1995 Pontiac Excitement 400 Explained
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
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 124.757mph.[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 |
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| 2 | 26 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 400 | 11 | running | 175 | $57,200 |
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| 3 | 3 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | Ford | 400 | 248 | running | 175 | $29,600 |
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| 4 | 6 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | running | 160 | $31,100 |
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| 5 | 8 | 4 | Sterling Marlin | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | running | 155 | $34,400 |
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| 6 | 5 | 12 | Derrike Cope | Bobby Allison Motorsports | Ford | 400 | 2 | running | 155 | $23,900 |
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| 7 | 17 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Darrell Waltrip Motorsports | Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | running | 146 | $21,875 |
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| 8 | 9 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 399 | 0 | running | 142 | $26,075 |
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| 9 | 2 | 43 | Bobby Hamilton | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 399 | 0 | running | 138 | $11,875 |
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| 10 | 21 | 37 | John Andretti | Kranefuss-Haas Racing | Ford | 399 | 7 | running | 139 | $13,925 |
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| 11 | 20 | 7 | Geoff Bodine | Geoff Bodine Racing | Ford | 398 | 0 | running | 130 | $25,575 |
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| 12 | 7 | 15 | Dick Trickle | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 398 | 0 | running | 127 | $20,175 |
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| 13 | 4 | 16 | Ted Musgrave | Roush Racing | Ford | 398 | 0 | running | 124 | $20,025 |
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| 14 | 10 | 9 | Lake Speed | Melling Racing | Ford | 397 | 0 | running | 121 | $10,625 |
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| 15 | 14 | 21 | Morgan Shepherd | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 397 | 0 | running | 118 | $20,335 |
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| 16 | 25 | 94 | Bill Elliott | Elliott-Hardy Racing | Ford | 397 | 0 | running | 115 | $10,400 |
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| 17 | 28 | 98 | Jeremy Mayfield | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Ford | 397 | 0 | running | 112 | $10,300 |
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| 18 | 15 | 11 | Brett Bodine | Brett Bodine Racing | Ford | 397 | 0 | running | 109 | $23,250 |
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| 19 | 27 | 40 | Greg Sacks | Dick Brooks Racing | Pontiac | 396 | 0 | running | 106 | $19,325 |
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| 20 | 29 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 395 | 0 | running | 103 | $11,700 |
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| 21 | 30 | 10 | Ricky Rudd | Rudd Performance Motorsports | Ford | 395 | 0 | running | 100 | $23,150 |
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| 22 | 33 | 31 | Ward Burton | A.G. Dillard Motorsports | Chevrolet | 395 | 0 | running | 97 | $10,125 |
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| 23 | 35 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 395 | 0 | running | 94 | $19,050 |
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| 24 | 23 | 23 | Jimmy Spencer | Travis Carter Enterprises | Ford | 393 | 0 | running | 91 | $13,825 |
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| 25 | 13 | 28 | Dale Jarrett | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 393 | 0 | running | 88 | $24,375 |
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| 26 | 16 | 90 | Mike Wallace | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 393 | 0 | running | 85 | $9,950 |
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| 27 | 37 | 22 | Randy LaJoie (R) | Bill Davis Racing | Pontiac | 392 | 0 | running | 82 | $19,625 |
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| 28 | 36 | 26 | Steve Kinser | King Racing | Ford | 391 | 0 | running | 79 | $19,000 |
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| 29 | 38 | 27 | Loy Allen Jr. | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 389 | 0 | running | 76 | $17,875 |
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| 30 | 18 | 18 | Bobby Labonte | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chevrolet | 388 | 0 | transmission | 73 | $18,345 |
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| 31 | 22 | 8 | Jeff Burton | Stavola Brothers Racing | Ford | 378 | 0 | running | 70 | $18,200 |
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| 32 | 34 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | NEMCO Motorsports | Chevrolet | 375 | 0 | running | 67 | $9,775 |
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| 33 | 19 | 42 | Kyle Petty | Team SABCO | Pontiac | 374 | 0 | running | 64 | $18,060 |
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| 34 | 12 | 1 | Rick Mast | Precision Products Racing | Ford | 302 | 0 | engine | 61 | $17,950 |
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| 35 | 11 | 33 | Robert Pressley (R) | Leo Jackson Motorsports | Chevrolet | 266 | 0 | crash | 58 | $18,350 |
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| 36 | 1 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 183 | 1 | fuel pump | 60 | $28,750 |
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| 37 | 32 | 75 | Todd Bodine | Butch Mock Motorsports | Ford | 148 | 0 | crash | 52 | $17,750 |
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| 38 | 31 | 41 | Ricky Craven (R) | Larry Hedrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 141 | 0 | engine | 49 | $12,750 |
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| Failed to qualify |
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| 39 | | 32 | Jimmy Hensley | Active Motorsports | Chevrolet | |
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| 40 | 81 | Kenny Wallace | FILMAR Racing | Ford |
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| 41 | 47 | Billy Standridge | Standridge Motorsports | Ford |
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| 42 | 78 | Jay Hedgecock | Triad Motorsports | Ford |
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| 43 | 29 | Steve Grissom | Diamond Ridge Motorsports | Chevrolet |
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| 44 | 52 | Gary Bradberry | Jimmy Means Racing | Ford |
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| 45 | 66 | Ben Hess | RaDiUs Motorsports | Ford |
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| 46 | 49 | Eric Smith | Smith Racing | Ford |
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| 47 | 77 | Davy Jones (R) | Jasper Motorsports | Ford |
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| Official race results | |
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Notes and References
- News: Macenka . Joe . March 6, 1995 . Labonte wins second straight at Richmond . 13 . Messenger-Inquirer . October 27, 2022 . Newspapers.com.
- News: Higgins . Tom . March 6, 1995 . Excitement's plentiful as Labonte wins Pontiac 400 . 8 . The Daily Herald . October 27, 2022 . Newspapers.com.
- News: Higgins . Tom . March 4, 1995 . Snow postpones qualifying . 20 . . October 27, 2022 . Newspapers.com.
- News: March 3, 1995 . Pontiac Excitement 400 . 14 . . October 27, 2022 . Newspapers.com.
- News: Higgins . Tom . March 5, 1995 . Qualifying deja vu: Gordon wins pole with record speed . 103 . . October 27, 2022.
