1995 Miller Genuine Draft 500 (July)

1995 Miller Genuine Draft 500

Race details[1]
Race 17 of 31 in the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Pocono Raceway, the race track where the race was held.
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 of 99.9 °F (37.7 °C); wind speeds of 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)
Average speed	134.038 miles per hour (215.713 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing
Most laps led
Driver	Rusty Wallace	Penske Racing
Laps	74
Winner
No. 28	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing
Television in the United States
Network	TBS
Announcers	Ken Squier Mike Wallace

The 1995 Miller Genuine Draft 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event held on July 16, 1995, at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

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.^[2] The standard track at Pocono Raceway is a three-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.^[3] 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°.^[3]

Race report[]

Randy MacDonald and 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 attempts at qualifying 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 . Ted Musgrave was on a roll heading into this race as he had a very solid 1995 and looked to be heading to his first career win. He also traditionally ran very well at Pocono so he was a very popular sleeper pick heading into the race after a strong qualifying run, but his race was almost over before it began. Ted had some valve issues that got repaired before the green even waved, but they sorted it out and he got running in time for the green and still managed to finish in fourth place.^[4]

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 really did need to get this win. At this time Yates was a stronger team than Gibbs and that's why Jarrett left Gibbs for Yates. It had to be tough for him watching Bobby Labonte go to victory lane a couple of times in the team he helped build while he struggled in one of the very top cars of the time. Ricky Craven led two laps just before the halfway point of the race. Notably, those two laps were a part of the six leads that he would lead in the 1995 Winston Cup Series season.^[4] 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.

This was the first top ten finish for Cale Yarborough Motorsports since May of 1993 when Derrike Cope drove the #98 Ford. Not only the first top ten finish for Cale but also the first career top ten finish for Jeremy Mayfield, who took over the ride one year earlier at this very event as a young rookie.^[4]

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 slowed the race for 25 laps; primarily for debris and accidents.^[4] Three drivers were considered the odds-on favorite going into the actual race: Ted Musgrave, Derrike Cope and Steve Grissom.^[5] 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.

Top 10 finishers[]

Timeline[]

Section reference: ^[4]

• Start of race: Bill Elliott started the race with the pole position.
• Lap 22: Caution for debris, ended on lap 25.
• Lap 38: Hut Stricklin had engine problems.
• Lap 76: Caution for debris, ended on lap 83.
• Lap 93: Ken Schrader's engine started acting up.
• Lap 97: Caution due to Bobby Labonte's accident, green flag racing resumed on lap 100.
• Lap 108: Derrike Cope just could not keep his engine working properly.
• Lap 136: John Andretti had an engine that suddenly quit on him.
• Lap 144: Jimmy Helmsey went off the track while attempting to make a turn, causing a caution that ended on lap 147.
• Lap 149: Kenny Wallace had a terminal crash, forcing him to end his race weekend early.
• Lap 156: Darrell Waltrip's engine stopped functioning properly.
• Lap 159: Caution due to a three-car collision, ended on lap 163.
• Lap 186: Dave Marcis realized that his engine stopped while he was still racing.
• Finish: Dale Jarrett was officially declared the winner of the event.

Standings after the race[]

Pos	Driver	Points[4]	Differential
1	Jeff Gordon	2553	0
2	Sterling Marlin	2447	-106
3	Ted Musgrave	2397	-156
4	Dale Earnhardt	2389	-164
5	Mark Martin	2380	-173
6	Terry Labonte	2141	-412
7	Rusty Wallace	2139	-414
8	Michael Waltrip	2069	-484
9	Morgan Shepherd	2060	-493
10	Bobby Labonte	2024	-529

References[]