1995 Dura Lube 500

Last updated


1995 Dura Lube 500
Race details
Race 30 of 31 in the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1995 Dura Lube 500.jpeg
The 1995 Dura Lube 500 program cover.
DateOctober 29, 1995
Official name 8th Annual Dura Lube 500
Location Avondale, Arizona, Phoenix International Raceway
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 1 miles (1.6 km)
Distance 312 laps, 312 mi (502.115 km)
Scheduled distance 312 laps, 312 mi (502.115 km)
Average speed 102.128 miles per hour (164.359 km/h)
Pole position
Driver Elliott-Hardy Racing
Time 27.688
Most laps led
Driver Ernie Irvan Robert Yates Racing
Laps 111
Winner
No. 10 Ricky Rudd Rudd Performance Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network TNN
Announcers Mike Joy, Buddy Baker, Dick Berggren
Radio in the United States
Radio Motor Racing Network

The 1995 Dura Lube 500 was the 30th and penultimate stock car race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, the 15th and final race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston West Series, and the eighth iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, October 29, 1995, in Avondale, Arizona at Phoenix International Raceway, a 1-mile (1.6 km) permanent low-banked tri-oval race track. The race took the scheduled 312 laps to complete. On the final restart with six to go, Ricky Rudd, driving for his own Rudd Performance Motorsports team, would manage to defend the field to take his 16th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, his only victory of the season, and with the win, maintaining a streak of 13 straight seasons with a victory. [1] [2] To fill out the top three, Bobby Allison Motorsports driver Derrike Cope and Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would finish second and third, respectively.

Contents

Heading into the final race of the season, the 1995 NAPA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon was the heavy favorite to win the championship, only needing a finish of 41st or better to clinch his first NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship. The second-place driver, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt, was 147 points behind Gordon. [3]

Background

The layout of Phoenix International Raceway, the venue where the race was held. Phoenix-international-raceway-2011-new.svg
The layout of Phoenix International Raceway, the venue where the race was held.

Phoenix International Raceway – also known as PIR – is a one-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona. It is named after the nearby metropolitan area of Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually. PIR has also hosted the IndyCar Series, CART, USAC and the Rolex Sports Car Series. The raceway is currently owned and operated by International Speedway Corporation.

The raceway was originally constructed with a 2.5 mi (4.0 km) road course that ran both inside and outside of the main tri-oval. In 1991 the track was reconfigured with the current 1.51 mi (2.43 km) interior layout. PIR has an estimated grandstand seating capacity of around 67,000. Lights were installed around the track in 2004 following the addition of a second annual NASCAR race weekend.

Entry list

#DriverTeamMakeSponsor
00W Scott Gaylord Oliver Racing Ford Oliver Gravity Separators
1 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Pontiac Skoal
2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Ford Miller Genuine Draft
3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet GM Goodwrench Service Plus
4 Sterling Marlin Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet Kodak
5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Kellogg's Frosted Flakes
6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford Valvoline
7 Geoff Bodine Geoff Bodine Racing Ford Exide
7W L. J. Pryor Red Eagle Racing Chevrolet Red Eagle Racing
07 Doug George Olson Technology Racing Ford Olson Technology
8 Jeff Burton Stavola Brothers Racing Ford Raybestos
08 Mike Bliss Ultra Motorsports Ford Ultra Custom Wheels
9 Lake Speed Melling Racing Ford Spam
10 Ricky Rudd Rudd Performance Motorsports Ford Tide
11 Brett Bodine Junior Johnson & Associates Ford Lowe's
12 Derrike Cope Bobby Allison Motorsports Ford Mane 'n Tail
15 Dick Trickle Bud Moore Engineering Ford Ford Quality Care
16 Ted Musgrave Roush Racing Ford The Family Channel
17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet Western Auto
18 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet Interstate Batteries
19 Ernie Cope Lew Miller Racing Chevrolet Mane 'n Tail
21 Morgan Shepherd Wood Brothers Racing Ford Citgo
22 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Pontiac MBNA
23 Jimmy Spencer Haas-Carter Motorsports Ford Smokin' Joe's
24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet DuPont
25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Budweiser
26 Hut Stricklin King Racing Ford Quaker State
27 Elton Sawyer Junior Johnson & Associates Ford Hooters
28 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford Texaco, Havoline
29 Steve Grissom Diamond Ridge Motorsports Chevrolet Meineke
30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Pontiac Pennzoil
32 Greg Sacks Active Motorsports Chevrolet Active Motorsports
33 Robert Pressley (R) Leo Jackson Motorsports Chevrolet Skoal Bandit
36W Rich Woodland Jr. Gilliland Racing Chevrolet Gilliland Racing
37 John Andretti Kranefuss-Haas Racing Ford Little Caesars, Kmart
40 Shane Hall Dick Brooks Racing Pontiac Kendall
41 Ricky Craven (R) Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet Kodiak
42 Kyle Petty Team SABCO Pontiac Coors Light The Great Pumpkin
43 Bobby Hamilton Petty Enterprises Pontiac STP
45 Ron Hornaday Jr. JTC Racing Chevrolet TootsieToy
50 A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt Racing Ford Motorola
58W Wayne Jacks Jacks Motorsports Pontiac Imperial Palace, Southwest Paving
71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet Prodigy
75 Todd Bodine Butch Mock Motorsports Ford Factory Stores of America
77 Bobby Hillin Jr. Jasper Motorsports Ford US Airways, Jasper Engines & Transmissions
81 Kenny Wallace FILMAR Racing Ford TIC Financial Systems
87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet Burger King
88 Ernie Irvan Robert Yates Racing Ford Texaco, Havoline
90 Mike Wallace Donlavey Racing Ford Heilig-Meyers
94 Bill Elliott Elliott-Hardy Racing Ford McDonald's
97 Chad Little Mark Rypien Motorsports Ford Bayer
98 Jeremy Mayfield Cale Yarborough Motorsports Ford RCA

