S. Motorsports Inc. | Ford | 268 | 0 | running | 58 | $4,225 |
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| 36 | 30 | 9 | Phil Parsons | Melling Racing | Ford | 264 | 0 | engine | 55 | $4,250 |
|---|
| Failed to qualify |
|---|
| 37 | | 90 | Mike Wallace (R) | Donlavey Racing | Ford | |
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| 38 | 18 | Dale Jarrett | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chevrolet |
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| 39 | 19 | Loy Allen Jr. (R) | TriStar Motorsports | Ford |
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| 40 | 52 | Brad Teague | Jimmy Means Racing | Ford |
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| 41 | 75 | Todd Bodine | Butch Mock Motorsports | Ford |
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| 42 | 55 | Tim Fedewa | RaDiUs Motorsports | Ford |
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| Official race results | |
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Standings after the race
- Drivers' Championship standings
| Pos | Driver | Points |
|---|
| 1 | Dale Earnhardt | 4,121 |
| 2 | Rusty Wallace | 3,913 (-208) |
| 3 | Mark Martin | 3,698 (-423) |
| 4 | Ken Schrader | 3,575 (–546) |
| 5 | Ricky Rudd | 3,537 (–584) |
| 6 | Morgan Shepherd | 3,407 (–714) |
| 7 | Jeff Gordon | 3,328 (–793) |
| 8 | Bill Elliott | 3,286 (–835) |
| 1 | 9 | Terry Labonte | 3,243 (–878) |
| 1 | 10 | Darrell Waltrip | 3,217 (–904) |
| Official driver's standings | |
|---|
- Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
Notes and References
- News: Higgins . Tom . October 3, 1994 . Geoff Bodine covers field in 400 . 11 . The Daily Item . December 22, 2022 . Newspapers.com.
- News: Price . Mike . October 3, 1994 . Geoff Bodine's victory is part of a crazy year . 19 . Intelligencer Journal . December 22, 2022 . Newspapers.com.
- Web site: Zeller . Bob . October 2, 1994 . Bodine laps field at Holly Farms . December 22, 2022 . Greensboro News and Record . en.
- News: September 30, 1994 . NASCAR today . 15 . . December 22, 2022 . Newspapers.com.
- News: Harris . Mike . October 1, 1994 . Spencer on pole for first time . 55 . Citizens' Voice . December 22, 2022 . Newspapers.com.
