Official name NAPA 500 | ||
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Date November 12, 1995 (1995-November-12) Course Permanent racing facility1.522 mi (2.449 km) Distance 328 laps, 499.2 mi (803.3 km) Weather Temperatures ranging between 30 °F (−1 °C) and 66 °F (19 °C); wind speeds reaching up to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h) | ||
The 1995 NAPA 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on November 12, 1995, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia.
Contents
Background
Atlanta Motor Speedway is one of ten intermediate to hold NASCAR races; the others are Charlotte Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Darlington Raceway, Homestead Miami Speedway, Kansas Speedway, Kentucky Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and Texas Motor Speedway. The standard track at Atlanta Motor Speedway is a four-turn quad-oval track that is 1.54 miles (2.48 km) long. The track's turns are banked at twenty-four degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, and the back stretch are banked at five.
Summary
Dale Earnhardt defeated Sterling Marlin by nearly four seconds after 22 lead changes and two grueling cautions for 11 laps. Earnhardt started in 11th place and came back from behind to win this race; which lasted for more than three hours and was the final race in NASCAR's pre-Internet era. Darrell Waltrip would earn the race's pole position with a lightning fast qualifying speed of 185.046 miles per hour or 297.803 kilometres per hour. Ken Schrader would earn the last-place position of the race due to an engine problem on the 92nd lap of this 328-lap race. The #26 of Hut Stricklin would be involved in an accident on the third turn. Billy Standridge, Jack Sprague, Mike Wallace, Shane Hall, Delma Cowart, and Eric Smith would fail to qualify for this race. Out of the 42-driver grid, only six of them would not finish the race. All 42 of the qualifying drivers were born in the United States of America.
Most of the field would have Chevrolet and Ford as their manufacturer while Pontiac would bring a limited amount of vehicles. The average speed of the race was 163.632 miles per hour or 263.340 kilometres per hour. Jeff Gordon would go on to win the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series championship after this race.
There was an opportunity for Dale Earnhardt to defeat Jeff Gordon by one point. Had Dale Earnhardt won the race and Jeff Gordon either finished in 42nd place or last place, Earnhardt would have won the championship. Jeff Purvis was used as a start-and-park driver to guarantee that Jeff would win the championship that year. Kenny Bernstein would retire from his career as a NASCAR team owner to spend more time with his family after this race.