1995 Pontiac Excitement 400
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.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 3 of 31 in the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1995 Pontiac Excitement 400 program cover. | |||
| Date | March 5, 1995 | ||
| Official name | 41st 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 | 106.425 miles per hour (171.274 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 21.642 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | |
| Laps | 248 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 5 | Terry Labonte | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | TBS | ||
| Announcers | Ken Squier, Ernie Irvan, Chuck Bown | ||
| 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 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 124.757 miles per hour (200.777 km/h).[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
References
- Macenka, Joe (March 6, 1995). "Labonte wins second straight at Richmond". Messenger-Inquirer. p. 13. Retrieved October 27, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (March 6, 1995). "Excitement's plentiful as Labonte wins Pontiac 400". The Daily Herald. p. 8. Retrieved October 27, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (March 4, 1995). "Snow postpones qualifying". The Charlotte Observer. p. 20. Retrieved October 27, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Pontiac Excitement 400". The Charlotte Observer. March 3, 1995. p. 14. Retrieved October 27, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (March 5, 1995). "Qualifying deja vu: Gordon wins pole with record speed". The Charlotte Observer. p. 103. Retrieved October 27, 2022.