1994 DieHard 500

Race details
Race 18 of 31 in the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1994 DieHard 500 program cover
Date	July 24, 1994
Official name	26th Annual DieHard 500
Location	Lincoln, Alabama, Talladega Superspeedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.66 mi (4.28 km)
Distance	188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km)
Scheduled Distance	188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km)
Average speed	163.217 miles per hour (262.672 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Dale Earnhardt	Richard Childress Racing
Time	49.496
Most laps led
Driver	Ernie Irvan	Robert Yates Racing
Laps	90
Winner
No. 27	Jimmy Spencer	Junior Johnson & Associates
Television in the United States
Network	CBS
Announcers	Ken Squier, Ned Jarrett, Richard Petty
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1994 DieHard 500 was the 18th stock car race of the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 26th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, July 24, 1994, in Lincoln, Alabama, at Talladega Superspeedway, a 2.66-mile (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 188 laps to complete. In the final nineteen laps of the race, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Jimmy Spencer would manage to hold off the field to take his second and final career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season.^[1][2] To fill out the top three, teammate Bill Elliott and Robert Yates Racing driver Ernie Irvan would finish second and third, respectively. With his third place finish, Irvan would regain the points lead in the overall driver's standings.^[3]

Background

The layout of Talladega Superspeedway, the venue where the race was held.

Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a tri-oval and was constructed in the 1960s by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line that's located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval, a 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which also is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) tri-oval.

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, July 22, 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 23, at 11:45 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 would be decided on time,^[4] 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; up to two provisionals were given. 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.

Dale Earnhardt, driving for Richard Childress Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 49.496 and an average speed of 193.470 miles per hour (311.360 km/h) in the first round.^[5]

Ten drivers would fail to qualify.

Race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Ernie Irvan 2,739 1 2 Dale Earnhardt 2,723 (-16) 1 3 Mark Martin 2,481 (-258) 1 4 Rusty Wallace 2,450 (–289) 1 5 Ken Schrader 2,382 (–357) 1 6 Morgan Shepherd 2,348 (–391) 7 Ricky Rudd 2,339 (–400) 8 Michael Waltrip 2,152 (–587) 1 9 Lake Speed 2,091 (–648) 1 10 Jeff Gordon 2,078 (–661) Official driver's standings Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References