1995 Hanes 500

Race details
Race 8 of 31 in the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1995 Hanes 500 program cover.
Date	April 23, 1995
Official name	46th Annual Hanes 500
Location	Martinsville, Virginia, Martinsville Speedway
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.526 mi (0.847 km)
Distance	356 laps, 187.256 mi (301.359 km)
Scheduled Distance	500 laps, 263 mi (423.257 km)
Average speed	72.145 miles per hour (116.106 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Bobby Labonte	Joe Gibbs Racing
Time	20.294
Most laps led
Driver	Rusty Wallace	Penske Racing South
Laps	175
Winner
No. 2	Rusty Wallace	Penske Racing South
Television in the United States
Network	ESPN
Announcers	Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons
Radio in the United States
Radio	Motor Racing Network

The 1995 Hanes 500 was the eighth stock car race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 39th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 23, 1995, in Martinsville, Virginia at Martinsville Speedway, a 0.526 miles (0.847 km) permanent oval-shaped short track. The race was shortened from its scheduled 500 laps to 356 laps due to impending darkness. At race's end, Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace was able to dominate the majority of the race when the race was called for darkness with delays of the race coming from a rain delay. The win was Wallace's 40th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.^[1][2] To fill out the top three, Roush Racing driver Ted Musgrave and Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

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

Martinsville Speedway is an NASCAR-owned stock car racing track located in Henry County, in Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At 0.526 miles (0.847 km) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. It is also the only remaining race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948.

Qualifying

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, April 21, 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 22, 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 21-32 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 four. 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.

Bobby Labonte, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 20.294 and an average speed of 93.308 miles per hour (150.165 km/h) in the first round.^[4]

Seven drivers would fail to qualify.

Race results

References