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, October 27, at 4:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 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 28, at 3:00 PM EST. [4] As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 26-38 would be decided on time, and four spots would be determined by NASCAR Winston Cup Series provisionals, while two more additional provisionals would be given to teams in the Winston West Series.

Bill Elliott, driving for Elliott-Hardy Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 27.688 and an average speed of 130.020 miles per hour (209.247 km/h) in the first round. [5]

Eight drivers would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results

Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed
194 Bill Elliott Elliott-Hardy Racing Ford 27.688130.020
23 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 27.700129.964
324 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.738129.786
41 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Ford 27.741129.772
56 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 27.779129.594
62 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Ford 27.795129.520
711 Brett Bodine Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 27.806129.468
843 Bobby Hamilton Petty Enterprises Pontiac 27.865129.190
921 Morgan Shepherd Wood Brothers Racing Ford 27.889129.083
1042 Kyle Petty Team SABCO Pontiac 27.891129.074
1133 Robert Pressley (R) Leo Jackson Motorsports Chevrolet 27.930128.894
1216 Ted Musgrave Roush Racing Ford 27.968128.719
1337 John Andretti Kranefuss-Haas Racing Ford 27.971128.705
1488 Ernie Irvan Robert Yates Racing Ford 27.983128.650
1525 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.984128.645
165 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.994128.599
1798 Jeremy Mayfield Cale Yarborough Motorsports Ford 27.994128.599
1812 Derrike Cope Bobby Allison Motorsports Ford 27.999128.576
1926 Hut Stricklin King Racing Ford 28.005128.548
204 Sterling Marlin Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 28.012128.516
2117 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet 28.017128.493
2232 Greg Sacks Active Motorsports Chevrolet 28.027128.448
2318 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 28.056128.315
2427 Elton Sawyer Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 28.058128.306
258 Jeff Burton Stavola Brothers Racing Ford 28.064128.278
Failed to lock in Round 1
2628 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 28.067128.265
2781 Kenny Wallace FILMAR Racing Ford 28.073128.237
2823 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter Enterprises Ford 28.092128.150
2910 Ricky Rudd Rudd Performance Motorsports Ford 28.097128.128
3071 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 28.097128.128
319 Lake Speed Melling Racing Ford 28.099128.118
3215 Dick Trickle Bud Moore Engineering Ford 28.102128.105
3329 Steve Grissom Diamond Ridge Motorsports Chevrolet 28.182127.741
3422 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Pontiac 28.193127.691
3587 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 28.264127.371
3645 Ron Hornaday Jr. JTC Racing Chevrolet 28.337127.042
3730 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Pontiac 28.344127.011
3877 Bobby Hillin Jr. Jasper Motorsports Ford 28.360126.939
Winston Cup provisionals
397 Geoff Bodine Geoff Bodine Racing Ford -*-*
4041 Ricky Craven (R) Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet -*-*
4175 Todd Bodine Butch Mock Motorsports Ford -*-*
4290 Mike Wallace Donlavey Racing Ford -*-*
Winston West provisionals
4307 Doug George Olson Technology Racing Ford -*-*
4419 Ernie Cope Lew Miller Racing Chevrolet -*-*
Failed to qualify
4550 A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt Racing Ford -*-*
4697 Chad Little Mark Rypien Motorsports Ford -*-*
4708 Mike Bliss Ultra Motorsports Ford -*-*
4840 Shane Hall Dick Brooks Racing Pontiac -*-*
4900W Scott Gaylord Oliver Racing Ford -*-*
5058W Wayne Jacks Jacks Motorsports Pontiac -*-*
517W L. J. Pryor Red Eagle Racing Chevrolet -*-*
5236W Rich Woodland Jr. Gilliland Racing Chevrolet -*-*
Official first round qualifying results
Official starting lineup

