1994 First Union 400

Race details
Race 7 of 31 in the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1994 First Union 400 program cover, featuring Rusty Wallace.
Date	April 17, 1994
Official name	44th Annual First Union 400
Location	North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.625 mi (1.006 km)
Distance	400 laps, 250 mi (402.336 km)
Scheduled Distance	400 laps, 250 mi (402.336 km)
Average speed	95.816 miles per hour (154.201 km/h)
Attendance	50,500
Pole position
Driver	Ernie Irvan	Robert Yates Racing
Time	18.905
Most laps led
Driver	Ernie Irvan	Robert Yates Racing
Laps	320
Winner
No. 5	Terry Labonte	Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1994 First Union 400 was the seventh stock car race of the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 44th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 17, 1994, in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina at the North Wilkesboro Speedway, a 0.625 miles (1.006 km) oval short track. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete. In a late-race charge, Hendrick Motorsports driver Terry Labonte would make a pass for the lead with 30 to go and hold off the field to take his 12th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his first victory of the season, and his first win in 135 races, having not won since the 1989 Talladega DieHard 500.^[1][2] To fill out the top three, Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace and Robert Yates Racing driver Ernie Irvan would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

The layout of North Wilkesboro Speedway, the venue where the race was held.

North Wilkesboro Speedway is a short oval racetrack located on U.S. Route 421, about five miles east of the town of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, or 80 miles north of Charlotte. It measures 0.625 mi (1.006 km) and features a unique uphill backstretch and downhill frontstretch. It has previously held races in NASCAR's top three series, including 93 Winston Cup Series races. The track, a NASCAR original, operated from 1949, NASCAR's inception, until the track's original closure in 1996. The speedway briefly reopened in 2010 and hosted several stock car series races before closing again in the spring of 2011. It was re-opened in August 2022 for grassroots racing.

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, April 15, at 3:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, April 16, at 12:15 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-34 would be decided on time,^[3] 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 was usually two. If needed, a past champion who did not qualify on either time or provisionals could use a champion's provisional, adding one more spot to the field.

Ernie Irvan, driving for Robert Yates Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 18.905 and an average speed of 119.016 miles per hour (191.538 km/h) in the first round.^[4]

Ten drivers would fail to qualify.

Race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Dale Earnhardt 1,119 2 Ernie Irvan 1,099 (-20) 3 Mark Martin 1,008 (-111) 4 Ken Schrader 981 (–138) 5 Lake Speed 939 (–180) 4 6 Rusty Wallace 886 (–233) 5 7 Terry Labonte 880 (–239) 8 Ricky Rudd 879 (–240) 3 9 Sterling Marlin 869 (–250) 1 10 Kyle Petty 865 (–254) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References