1995 Save Mart Supermarkets 300
Tenth race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Motor car race
The 1995 Save Mart Supermarkets 300 was the tenth stock car race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series , the third race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston West Series , and the seventh iteration of the event . The race was held on Sunday, May 7, 1995, at the Grand Prix layout of Sears Point Raceway , a 2.52 miles (4.06 km) permanent road course layout. The race took the scheduled 74 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would manage to make a late-race pass on the leader with two laps to go to take his 65th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season.[ 1] [ 2] To fill out the top three, Roush Racing driver Mark Martin and Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
The layout of Sears Point Raceway used by NASCAR at the time.
Sears Point Raceway is one of two road courses to hold NASCAR races, the other being Watkins Glen International . The standard road course at Sears Point Raceway is a 12-turn course that is 2.52 miles (4.06 km) long;[ 3] the track was modified in 1998, adding the Chute , which bypassed turns 5 and 6, shortening the course to 1.95 miles (3.14 km). The Chute was only used for NASCAR events such as this race, and was criticized by many drivers, who preferred the full layout.[ 4] In 2001, it was replaced with a 70-degree turn , 4A, bringing the track to its current dimensions of 1.99 miles (3.20 km).[ 5]
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, May 5, at 6:30 PM EST . Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 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, May 6, at 1:00 PM EST . As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 26-37 would be decided on time,[ 6] and four spots would be determined by NASCAR Winston Cup Series provisionals, while two more additional provisionals would be given to teams in the Winston West Series.
Ricky Rudd , driving for Rudd Performance Motorsports , would win the pole, setting a time of 1:38.467 and an average speed of 92.132 miles per hour (148.272 km/h) in the first round.[ 7]
Eight drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
Fin
St
#
Driver
Team
Make
Laps
Led
Status
Pts
Winnings
1
4
3
Dale Earnhardt
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
74
2
running
180
$74,860
2
3
6
Mark Martin
Roush Racing
Ford
74
66
running
180
$68,915
3
5
24
Jeff Gordon
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
74
0
running
165
$41,625
4
1
10
Ricky Rudd
Rudd Performance Motorsports
Ford
74
4
running
165
$39,870
5
2
5
Terry Labonte
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
74
0
running
155
$35,020
6
12
16
Ted Musgrave
Roush Racing
Ford
74
0
running
150
$26,420
7
20
4
Sterling Marlin
Morgan–McClure Motorsports
Chevrolet
74
0
running
146
$27,670
8
26
75
Todd Bodine
Butch Mock Motorsports
Ford
74
0
running
142
$24,470
9
7
25
Ken Schrader
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
74
2
running
143
$28,920
10
13
30
Michael Waltrip
Bahari Racing
Pontiac
74
0
running
134
$17,215
11
25
37
John Andretti
Kranefuss-Haas Racing
Ford
74
0
running
130
$12,405
12
15
12
Derrike Cope
Bobby Allison Motorsports
Ford
74
0
running
127
$16,305
13
38
18
Bobby Labonte
Joe Gibbs Racing
Chevrolet
74
0
running
124
$23,050
14
21
43
Bobby Hamilton
Petty Enterprises
Pontiac
74
0
running
121
$15,405
15
27
21
Morgan Shepherd
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford
74
0
running
