1995 Miller Genuine Draft 500

Race details
Race 17 of 31 in the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1995 Miller Genuine Draft 500 program cover, featuring Rusty Wallace. Artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass.
Date	July 16, 1995
Official name	23rd Annual Miller Genuine Draft 500
Location	Long Pond, Pennsylvania, Pocono Raceway
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.0 km)
Distance	200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Scheduled Distance	200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Average speed	134.038 miles per hour (215.713 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Bill Elliott	Elliott-Hardy Racing
Time	55.386
Most laps led
Driver	Rusty Wallace	Penske Racing South
Laps	74
Winner
No. 28	Dale Jarrett	Robert Yates Racing
Television in the United States
Network	TBS
Announcers	Ken Squier, Buddy Baker, Chad Little
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1995 Miller Genuine Draft 500 was the 17th stock car race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 23rd iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, July 16, 1995, in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, at Pocono Raceway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) triangular permanent course. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. Depending on fuel mileage, Robert Yates Racing driver Dale Jarrett would manage to stretch his last fuel run for 41 laps to take his fourth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season.^[1][2] To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon and Rudd Performance Motorsports driver Ricky Rudd would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

The layout of Pocono Raceway, the venue where the race was held.

The race was held at Pocono Raceway, which is a three-turn superspeedway located in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The track hosts two annual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, as well as one Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series event. Until 2019, the track also hosted an IndyCar Series race.

Pocono Raceway is one of a very few NASCAR tracks not owned by either Speedway Motorsports, Inc. or International Speedway Corporation. It is operated by the Igdalsky siblings Brandon, Nicholas, and sister Ashley, and cousins Joseph IV and Chase Mattioli, all of whom are third-generation members of the family-owned Mattco Inc, started by Joseph II and Rose Mattioli.

Outside of the NASCAR races, the track is used throughout the year by Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and motorcycle clubs as well as racing schools and an IndyCar race. The triangular oval also has three separate infield sections of racetrack – North Course, East Course and South Course. Each of these infield sections use a separate portion of the tri-oval to complete the track. During regular non-race weekends, multiple clubs can use the track by running on different infield sections. Also some of the infield sections can be run in either direction, or multiple infield sections can be put together – such as running the North Course and the South Course and using the tri-oval to connect the two.

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, July 7, at 4:00 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, July 8, at 11:00 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-38 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.

Bill Elliott, driving for Elliott-Hardy Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 55.386 and an average speed of 162.496 miles per hour (261.512 km/h).^[4]

Two drivers would fail to qualify.

Race results

References