| Race details[1][2] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 19 of 31 in the1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 1995 Brickyard 400 program cover | |||
| Date | August 5, 1995 (1995-08-05) | ||
| Location | Indianapolis Motor Speedway,Indianapolis,Indiana | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 2.5 miles (4.0 km) | ||
| Distance | 160 laps, 400 mi (643 km) | ||
| Weather | Warm with temperatures approaching 79 °F (26 °C); wind speeds up to 14 miles per hour (23 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 155.206 miles per hour (249.780 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Bill Elliott | Elliott-Hardy Racing | |
| Laps | 47 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins Benny Parsons | ||
The1995 Brickyard 400, the second running of theevent, was aNASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on Saturday August 5, 1995. It was the 19th race of the1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The race, contested over 160 laps, was won byDale Earnhardt driving forRichard Childress. Rusty Wallace driving forRoger Penske finished second andDale Jarrett driving forRobert Yates finished third.
The popular event returned for a second year, after the tremendous success of thefirst running. The weekend was expanded by the addition of practice on Wednesday afternoon. Defending race winnerJeff Gordon won the pole position, his first of three Brickyard poles. Rain washed out the second round of qualifying, and threated to wash out race day as well. After a lengthy delay, the race got started in the late afternoon, and ran well into the evening. Due to the rain delay, the race was not televised live, one of the last NASCAR races not broadcast live.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of sixsuperspeedways to holdNASCAR races, the others beingMichigan International Speedway,Auto Club Speedway,Daytona International Speedway,Pocono Raceway andTalladega Superspeedway.[3] The standard track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a four-turn rectangular-oval track that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.[4] The track's turns arebanked at 9degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, has no banking. The back stretch, opposite of the front, also has none.[4] The racetrack has seats for 250,000 spectators.[5]
Before the race,Jeff Gordon led theDrivers' Championship with 2,705 points, withSterling Marlin in second andDale Earnhardt in third.Mark Martin andTed Musgrave filled the next two positions, withMorgan Shepherd,Rusty Wallace,Michael Waltrip,Terry Labonte andBill Elliott rounded out the top ten.[6] Gordon was the race's defending champion.[7]
Defending race winnerJeff Gordon won the pole position on Thursday August 3 with a stock car track record speed of 172.536 mph. A hot day saw most speeds down, and Gordon was the only driver to break the existing track record.Bobby Hamilton put the fans on their feet when he put the popularPetty #43Pontiac car on the outside of the front row with a run of 172.222 mph. Others that made the field includedSterling Marlin,Bill Elliott,Dale Earnhardt andMark Martin.
The first day of qualifying was scheduled to lock-in starting positions 1st–20th.Darrell Waltrip (170.380 mph) qualified 20th, the last car locked-in.Robert Pressley was 21st, the first car that missed out on speed. Others that failed to make the top twenty wereRicky Rudd,Rusty Wallace,Geoff Bodine, andDale Jarrett.A. J. Foyt ranked 47th out of 48 cars.
The second round of qualifying was scheduled for Friday August 4, to fill positions 21st–38th. Positions 39th–43rd were to be set aside for provisionals. Teams were permitted to stand on their times from Thursday, or erase their time and re-qualify from scratch.
The remnants ofHurricane Erin overtook themidwest, and rain settled in for two days.[8] Friday morning practice was lost, and second round qualifying was also rained out. As a result, all cars reverted to their time trials speed from the first round, and the field was filled accordingly. Without an opportunity in second round qualifying,A. J. Foyt notably failed to qualify, the first time he failed to qualify in a race he attempted at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 1958. The field managed a brief "happy hour" practice late Friday evening, then rain began to fall again.
Steve Grissom,Mike Wallace, andElton Sawyer were assigned provisionals, and the field was set at 41 cars. The former champion's provisional was not needed.
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On Saturday August 5, steady rain fell all morning, and threatened to wash out the day. The forecast was marginal for Sunday as well, threatening to wash out the whole weekend. Many fans left the grounds as local media speculated (and some erroneously reported) that the race would be postponed.[9] In an unexpected turn of events, at approximately 3:30 p.m. EST (4:30 p.m. EDT), the skies suddenly cleared, and track drying efforts began in earnest. The teams scrambled to get their cars prepared, and the field hastily lined up in the garage area. TheChevrolet C/K pace truck led them on to the track and the race began with many fans still scurrying to their seats. Many of the pit crews were also scrambling to get their equipment set up in the pit area. Some fans driving home on the interstate reportedly turned around and drove back to the track when the radio reported the race was starting.
The green flag dropped at 4:25 p.m. EST (5:25 p.m. EDT) with live coverage only on the radio. ABC-TV had already signed off and by then had decided to air the race on ESPN on tape delay on Sunday afternoon.[10] It stands as one of the last NASCAR races not aired live on television (the1996 DieHard 500 atTalladega, a CBS race, had its broadcast delayed a week, airing after the Brickyard 400, and the 2000 second-tier series Coca-Cola 300 atTexas Motor Speedway, also a CBS race, had its broadcast cancelled, a ploy by MTV Networks). ABC's decision prompted angry phone calls from their affiliate TV stations in North Carolina.[11] A maximum of 35 races starting in 2025 to 2031 will not be broadcast on linear television, with coverage exclusively for theMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio's OTT service.
Because of the rain earlier in the day, the starting grid was assembled in the garage area rather than along pit lane or frontstretch as normal. After the command to start engines, the field emerged from behind the pit road grandstands near turn one to begin their pace laps. While this was the only time such a situation occurred, it nevertheless provided for an impromptu, yet dramatic entrance of the cars onto the race track.
Dale Earnhardt beatRusty Wallace to the finish line, in a race slowed by only one caution for four laps.Jeff Burton spun off turn two right in front of eventual winner Earnhardt with 27 laps to go. The race was completed at 7:03 p.m. EST (8:03 p.m. EDT), shortly before sunset. It was the latest cars had ever raced at Indianapolis until the2017 Brickyard 400, which ended at 8:57 p.m. EDT (Indiana had begun daylight saving time observation by the time). Since 2022, theIntercontinental GT Challenge Indianapolis 8 Hours has featured a finish in darkness past 8:00 p.m. EDT. The latest finish to an Indianapolis 500 was in2024, which after rain and lightning delays started at 4:44 p.m. EDT and finished at 7:43 p.m. EDT, 32 minutes before a curfew time of 8:15 p.m. EDT imposed by Marion County authorities.
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The 1995 Brickyard 400 was supposed to be carried live on television byABC Sports.Paul Page, who was the announcer on ABC's Indianapolis 500 broadcasts, served as host.Bob Jenkins and1973Cup Series championBenny Parsons called the race from the broadcast booth.Jerry Punch,Jack Arute andGary Gerould handled pit road for the television side. Due to a rain delay, ABC left the race and it was aired the following day onESPN.
| ABC /ESPN | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Host | Booth announcers | Pit reporters | |
| Lap-by-lap | Color-commentators | ||
| Paul Page | Bob Jenkins | Benny Parsons | Jerry Punch Jack Arute Gary Gerould |