Race results

FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings
12910 Ricky Rudd Rudd Performance Motorsports Ford 31263running180$78,260
21812 Derrike Cope Bobby Allison Motorsports Ford 31234running175$52,205
323 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31271running170$49,105
462 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Ford 31222running165$36,118
5324 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3120running155$33,580
61216 Ted Musgrave Roush Racing Ford 3120running150$25,420
7921 Morgan Shepherd Wood Brothers Racing Ford 3120running146$23,670
856 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 3120running142$28,670
941 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Ford 3120running138$22,270
101525 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3120running134$24,270
112628 Dale Jarrett Robert Yates Racing Ford 3120running130$26,070
12204 Sterling Marlin Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 3120running127$24,170
13165 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3120running124$25,670
14194 Bill Elliott Elliott-Hardy Racing Ford 3129running126$19,870
151337 John Andretti Kranefuss-Haas Racing Ford 3120running118$15,370
16397 Geoff Bodine Geoff Bodine Racing Ford 3120running115$24,570
17711 Brett Bodine Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 3120running112$22,870
183587 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 3110running109$13,745
191133 Robert Pressley (R) Leo Jackson Motorsports Chevrolet 3110running106$19,445
201798 Jeremy Mayfield Cale Yarborough Motorsports Ford 3110running103$11,110
213877 Bobby Hillin Jr. Jasper Motorsports Ford 3110running100$9,335
22319 Lake Speed Melling Racing Ford 3110running97$13,010
23258 Jeff Burton Stavola Brothers Racing Ford 3110running94$17,885
244041 Ricky Craven (R) Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet 3111running96$13,235
254175 Todd Bodine Butch Mock Motorsports Ford 3110running88$17,810
262781 Kenny Wallace FILMAR Racing Ford 3090running85$9,185
273645 Ron Hornaday Jr. JTC Racing Chevrolet 3070running82$9,660
283071 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 3060running79$12,435
293215 Dick Trickle Bud Moore Engineering Ford 3040running76$17,310
302427 Elton Sawyer Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 2980crash73$17,085
31843 Bobby Hamilton Petty Enterprises Pontiac 2930running70$12,160
323329 Steve Grissom Diamond Ridge Motorsports Chevrolet 2890running67$11,785
332823 Jimmy Spencer Travis Carter Enterprises Ford 2880running64$11,760
343730 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Pontiac 2770running61$16,235
351926 Hut Stricklin King Racing Ford 2430spoiler58$13,710
364290 Mike Wallace Donlavey Racing Ford 2401engine60$8,685
372318 Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 2350running52$21,665
382117 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet 2310oil belt49$13,605
391042 Kyle Petty Team SABCO Pontiac 2300crash46$14,605
401488 Ernie Irvan Robert Yates Racing Ford 197111engine53$20,605
414307 Doug George Olson Technology Racing Ford 1780crash40$8,605
423422 Ward Burton Bill Davis Racing Pontiac 1160engine37$13,605
432232 Greg Sacks Active Motorsports Chevrolet 380brakes34$8,605
444419 Ernie Cope Lew Miller Racing Chevrolet 190engine31$8,605
Failed to qualify
4550 A. J. Foyt A. J. Foyt Racing Ford
4697 Chad Little Mark Rypien Motorsports Ford
4708 Mike Bliss Ultra Motorsports Ford
4840 Shane Hall Dick Brooks Racing Pontiac
4900W Scott Gaylord Oliver Racing Ford
5058W Wayne Jacks Jacks Motorsports Pontiac
517W L. J. Pryor Red Eagle Racing Chevrolet
5236W Rich Woodland Jr. Gilliland Racing Chevrolet
Official race results

References

  1. Harris, Mike (October 30, 1995). "Rudd takes Dura-Lube victory; Earnhardt stays alive in points battle". The Times and Democrat. p. 13. Retrieved November 17, 2022 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  2. Armijo, Mark (October 30, 1995). "Rudd captures Dura-Lube 500". Arizona Republic. p. 24. Retrieved November 17, 2022 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  3. Higgins, Tom (October 30, 1995). "Rudd wins race; Gordon closes in on Winston title". Sun-News. p. 9. Retrieved November 17, 2022 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  4. "Dura-Lube 500". The Charlotte Observer . October 27, 1995. p. 31. Retrieved November 17, 2022 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  5. Harris, Mike (October 28, 1995). "Elliott claims pole, despite hardships". Wausau Daily Herald. p. 12. Retrieved November 17, 2022 via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
Previous race:
1995 AC Delco 400
NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1995 season
Next race:
1995 NAPA 500
Previous race:
1995 Spears Manufacturing 300
NASCAR Winston West Series
1995 season
Next race:
1996 NASCAR Winston West Series 150