1995 Pepsi 400 Explained
The 1995 Pepsi 400 was the 15th stock car race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 37th iteration of the event. The race was held on Saturday, July 1, 1995, 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 one-lap dash to the finish, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would manage to defend the field to take his sixth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his fourth victory of the season.[1] [2] To fill out the top three, Morgan–McClure Motorsports driver Sterling Marlin and Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
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]
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, June 16, at 3:30 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 Saturday, June 17, at 11:00 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,[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.
Dale Earnhardt, driving for Richard Childress Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 47.033 and an average speed of 191.355mph.[6]
Three drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
| Fin | St | | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|
| 1 | 3 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 72 | running | 185 | $96,580 |
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| 2 | 2 | 4 | Sterling Marlin | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 72 | running | 180 | $63,450 |
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| 3 | 1 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 160 | 11 | running | 170 | $66,200 |
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| 4 | 10 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 160 | 0 | running | 160 | $43,225 |
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| 5 | 21 | 16 | Ted Musgrave | Roush Racing | Ford | 160 | 0 | running | 155 | $39,075 |
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| 6 | 26 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | running | 150 | $36,075 |
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| 7 | 16 | 42 | Kyle Petty | Team SABCO | Pontiac | 160 | 0 | running | 146 | $29,375 |
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| 8 | 14 | 10 | Ricky Rudd | Rudd Performance Motorsports | Ford | 160 | 5 | running | 147 | $31,775 |
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| 9 | 15 | 23 | Jimmy Spencer | Travis Carter Enterprises | Ford | 160 | 0 | running | 138 | $22,275 |
|---|
| 10 | 43 | 94 | Bill Elliott | Elliott-Hardy Racing | Ford | 160 | 0 | running | 134 | $26,125 |
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| 11 | 5 | 33 | Robert Pressley (R) | Leo Jackson Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | running | 130 | $26,615 |
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| 12 | 12 | 15 | Dick Trickle | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 160 | 0 | running | 127 | $24,920 |
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| 13 | 37 | 12 | Derrike Cope | Bobby Allison Motorsports | Ford | 160 | 0 | running | 124 | $19,530 |
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| 14 | 25 | 7 | Geoff Bodine | Geoff Bodine Racing | Ford | 160 | 0 | running | 121 | $29,890 |
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| 15 | 8 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 160 | 0 | running | 118 | $24,950 |
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| 16 | 30 | 26 | Hut Stricklin | King Racing | Ford | 160 | 0 | running | 115 | $19,860 |
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| 17 | 20 | 27 | Greg Sacks | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 160 | 0 | running | 112 | $22,620 |
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| 18 | 32 | 8 | Jeff Burton | Stavola Brothers Racing | Ford | 160 | 0 | running | 109 | $23,105 |
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| 19 | 33 | 5 | Terry Labonte | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 160 | 0 | running | 106 | $28,965 |
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| 20 | 24 | 11 | Brett Bodine | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 159 | 0 | running | 103 | $28,650 |
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| 21 | 11 | 9 | Lake Speed | Melling Racing | Ford | 159 | 0 | running | 100 | $17,280 |
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| 22 | 40 | 41 | Ricky Craven (R) | Larry Hedrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 159 | 0 | running | 97 | $17,560 |
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| 23 | 6 | 75 | Todd Bodine | Butch Mock Motorsports | Ford | 159 | 0 | running | 94 | $21,790 |
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| 24 | 13 | 21 | Morgan Shepherd | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 159 | 0 | running | 91 | $21,570 |
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| 25 | 27 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 159 | 0 | running | 88 | $16,550 |
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| 26 | 28 | 1 | Rick Mast | Precision Products Racing | Ford | 159 | 0 | running | 85 | $21,090 |
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| 27 | 22 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | Ford | 159 | 0 | running | 82 | $28,035 |
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| 28 | 38 | 77 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Jasper Motorsports | Ford | 159 | 0 | running | 79 | $12,715 |
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| 29 | 29 | 32 | Chuck Bown | Active Motorsports | Chevrolet | 159 | 0 | running | 76 | $13,120 |
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| 30 | 31 | 22 | Jimmy Hensley | Bill Davis Racing | Pontiac | 159 | 0 | running | 73 | $20,525 |
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| 31 | 18 | 19 | Loy Allen Jr. | TriStar Motorsports | Ford | 159 | 0 | running | 70 | $12,470 |
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| 32 | 35 | 98 | Jeremy Mayfield | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Ford | 158 | 0 | running | 67 | $15,440 |
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| 33 | 36 | 37 | John Andretti | Kranefuss-Haas Racing | Ford | 158 | 0 | running | 64 | $14,910 |
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| 34 | 9 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Darrell Waltrip Motorsports | Chevrolet | 158 | 0 | running | 61 | $17,380 |
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| 35 | 41 | 31 | Ward Burton | A.G. Dillard Motorsports | Chevrolet | 157 | 0 | running | 58 | $12,350 |
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| 36 | 42 | 40 | Andy Hillenburg | Dick Brooks Racing | Pontiac | 157 | 0 | running | 55 | $17,320 |
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| 37 | 23 | 90 | Mike Wallace | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 155 | 0 | running | 52 | $12,291 |
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| 38 | 17 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Chevrolet | 155 | 0 | running | 49 | $13,145 |
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| 39 | 19 | 44 | Jeff Purvis | Phoenix Racing | Chevrolet | 128 | 0 | crash | 46 | $12,245 |
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| 40 | 39 | 43 | Bobby Hamilton | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 118 | 0 | overheating | 43 | $12,245 |
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| 41 | 4 | 18 | Bobby Labonte | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chevrolet | 48 | 0 | piston | 40 | $25,245 |
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| 42 | 7 | 28 | Dale Jarrett | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 38 | 0 | engine | 37 | $27,645 |
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| 43 | 34 | 29 | Steve Grissom | Diamond Ridge Motorsports | Chevrolet | 34 | 0 | crash | 34 | $12,245 |
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| Failed to qualify |
|---|
| 44 | | 65 | Steve Seligman | O'Neil Racing | Chevrolet | |
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| 45 | | 81 | Kenny Wallace | FILMAR Racing | Ford |
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| 46 | | 0 | Delma Cowart | H. L. Waters Racing | Ford |
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| Official race results | |
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Notes and References
- News: Newberry . Paul . July 2, 1995 . Gordon wins battle of 'Big Three' in Pepsi 400 . 22 . Indiana Gazette . November 4, 2022 . Newspapers.com.
- News: Long . Gary . July 2, 1995 . Wonder Boy Gordon catches on in a hurry . 52 . The Miami Herald . November 4, 2022 . Newspapers.com.
- Web site: 2010-08-11 . NASCAR.COM : Tracks . https://web.archive.org/web/20100811053515/http://www.nascar.com/races/tracks/ . 2010-08-11 . 2021-10-17.
- Web site: 2010-08-30 . Daytona International Speedway: The World Center of Racing . https://web.archive.org/web/20100830050250/http://www.speedway-guide.com/Daytona-International-Speedway.html . 2010-08-30 . 2021-10-17.
- News: Laye . Leonard . June 29, 1995 . Odds don't favor sweep at Daytona . 20 . . November 4, 2022 . Newspapers.com.
- News: Coble . Don . June 30, 1995 . Earnhardt charges back to take Daytona pole . 23 . Press and Sun-Bulletin . November 4, 2022 . Newspapers.com.
