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 reaching up to 99.9 °F (37.7 °C); wind speeds up to 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 the American community of 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]

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.^[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.^[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.

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.^[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 ten finishers

Timeline

• 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 couldn't 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 on 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

References