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 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 172.536 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 popular Petty #43 Pontiac car on the outside of the front row with a run of 172.222 mph. 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.
Locked-in cars Driver 124 Jeff Gordon 172.536243 Bobby Hamilton 172.22234 Sterling Marlin 171.553494 Bill Elliott 171.409518 Bobby Labonte 171.233687 Joe Nemechek 171.138730 Michael Waltrip 171.051898 Jeremy Mayfield 171.01291 Rick Mast 170.9691025 Ken Schrader 170.9561115 Dick Trickle 170.9431211 Brett Bodine 170.836133 Dale Earnhardt 170.775146 Mark Martin 170.739155 Terry Labonte 170.7361632 Greg Sacks 170.6941777 Bobby Hillin Jr. 170.593188 Jeff Burton 170.4611916 Ted Musgrave 170.3902017 Darrell Waltrip 170.380
Failed to qualify in round 1 Driver 2133 Robert Pressley 170.2742210 Ricky Rudd 170.2482337 John Andretti 170.174242 Rusty Wallace 170.052257 Geoff Bodine 169.9652628 Dale Jarrett 169.856279 Lake Speed 169.6992841 Ricky Craven 169.6902926 Hut Stricklin 169.4793031 Ward Burton 169.4403181 Kenny Wallace 169.4183242 Kyle Petty 169.1193321 Morgan Shepherd 168.9953475 Todd Bodine 168.9823522 Jimmy Hensley 168.3563640 Rich Bickle 168.3503712 Derrike Cope 168.3093823 Jimmy Spencer 168.1433944 Jeff Purvis 168.1364095 Loy Allen Jr. 167.9234190 Mike Wallace 167.8574271 Dave Marcis 167.8354327 Elton Sawyer 167.5924429 Steve Grissom 167.1534566 Billy Standridge 167.0164678 Pancho Carter 166.7444750 A. J. Foyt 166.1934865 Steve Seligman 164.261 — 80 Joe Ruttman no speed
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 3:30 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 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 4:25 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. 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 7:03 p.m. EST (8:03 p.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 8:57 p.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 8:00 p.m. EDT. The latest finish to an Indianapolis 500 was in 2024, 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.
Race results DriverManufacturerEntrantLapsStatus 113 3Dale EarnhardtChevroletRichard Childress Racing160Running 224 2Rusty WallaceFordPenske Racing160Running 32628Dale JarrettFordRobert Yates Racing160Running 4 494Bill ElliottFordElliott-Hardy Racing160Running 514 6Mark MartinFordRoush Racing160Running 6 124Jeff GordonChevroletHendrick Motorsports160Running 7 3 4Sterling MarlinChevroletMorgan-McClure Motorsports160Running 8 9 1Rick MastFordRichard Jackson160Running 9 518Bobby LabonteChevroletJoe Gibbs Racing160Running103321Morgan ShepherdFordWood Brothers Racing160Running11243Bobby HamiltonPontiacPetty Enterprises160Running122337John AndrettiFordKranefuss-Haas Racing160Running13155Terry LabonteChevroletHendrick Motorsports160Running14730Michael WaltripPontiacBahari Racing160Running15257Geoffrey BodineFordGeoff Bodine Racing160Running161916Ted MusgraveFordRoush Racing160Running172017Darrell WaltripChevroletDarWal Inc.160Running181115Dick TrickleFordBud Moore Engineering160Running191025Ken SchraderChevroletHendrick Motorsports160Running202210Ricky RuddFordRudd Performance Motorsports159Running213475Todd BodineFordButch Mock Motorsports159Running222926Hut StricklinFordKing Racing159Running233823Jimmy SpencerFordTravis Carter Enterprises159Running241211Brett BodineFordJunior Johnson & Associates159Running253242Kyle PettyPontiacTeam SABCO159Running264090Mike WallaceFordDonlavey Racing158Running27687Joe NemechekChevroletNEMCO Motorsports158Running282133Robert PressleyChevroletLeo Jackson Motorsports158Running29898Jeremy MayfieldFordCale Yarborough Motorsports158Running303929Steve GrissomChevroletDiamond Ridge Motorsports158Running312841Ricky CravenChevroletLarry Hedrick Motorsports158Running323522Jimmy HensleyPontiacBill Davis Racing158Running331632Greg SacksChevroletDick Brooks Racing157Flagged34279Lake SpeedFordMelling Racing157Running353031Ward BurtonChevroletBill Davis Racing154Engine363181Kenny WallaceFordFILMAR Racing154Running373640Rich BicklePontiacDick Brooks Racing152Running38188Jeff BurtonFordStavola Brothers Racing141Running391777Bobby Hillin Jr.FordJasper Motorsports106Engine403712Derrike CopeFordBobby Allison Motorsports104Engine414127Elton SawyerFordJunior Johnson & Associates17Valve
Race statistics Time of race: 2:34:38 Average speed: Pole speed: