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1994 Purolator 500

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1994 Purolator 500
Race details
Race 4 of 31 in the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1994 Purolator 500 program cover, featuring Morgan Shepherd, Bill Elliott, and David Pearson. Artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass.
The 1994 Purolator 500 program cover, featuring Morgan Shepherd, Bill Elliott, and David Pearson. Artwork by NASCAR artist Sam Bass.
Date March 13, 1994
Official name 35th Annual Purolator 500
Location Hampton, Georgia, Atlanta Motor Speedway
Course Permanent racing facility
1.522 mi (2.449 km)
Distance 328 laps, 499.216 mi (803.41 km)
Scheduled Distance 328 laps, 499.216 mi (803.41 km)
Average speed 146.136 miles per hour (235.183 km/h)
Attendance 102,000
Pole position
Driver TriStar Motorsports
Time 30.405
Most laps led
Driver Ernie Irvan Robert Yates Racing
Laps 207
Winner
No. 28 Ernie Irvan Robert Yates Racing
Television in the United States
Network ABC
Announcers Bob Jenkins, Benny Parsons
Radio in the United States
Radio Motor Racing Network

The 1994 Purolator 500 was the fourth stock car race of the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 35th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 13, 1994, in Hampton, Georgia at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a 1.522 miles (2.449 km) permanent asphalt quad-oval intermediate speedway. The race took the scheduled 328 laps to complete. At race's end, Robert Yates Racing driver Ernie Irvan would manage to complete a dominant performance for the majority of the race to take his 11th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his second victory of the season, and his second straight victory.[1][2] To fill out the top three, Wood Brothers Racing driver Morgan Shepherd and owner-driver Darrell Waltrip would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

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The layout of Atlanta Motor Speedway, the circuit where the race was held.

Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly Atlanta International Raceway) is a 1.522-mile race track in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car races since its inauguration in 1960.

The venue was bought by Speedway Motorsports in 1990. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two intermediate ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval, with a new official length of 1.54-mile (2.48 km) where before it was 1.522-mile (2.449 km). The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.

Entry list

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  • (R) - denotes rookie driver.
# Driver Team Make Sponsor
1 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Ford Skoal
2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Ford Miller Genuine Draft
02 Curtis Markham Taylor Racing Ford Children's Miracle Network Hospitals
3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet GM Goodwrench Service Plus
4 Sterling Marlin Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet Kodak
5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Kellogg's Frosted Flakes
6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford Valvoline
7 Geoff Bodine Geoff Bodine Racing Ford Exide
8 Jeff Burton (R) Stavola Brothers Racing Ford Raybestos
9 Rich Bickle (R) Melling Racing Ford Melling Racing
10 Ricky Rudd Rudd Performance Motorsports Ford Tide
11 Bill Elliott Junior Johnson & Associates Ford Budweiser
12 Chuck Bown Bobby Allison Motorsports Ford Crown Fiber
14 John Andretti (R) Hagan Racing Chevrolet Freedom Village USA, Kanawha Insurance
15 Lake Speed Bud Moore Engineering Ford Ford Quality Care
16 Ted Musgrave Roush Racing Ford The Family Channel
17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet Western Auto
18 Dale Jarrett Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet Interstate Batteries
19 Loy Allen Jr. (R) TriStar Motorsports Ford Hooters
20 Buddy Baker Moroso Racing Ford FINA
21 Morgan Shepherd Wood Brothers Racing Ford Citgo
22 Bobby Labonte Bill Davis Racing Pontiac Maxwell House
23 Hut Stricklin Travis Carter Enterprises Ford Smokin' Joe's
24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet DuPont
25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Kodiak
26 Brett Bodine King Racing Ford Quaker State
27 Jimmy Spencer Junior Johnson & Associates Ford McDonald's
28 Ernie Irvan Robert Yates Racing Ford Texaco, Havoline
29 Steve Grissom Diamond Ridge Motorsports Chevrolet Diamond Ridge Motorsports
30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Pontiac Pennzoil
31 Ward Burton A.G. Dillard Motorsports Chevrolet Hardee's
32 Dick Trickle Active Motorsports Chevrolet Active Trucking
33 Harry Gant Leo Jackson Motorsports Chevrolet Skoal Bandit
40 Bobby Hamilton SABCO Racing Pontiac Kendall
41 Joe Nemechek (R) Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet Meineke
42 Kyle Petty SABCO Racing Pontiac Mello Yello
43 Wally Dallenbach Jr. Petty Enterprises Pontiac STP
47 Billy Standridge (R) Johnson Standridge Racing Ford Johnson Standridge Racing
51 Jeff Purvis Phoenix Racing Chevrolet Country Time
55 Jimmy Hensley RaDiUs Motorsports Ford Petron Plus
61 Rick Carelli Chesrown Racing Chevrolet Total Petroleum
71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet Southwest Technical Group
75 Todd Bodine Butch Mock Motorsports Ford Factory Stores of America
77 Greg Sacks U.S. Motorsports Inc. Ford US Airways
80 Jimmy Horton Hover Motorsports Ford Hover Motorsports
89 Jim Sauter Mueller Brothers Racing Ford Bull's-Eye Barbecue Sauce, Kraft Handi-Snacks
90 Mike Wallace (R) Donlavey Racing Ford Heilig-Meyers
95 Jeremy Mayfield (R) Sadler Brothers Racing Ford Shoney's
98 Derrike Cope Cale Yarborough Motorsports Ford Fingerhut
99 Danny Sullivan Virtue Racing Chevrolet Checkers and Rally's

Qualifying

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Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 11, at 2:30 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, March 12, at 10:30 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,[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.

Loy Allen Jr., driving for TriStar Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 30.405 and an average speed of 180.207 miles per hour (290.015 km/h) in the first round.[4]

Eight drivers would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results

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Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 19 Loy Allen Jr. (R) TriStar Motorsports Ford 30.405 180.207
2 7 Geoff Bodine Geoff Bodine Racing Ford 30.469 179.829
3 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.510 179.587
4 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 30.541 179.405
5 41 Joe Nemechek (R) Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.554 179.328
6 9 Rich Bickle (R) Melling Racing Ford 30.560 179.293
7 28 Ernie Irvan Robert Yates Racing Ford 30.566 179.258
8 31 Ward Burton (R) A.G. Dillard Motorsports Chevrolet 30.605 179.030
9 12 Chuck Bown Bobby Allison Motorsports Ford 30.606 179.024
10 77 Greg Sacks U.S. Motorsports Inc. Ford 30.626 178.907
11 33 Harry Gant Leo Jackson Motorsports Chevrolet 30.669 178.656
12 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Ford 30.681 178.586
13 8 Jeff Burton (R) Stavola Brothers Racing Ford 30.691 178.528
14 21 Morgan Shepherd Wood Brothers Racing Ford 30.724 178.336
15 26 Brett Bodine King Racing Ford 30.725 178.330
16 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 30.744 178.220
17 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.752 178.174
18 02 Curtis Markham Taylor Racing Ford 30.833 177.706
19 75 Todd Bodine Butch Mock Motorsports Ford 30.847 177.625
20 32 Dick Trickle Active Motorsports Chevrolet 30.871 177.487
Failed to lock in Round 1
21 11 Bill Elliott Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 30.885 177.407
22 10 Ricky Rudd Rudd Performance Motorsports Ford 30.897 177.338
23 4 Sterling Marlin Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 30.902 177.309
24 25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 30.910 177.263
25 27 Jimmy Spencer Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 30.927 177.166
26 14 John Andretti (R) Hagan Racing Chevrolet 30.950 177.034
27 42 Kyle Petty SABCO Racing Pontiac 30.966 176.942
28 51 Jeff Purvis Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 31.009 176.697
29 98 Derrike Cope Cale Yarborough Motorsports Ford 31.031 176.572
30 22 Bobby Labonte Bill Davis Racing Pontiac 31.033 176.560
31 29 Steve Grissom (R) Diamond Ridge Motorsports Chevrolet 31.043 176.504
32 30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Pontiac 31.054 176.441
33 40 Bobby Hamilton SABCO Racing Pontiac 31.069 176.356
34 15 Lake Speed Bud Moore Engineering Ford 31.076 176.316
35 16 Ted Musgrave Roush Racing Ford 31.100 176.180
36 18 Dale Jarrett Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 31.112 176.112
37 1 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Ford 31.114 176.101
38 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 31.118 176.078
39 23 Hut Stricklin Travis Carter Enterprises Ford 31.121 176.061
40 17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet 31.135 175.982
Provisionals
41 55 Jimmy Hensley RaDiUs Motorsports Ford -* -*
42 90 Mike Wallace (R) Donlavey Racing Ford -* -*
Failed to qualify
43 43 Wally Dallenbach Jr. Petty Enterprises Pontiac -* -*
44 61 Rick Carelli Chesrown Racing Chevrolet -* -*
45 20 Buddy Baker Moroso Racing Ford -* -*
46 47 Billy Standridge (R) Johnson Standridge Racing Ford -* -*
47 89 Jim Sauter Mueller Brothers Racing Ford -* -*
48 80 Jimmy Horton Hover Motorsports Ford -* -*
49 99 Danny Sullivan Virtue Racing Chevrolet -* -*
50 95 Jeremy Mayfield (R) Sadler Brothers Racing Ford -* -*
Official first round qualifying results
Official starting lineup

