1995 Goodwrench 500
The 1995 Goodwrench 500 was the second stock car race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 30th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, February 26, 1995, in Rockingham, North Carolina, at North Carolina Motor Speedway, a 1.017 miles (1.637 km) permanent high-banked racetrack. The race took the scheduled 393 laps to complete. At race's end, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would manage to dominate a majority of the race to take his third career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Bobby Labonte and Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 2 of 31 in the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1995 Goodwrench 500 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt. | |||
| Date | February 26, 1995 | ||
| Official name | 30th Annual Goodwrench 500 | ||
| Location | Rockingham, North Carolina, North Carolina Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 1.017 mi (1.637 km) | ||
| Distance | 492 laps, 500.364 mi (805.257 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 492 laps, 500.364 mi (805.257 km) | ||
| Average speed | 125.305 miles per hour (201.659 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 59,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 23.228 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 329 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 24 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | TNN | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Buddy Baker, Dick Berggren | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
Background
North Carolina Speedway was opened as a flat, one-mile oval on October 31, 1965. In 1969, the track was extensively reconfigured to a high-banked, D-shaped oval just over one mile in length. In 1997, North Carolina Motor Speedway merged with Penske Motorsports, and was renamed North Carolina Speedway. Shortly thereafter, the infield was reconfigured, and competition on the infield road course, mostly by the SCCA, was discontinued. Currently, the track is home to the Fast Track High Performance Driving School.[3]
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, February 24, at 2:00 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, February 25, at 11:30 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,[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 four 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.
Jeff Gordon, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 23.228 and an average speed of 157.620 miles per hour (253.665 km/h) in the first round.[5]
Five drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
References
- Harris, Mike (February 27, 1995). "Gordon's star grows brighter with Goodwrench 500 win". The Park City Daily News. p. 10. Retrieved December 27, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (February 27, 1995). "Gordon simply unsinkable at Rockingham". The Bradenton Herald. p. 22. Retrieved December 27, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Fast Track High Performance Driving School, Inc". Fasttrackracing.com. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
- "Nuts and Bolts". The Charlotte Observer. February 24, 1995. p. 23. Retrieved December 27, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- Harris, Mike (February 25, 1995). "Gordon wins Goodwrench 500 pole". The Daily News-Journal. p. 10. Retrieved December 27, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.