1994 Pontiac Excitement 400
The 1994 Pontiac Excitement 400 was the third stock car race of the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 40th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 6, 1994, 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. On the final restart with 20 to go, Robert Yates Racing driver Ernie Irvan would manage to hold off the field, along with the help of a fast final pit stop to take his 10th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his first victory of the season, and the overall lead in the driver's championship.[1][2] To fill out the top three, Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace and Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 3 of 31 in the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1994 Pontiac Excitement 400 program cover. Artwork by Sam Bass. | |||
| Date | March 6, 1994 | ||
| Official name | 40th Annual Pontiac Excitement 400 | ||
| Location | Richmond, Virginia, Richmond International Raceway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 0.75 mi (1.21 km) | ||
| Distance | 400 laps, 300 mi (482.803 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 400 laps, 300 mi (482.803 km) | ||
| Average speed | 98.334 miles per hour (158.253 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Roush Racing | ||
| Time | 21.867 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Ernie Irvan | Robert Yates Racing | |
| Laps | 189 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 28 | Ernie Irvan | Robert Yates Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | TBS | ||
| Announcers | Ken Squier, Dave Marcis, Kenny Wallace | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
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 split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 4, 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, March 5, 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 21-34 would be decided on time,[3] 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 was usually two. 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.
Ted Musgrave, driving for Roush Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 21.867 and an average speed of 123.474 miles per hour (198.712 km/h) in the first round.[4]
Nine drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | 28 | Ernie Irvan | Robert Yates Racing | Ford | 400 | 189 | running | 185 | $71,175 |
| 2 | 12 | 2 | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | Ford | 400 | 96 | running | 175 | $39,575 |
| 3 | 8 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 400 | 2 | running | 170 | $34,000 |
| 4 | 9 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 400 | 10 | running | 165 | $29,550 |
| 5 | 19 | 42 | Kyle Petty | SABCO Racing | Pontiac | 400 | 0 | running | 155 | $26,500 |
| 6 | 2 | 6 | Mark Martin | Roush Racing | Ford | 400 | 27 | running | 155 | $23,150 |
| 7 | 4 | 1 | Rick Mast | Precision Products Racing | Ford | 400 | 30 | running | 151 | $9,725 |
| 8 | 13 | 26 | Brett Bodine | King Racing | Ford | 400 | 0 | running | 142 | $16,525 |
| 9 | 37 | 5 | Terry Labonte | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 400 | 1 | running | 143 | $20,825 |
| 10 | 22 | 18 | Dale Jarrett | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | running | 134 | $21,825 |
| 11 | 16 | 25 | Ken Schrader | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | running | 130 | $15,325 |
| 12 | 26 | 11 | Bill Elliott | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 399 | 0 | running | 127 | $15,025 |
| 13 | 1 | 16 | Ted Musgrave | Roush Racing | Ford | 399 | 45 | running | 129 | $19,375 |
| 14 | 30 | 15 | Lake Speed | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 399 | 0 | running | 121 | $17,575 |
| 15 | 32 | 21 | Morgan Shepherd | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 398 | 0 | running | 118 | $17,835 |
| 16 | 27 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Darrell Waltrip Motorsports | Chevrolet | 398 | 0 | running | 115 | $14,500 |
| 17 | 3 | 12 | Chuck Bown | Bobby Allison Motorsports | Ford | 398 | 0 | running | 112 | $14,300 |
| 18 | 34 | 10 | Ricky Rudd | Rudd Performance Motorsports | Ford | 398 | 0 | running | 109 | $7,250 |
| 19 | 6 | 4 | Sterling Marlin | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Chevrolet | 397 | 0 | running | 106 | $17,225 |
| 20 | 25 | 8 | Jeff Burton (R) | Stavola Brothers Racing | Ford | 397 | 0 | running | 103 | $15,350 |
| 21 | 11 | 41 | Joe Nemechek (R) | Larry Hedrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 397 | 0 | running | 100 | $9,850 |
| 22 | 10 | 27 | Jimmy Spencer | Junior Johnson & Associates | Ford | 397 | 0 | running | 97 | $9,725 |
| 23 | 15 | 29 | Steve Grissom (R) | Diamond Ridge Motorsports | Chevrolet | 396 | 0 | running | 94 | $7,550 |
| 24 | 31 | 22 | Bobby Labonte | Bill Davis Racing | Pontiac | 396 | 0 | running | 91 | $13,525 |
| 25 | 14 | 75 | Todd Bodine | Butch Mock Motorsports | Ford | 396 | 0 | running | 88 | $9,375 |
| 26 | 36 | 90 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 390 | 0 | running | 85 | $9,250 |
| 27 | 18 | 95 | Jeremy Mayfield (R) | Sadler Brothers Racing | Ford | 390 | 0 | running | 82 | $6,925 |
| 28 | 21 | 77 | Greg Sacks | U.S. Motorsports Inc. | Ford | 385 | 0 | running | 79 | $7,400 |
| 29 | 33 | 98 | Derrike Cope | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Ford | 381 | 0 | running | 76 | $9,075 |
| 30 | 24 | 14 | John Andretti (R) | Hagan Racing | Chevrolet | 355 | 0 | engine | 73 | $12,945 |
| 31 | 5 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Pontiac | 328 | 0 | running | 70 | $12,825 |
| 32 | 17 | 7 | Geoff Bodine | Geoff Bodine Racing | Ford | 301 | 0 | engine | 67 | $12,800 |
| 33 | 35 | 40 | Bobby Hamilton | SABCO Racing | Pontiac | 180 | 0 | engine | 65 | $12,285 |
| 34 | 28 | 33 | Harry Gant | Leo Jackson Motorsports | Chevrolet | 72 | 0 | accident | 62 | $11,775 |
| 35 | 29 | 31 | Ward Burton (R) | A.G. Dillard Motorsports | Chevrolet | 71 | 0 | piston | 59 | $6,775 |
| 36 | 23 | 55 | Jimmy Hensley | RaDiUs Motorsports | Ford | 50 | 0 | engine | 56 | $7,275 |
| 37 | 20 | 32 | Dick Trickle | Active Motorsports | Chevrolet | 1 | 0 | accident | 53 | $6,775 |
| Failed to qualify | ||||||||||
| 38 | 19 | Loy Allen Jr. (R) | TriStar Motorsports | Ford | ||||||
| 39 | 45 | Rich Bickle (R) | Terminal Trucking Motorsports | Ford | ||||||
| 40 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | ||||||
| 41 | 43 | Wally Dallenbach Jr. | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | ||||||
| 42 | 23 | Hut Stricklin | Travis Carter Enterprises | Ford | ||||||
| 43 | 47 | Billy Standridge (R) | Johnson Standridge Racing | Ford | ||||||
| 44 | 61 | Rick Carelli | Chesrown Racing | Chevrolet | ||||||
| 45 | 02 | T. W. Taylor | Taylor Racing | Ford | ||||||
| 46 | 66 | Mike Wallace (R) | Owen Racing | Chevrolet | ||||||
| Official race results | ||||||||||
Standings after the race
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
- Higgins, Tom (March 7, 1994). "Standout pit crew effort helps Irvan clinch victory". The Charlotte Observer. p. 31. Retrieved November 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- Pearce, Al (March 7, 1994). "Irvan cruises to win". Sun Herald. p. 29. Retrieved November 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Pontiac Excitement 400". The Charlotte Observer. March 3, 1996. p. 8. Retrieved November 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- Harris, Mike (March 5, 1994). "Musgrave earns pole over teammate Martin". The Indianapolis Star. p. 58. Retrieved November 20, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.