Race results

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Fin St # Driver Team Make Laps Led Status Pts Winnings
1 7 28 Ernie Irvan Robert Yates Racing Ford 328 207 running 185 $86,100
2 14 21 Morgan Shepherd Wood Brothers Racing Ford 328 1 running 175 $48,300
3 40 17 Darrell Waltrip Darrell Waltrip Motorsports Chevrolet 328 14 running 170 $44,450
4 13 8 Jeff Burton (R) Stavola Brothers Racing Ford 328 87 running 165 $32,600
5 4 6 Mark Martin Roush Racing Ford 327 0 running 155 $30,300
6 34 15 Lake Speed Bud Moore Engineering Ford 327 0 running 150 $24,850
7 10 77 Greg Sacks U.S. Motorsports Inc. Ford 327 0 running 146 $14,050
8 17 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 326 0 running 142 $21,550
9 22 10 Ricky Rudd Rudd Performance Motorsports Ford 326 0 running 138 $12,350
10 25 27 Jimmy Spencer Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 326 0 running 134 $17,500
11 35 16 Ted Musgrave Roush Racing Ford 326 0 running 130 $18,520
12 16 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 325 0 running 127 $24,550
13 27 42 Kyle Petty SABCO Racing Pontiac 325 0 running 124 $21,580
14 3 5 Terry Labonte Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 325 9 running 126 $21,360
15 30 22 Bobby Labonte Bill Davis Racing Pontiac 325 0 running 118 $17,880
16 24 25 Ken Schrader Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 325 0 running 115 $17,270
17 39 23 Hut Stricklin Travis Carter Enterprises Ford 325 0 running 112 $10,060
18 5 41 Joe Nemechek (R) Larry Hedrick Motorsports Chevrolet 324 0 running 109 $13,440
19 33 40 Bobby Hamilton SABCO Racing Pontiac 322 0 running 106 $16,630
20 31 29 Steve Grissom (R) Diamond Ridge Motorsports Chevrolet 321 0 running 103 $10,310
21 28 51 Jeff Purvis Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 321 0 running 100 $9,600
22 1 19 Loy Allen Jr. (R) TriStar Motorsports Ford 321 0 running 97 $18,240
23 32 30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Pontiac 321 0 running 94 $16,030
24 12 2 Rusty Wallace Penske Racing South Ford 320 0 running 91 $21,495
25 23 4 Sterling Marlin Morgan–McClure Motorsports Chevrolet 318 0 running 88 $19,190
26 37 1 Rick Mast Precision Products Racing Ford 314 0 running 85 $11,635
27 42 90 Mike Wallace (R) Donlavey Racing Ford 314 0 running 82 $11,425
28 20 32 Dick Trickle Active Motorsports Chevrolet 311 0 rear end 79 $8,955
29 41 55 Jimmy Hensley RaDiUs Motorsports Ford 292 0 running 76 $11,140
30 11 33 Harry Gant Leo Jackson Motorsports Chevrolet 288 0 running 73 $14,905
31 15 26 Brett Bodine King Racing Ford 287 0 running 70 $14,745
32 21 11 Bill Elliott Junior Johnson & Associates Ford 284 0 engine 67 $14,585
33 19 75 Todd Bodine Butch Mock Motorsports Ford 284 0 engine 64 $10,490
34 29 98 Derrike Cope Cale Yarborough Motorsports Ford 215 0 crash 61 $9,955
35 36 18 Dale Jarrett Joe Gibbs Racing Chevrolet 205 2 engine 63 $19,820
36 38 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 122 0 engine 55 $10,380
37 6 9 Rich Bickle (R) Melling Racing Ford 101 0 engine 52 $8,365
38 2 7 Geoff Bodine Geoff Bodine Racing Ford 73 8 engine 54 $14,150
39 18 02 Curtis Markham Taylor Racing Ford 32 0 crash 46 $8,325
40 8 31 Ward Burton (R) A.G. Dillard Motorsports Chevrolet 24 0 engine 43 $8,285
41 9 12 Chuck Bown Bobby Allison Motorsports Ford 6 0 engine 40 $12,285
42 26 14 John Andretti (R) Hagan Racing Chevrolet 5 0 crash 37 $12,785
Failed to qualify
43 43 Wally Dallenbach Jr. Petty Enterprises Pontiac
44 61 Rick Carelli Chesrown Racing Chevrolet
45 20 Buddy Baker Moroso Racing Ford
46 47 Billy Standridge (R) Johnson Standridge Racing Ford
47 89 Jim Sauter Mueller Brothers Racing Ford
48 80 Jimmy Horton Hover Motorsports Ford
49 99 Danny Sullivan Virtue Racing Chevrolet
50 95 Jeremy Mayfield (R) Sadler Brothers Racing Ford
Official race results

Standings after the race

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References

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  1. ^ Harris, Mike (March 14, 1994). "Irvan Captures Atlanta Victory". Valley News. p. 16. Retrieved November 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  2. ^ Thompson, Chuck (March 14, 1994). "Irvan breaks new ground with second straight NASCAR win". Muncie Evening Press. p. 21. Retrieved November 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  3. ^ "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. March 10, 1996. p. 31. Retrieved November 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ^ Harris, Mike (March 12, 1994). "Rookie Allen races to 2nd pole". Messenger-Inquirer. p. 17. Retrieved November 21, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
Previous race:
1994 Pontiac Excitement 400
NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1994 season
Next race:
1994 TranSouth Financial 400