118
$19,905
16
39
1
Rick Mast
Precision Products Racing
Ford
74
0
running
115
$19,455
17
34
23
Jimmy Spencer
Travis Carter Enterprises
Ford
74
0
running
112
14,280
18
23
8
Jeff Burton
Stavola Brothers Racing
Ford
74
0
running
109
$19,130
19
19
94
Bill Elliott
Elliott-Hardy Racing
Ford
74
0
running
106
$10,505
20
6
2
Rusty Wallace
Penske Racing South
Ford
74
0
running
103
$25,680
21
14
31
Ward Burton
A.G. Dillard Motorsports
Chevrolet
74
0
running
100
$10,380
22
11
7
Geoff Bodine
Geoff Bodine Racing
Ford
74
0
running
97
24,955
23
9
28
Dale Jarrett
Robert Yates Racing
Ford
74
0
running
94
24,730
24
40
15
Dick Trickle
Bud Moore Engineering
Ford
74
0
running
91
$18,760
25
41
41
Ricky Craven (R)
Larry Hedrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
74
0
running
88
$14,650
26
28
29
Steve Grissom
Diamond Ridge Motorsports
Chevrolet
74
0
running
85
$13,530
27
37
71
Dave Marcis
Marcis Auto Racing
Chevrolet
74
0
running
82
$10,205
28
8
42
Kyle Petty
Team SABCO
Pontiac
74
0
running
79
$18,330
29
31
11
Brett Bodine
Junior Johnson & Associates
Ford
74
0
running
76
$23,120
30
29
33
Robert Pressley (R)
Leo Jackson Motorsports
Chevrolet
73
0
running
73
$18,690
31
42
07
Doug George
Olson Technology Racing
Ford
73
0
running
70
$10,005
32
30
22
Randy LaJoie (R)
Bill Davis Racing
Pontiac
70
0
running
67
$17,955
33
16
26
Hut Stricklin
King Racing
Ford
68
0
running
64
$17,920
34
10
90
Mike Wallace
Donlavey Racing
Ford
65
0
rear end
61
$12,405
35
17
17
Darrell Waltrip
Darrell Waltrip Motorsports
Chevrolet
64
0
running
58
$14,880
36
24
77
Davy Jones (R)
Jasper Motorsports
Ford
60
0
crash
55
$9,865
37
18
87
Joe Nemechek
NEMCO Motorsports
Chevrolet
58
0
running
52
$9,760
38
36
09
Terry Fisher
Fisher Racing
Pontiac
57
0
running
49
$9,760
39
32
45
Wally Dallenbach Jr.
Strauser Racing
Chevrolet
41
0
suspension
46
$9,760
40
22
9
Lake Speed
Melling Racing
Ford
32
0
running
43
$9,760
41
35
91
Ken Pedersen
Kenny Shaw Racing
Ford
25
0
handling
40
$9,760
42
33
38
Butch Gilliland
Stroppe Motorsports
Ford
19
0
engine
37
$9,760
43
43
72
Dan Obrist
Obrist Racing
Chevrolet
7
0
ignition
34
$9,760
Failed to qualify
44
40
Greg Sacks
Dick Brooks Racing
Pontiac
45
98
Jeremy Mayfield
Cale Yarborough Motorsports
Ford
46
27
Elton Sawyer
Junior Johnson & Associates
Ford
47
00W
Scott Gaylord
Oliver Racing
Ford
48
64
Garrett Evans
White Racing
Chevrolet
49
22W
St. James Davis
St. James Racing
Pontiac
50
19
Ernie Cope
Lew Miller Racing
Chevrolet
51
90W
Joe Heath
Heath Racing
Ford
Official race results
References
^ Spander, Art (May 8, 1995). "Earnhardt's one for the road" . The San Francisco Examiner . p. 49. Retrieved November 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Peterson, Anne M. (May 8, 1995). "Milestone win for Earnhardt" . Citizens' Voice . p. 56. Retrieved November 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "Sears Point" . www.gt-racing.co.uk . Retrieved 2021-11-13 .
^ "Passing is tough in Chute | chronicle.augusta.com" . 2011-06-07. Archived from the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2021-11-13 .
^ "SEARS POINT BREAKS GROUND ON MODIFIED CHUTE - RacingWest" . 2007-09-29. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2021-11-13 .
^ "Save Mart 300" . The Charlotte Observer . May 5, 1995. p. 28. Retrieved November 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Peterson, Anne M. (May 6, 1995). "Rudd sets record in winning Save Mart pole" . The Item . p. 15. Retrieved November 2, 2022 – via Newspapers.com .
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