1995 Brickyard 400

The 1995 Brickyard 400, the second running of the event, was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race held on Saturday August 5, 1995. It was the 19th race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. The race, contested over 160 laps, was won by Dale Earnhardt driving for Richard Childress. Rusty Wallace driving for Roger Penske finished second and Dale Jarrett driving for Robert Yates finished third.

The popular event returned for a second year, after the tremendous success of the first running. The weekend was expanded by the addition of practice on Wednesday afternoon. Defending race winner Jeff Gordon won the pole position, his first of three Brickyard poles. Rain washed out the second round of qualifying, and threatened 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.

Background

Indianapolis Motor Speedway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Daytona International Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a four-turn rectangular-oval track that is 2.5 miles (4.0km) long. The track's turns are banked at 9 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, has no banking. The back stretch, opposite of the front, also has none. The racetrack has seats for 250,000 spectators.

Before the race, Jeff Gordon led the Drivers' Championship with 2,705 points, with Sterling Marlin in second and Dale Earnhardt in third. Mark Martin and Ted Musgrave filled the next two positions, with Morgan Shepherd, Rusty Wallace, Michael Waltrip, Terry Labonte and Bill Elliott rounded out the top ten. Gordon was the race's defending champion.

A total of 53 cars were on the official entry list, but four were scratched. A total of 49 cars arrived to the garage area, down from at least 84 the year before. For 1995, drivers from the Winston West Series were not offered a provisional spot, thus very few showed up. In addition, much fewer one-off entries materialized.

Practice and qualifying

Wednesday August 2 – Practice

The schedule for the 1995 was expanded to add a practice session on Wednesday afternoon. A total of 48 cars took to the track, with Jeremy Mayfield the only car not taking laps. Jeff Gordon (171.894 mph) turned the fast lap, followed by Rusty Wallace and Bill Elliott. No incidents were reported.

Thursday August 3 – Pole qualifying

Defending race winner Jeff Gordon won the pole position with a stock car track record speed of 172.536mph. 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 popular Petty #43 Pontiac car on the outside of the front row with a run of 172.222mph. Others that made the field included Sterling Marlin, Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt and Mark 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 were Ricky Rudd, Rusty Wallace, Geoff Bodine, and Dale Jarrett. A. J. Foyt ranked 47th out of 48 cars.

Only two of the 50 cars entered failed to make a qualifying attempt. Joe Ruttman blew an engine during practice and was pulled out of the qualifying line. Danny Sullivan withdrew after suffering a career-ending crash at the Michigan 500 the weekend prior.

• Source: The Indianapolis Star

Friday August 4 – Second round qualifying

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 of Hurricane Erin overtook the midwest, and rain settled in for two days. 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 arriving as a rookie in 1958. The field managed a brief "happy hour" practice late Friday evening, then rain began to fall again.

Steve Grissom, Mike Wallace, and Elton Sawyer were assigned the provisionals, and the field was set at 41 cars. The former champion's provisional was not needed.

Failed to qualify

• 44-Jeff Purvis – Too slow
• 50-A. J. Foyt – Too slow
• 65-Steve Seligman – Too slow
• 66-Billy Standridge – Too slow
• 71-Dave Marcis – Too slow
• 78-Pancho Carter – Too slow
• 95-Loy Allen Jr. – Too slow
• 80-Joe Ruttman – Did not make an attempt
• 14-Randy MacDonald – Withdrew
• 84-Norm Benning – Withdrew
• 88-Gary Bradberry – Withdrew
• 73-Phil Barkdoll – Did not arrive
• 32-Chuck Bown – Replaced by Greg Sacks
• 99-Danny Sullivan – Withdrew after his career-ending crash in the Marlboro 500 at Michigan
• 95-Scott Brayton – Testing crash; replaced by Loy Allen Jr.

Race report

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. In an unexpected turn of events, at approximately 3:30p.m. EST (4:30p.m. EDT), the skies suddenly cleared, and track drying efforts began in earnest. The teams scrambled to get their cars prepared, and the field was told to line up at the exit of Gasoline Alley. NASCAR intended to start the race as soon as possible. The Chevrolet Silverado safety 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 IMS Radio anchor Mike Joy reported the race was starting. Pace laps allowed the cars to dry the track further in preparation for a start

The green flag dropped at 4:25p.m. EST (5:25p.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. It stands as one of the last NASCAR races not aired live on television (the 1996 DieHard 500 at Talladega, a CBS race, had its broadcast delayed a week, airing after the Brickyard 400, and the 2000 second-tier series Coca-Cola 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, also a CBS race, had its broadcast cancelled, a ploy by MTV Networks to close CBS offices in Charlotte and Nashville). ABC's decision prompted angry phone calls from their affiliate TV stations in North Carolina.

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 beat Rusty 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 7:03p.m. EST (8:03p.m. EDT), less than an hour before sunset. It was the latest cars had ever raced at Indianapolis until the 2017 Brantley Gilbert Big Machine Brickyard 400, which ended at 8:57p.m. EDT (Indiana had begun daylight saving time observation by the time). From 2022 to 2026, the Intercontinental GT Challenge Indianapolis 8 Hours has featured a finish in darkness past 8:00p.m. EDT. The latest finish to an Indianapolis 500 was in 2024, which after rain and lightning delays started at 4:44p.m. EDT and finished at 7:43p.m. EDT, 32 minutes before a curfew time of 8:15p.m. EDT imposed by Marion County authorities.

Race results

Race statistics

• Time of race: 2:34:38
• Average speed: 155.206 miles per hour (249.780km/h)
• Pole speed: 172.536 miles per hour (277.670km/h)
• Cautions: 1 for 4 laps
• Margin of victory: 0.370 seconds
• Lead changes: 17
• Percent of race run under caution: 2.5%
• Average green flag run: 78 laps

Media

Television

The 1995 Brickyard 400 was supposed to be carried live on television by ABC Sports. Paul Page, who was the announcer on ABC's Indianapolis 500 broadcasts, served as host. Bob Jenkins and 1973 Cup Series champion Benny Parsons called the race from the broadcast booth. Jerry Punch, Jack Arute and Gary Gerould handled pit road for the television side. Due to a rain delay, ABC left the race and it was aired the following day on ESPN.