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Date July 16, 1995 (1995-July-16) Official name Van Scoy Diamond Mine 500 Location Pocono International Raceway, Long Pond, Pennsylvania Course Permanent racing facility
2.500 mi (3.400 km) Distance 200 laps, 501.0 mi (804 km) Weather Temperatures reaching up to 99.9 °F (37.7 °C); wind speeds up to 13 miles per hour (21 km/h) | ||
The 1995 Miller Genuine Draft 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event held on July 16, 1995, at Pocono International Raceway in the American community of Long Pond, Pennsylvania.
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Background
Pocono Raceway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races; the others are Daytona International Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Pocono Raceway is a three-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked differently; the first is banked at 14°, the second turn at 8° and the final turn with 6°. However, each of the three straightaways are banked at 2°.
Summary
Randy MacDonald and Terry Byers were the only two drivers not to qualify for this event. Nearly 13% of the race was held under a caution flag and the average green flag run was slightly more than 29 laps. Bill Elliott, Mark Martin, and Morgan Shepherd's good qualifying runs made this the first race of 1995 where Fords started 1-2-3. Elliott's pole was his first of the season, earning him a spot in the 1996 Busch Clash.
41 drivers were a part of this race; all of them were born in the United States of America. Dale Jarrett managed to defeat Jeff Gordon almost two-tenths of a second after a duel over the last 20 laps. Jarrett, however, ran out of gas coming to the checkered flag; needing Michael Waltrip's help to be pushed to victory lane. Formal attendance records were never kept for this three-hour-and-forty-nine-minute racing event.
Speeds during this race reached up to 134.038 miles per hour (215.713 km/h) and 37 changes were made to the leader's position. Five cautions were given out for a total duration of 25 laps; primarily for debris and accidents. Three drivers were considered the odds-on favorite going into the actual race: Ted Musgrave, Derrike Cope and Steve Grissom. This race was the most competitive (37 lead changes among 13 drivers) since 1983 and once again the lead changed twice a lap on several laps.