| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 8 of 31 in the1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1994 Hanes 500 program cover, featuringRusty Wallace. | |||
| Date | April 24, 1994 | ||
| Official name | 45th Annual Hanes 500 | ||
| Location | Martinsville, Virginia,Martinsville Speedway | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 0.526 miles (0.847 km) | ||
| Distance | 356 laps, 187.256 mi (301.359 km) | ||
| Scheduled distance | 500 laps, 263 mi (423.257 km) | ||
| Average speed | 76.7 miles per hour (123.4 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 59,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Penske Racing South | ||
| Time | 20.374 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Rusty Wallace | Penske Racing South | |
| Laps | 317 | ||
| 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 | ||
The1994 Hanes 500 was the eighthstock car race of the1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 45th iteration of theevent. The race was held on Sunday, April 24, 1994, inMartinsville, Virginia atMartinsville Speedway, a 0.526 miles (0.847 km) permanent oval-shaped short track. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. In the final laps of the race,Penske Racing South driverRusty Wallace would be able to defendRobert Yates Racing driverErnie Irvan to complete a comeback from a speeding penalty midway through the race, retaking the lead on lap 433. The race was Wallace's 33rd careerNASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three, the aforementioned Ernie Irvan andRoush Racing driverMark Martin would finish second and third, respectively. With his second-place finish, Irvan was able to regain the overall points lead in the driver's championship fromDale Earnhardt.
Martinsville Speedway is aNASCAR-owned stock car racing track located inHenry County, inRidgeway, Virginia, just to the south ofMartinsville. At 0.526 miles (0.847 km) in length, it is the shortest track in theNASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first pavedoval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 byH. Clay Earles. It is also the only remaining race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948.
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, April 22, at 3:00 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, April 23, at 12:30 PMEST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-34 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.
Rusty Wallace, driving forPenske Racing South, would win the pole, setting a time of 20.374 and an average speed of 92.942 miles per hour (149.576 km/h) in the first round.[4]
Eight drivers would fail to qualify.
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| Previous race: 1994 First Union 400 | NASCAR Winston Cup Series 1994 season | Next race: 1994 Winston Select 500 |
