| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 18 of 31 in the1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1995 DieHard 500 program cover. | |||
| Date | July 23, 1995 | ||
| Official name | 27th Annual DieHard 500 | ||
| Location | Lincoln, Alabama,Talladega Superspeedway | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.66 miles (4.28 km) | ||
| Distance | 188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km) | ||
| Average speed | 173.188 miles per hour (278.719 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Morgan-McClure Motorsports | ||
| Time | 49.307 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 97 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 4 | Sterling Marlin | Morgan-McClure Motorsports | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | CBS | ||
| Announcers | Ken Squier,Ned Jarrett,Richard Petty | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
The1995 DieHard 500 was the 18thstock car race of the1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 27th iteration of theevent. The race was held on Sunday, July 23, 1995, inLincoln, Alabama, atTalladega Superspeedway, a 2.66-mile (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shapedsuperspeedway. The race took the scheduled 188 laps to complete. At race's end,Morgan–McClure Motorsports driverSterling Marlin would manage to dominate the late stages of the race to take his fourth careerNASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third and final victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three,Robert Yates Racing driverDale Jarrett andRichard Childress Racing driverDale Earnhardt would finish second and third, respectively.
On lap 139 of the race, a 13-car pileup started whenHendrick Motorsports driverJeff Gordon tapped the left rear of teammateKen Schrader, sending Schrader airborne. Schrader proceeded to flip numerous times end over end. In the carnage, 12 other cars suffered damage. Schrader suffered a bruised right eye in the wreck.[3]
Talladega Superspeedway, originally known asAlabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is amotorsports complex located north ofTalladega, Alabama. It is located on the formerAnniston Air Force Base in the small city ofLincoln. The track is atri-oval and was constructed in the 1960s by theInternational Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by theFrance 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 theNASCAR series such as theNASCAR Cup Series,Xfinity Series and theCamping World Truck Series. Talladega is the longestNASCAR oval, a 2.66-mile-long (4.28 km) tri-oval like theDaytona International Speedway, which also is a 2.5-mile-long (4.0 km) tri-oval.
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, July 21, at 4:00 PMEST. 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 22, at 11:45 AMEST. 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,[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; 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.
Sterling Marlin, driving forMorgan–McClure Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 49.307 and an average speed of 194.212 miles per hour (312.554 km/h) in the first round.[5]
Three drivers would fail to qualify.
The Diehard 500 was covered byCBS in the United States.Ken Squier, two-timeNASCAR Cup Series championNed Jarrett and1974 race winnerRichard Petty called the race from the broadcast booth.Mike Joy,David Hobbs andDick Berggren handled pit road for the television side. This would be the last raceRichard Petty would call for CBS as he would be replaced byBuddy Baker from 1996.
| CBS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Booth announcers | Pit reporters | |
| Lap-by-lap | Color-commentators | |
| Ken Squier | Ned Jarrett Richard Petty | Mike Joy David Hobbs Dick Berggren |
| Previous race: 1995 Miller Genuine Draft 500 (Pocono) | NASCAR Winston Cup Series 1995 season | Next race: 1995 Brickyard 400 |