The 1995 GM Goodwrench Dealer 400 was the 21st stock car race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 26th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, August 20, 1995, in Brooklyn, Michigan, at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. Gambling on a fuel strategy, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Bobby Labonte would decide to run the final 55 laps on one tank of fuel. He would then capture the lead with 15 to go, taking his third career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third and final victory of the season.[1][2] To fill out the top three, Terry Labonte and Jeff Gordon, both drivers for Hendrick Motorsports, would finish second and third, respectively.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 21 of 31 in the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1995 GM Goodwrench Dealer 400 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt. | |||
| Date | August 20, 1995 | ||
| Official name | 26th Annual GM Goodwrench Dealer 400 | ||
| Location | Brooklyn, Michigan, Michigan International Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2 mi (3.2 km) | ||
| Distance | 200 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 200 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km) | ||
| Average speed | 157.739 miles per hour (253.856 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Joe Gibbs Racing | ||
| Time | 39.045 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 68 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 18 | Bobby Labonte | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | NASCAR on ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
Background
edit
The race was held at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located in Brooklyn, Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway as MIS's oval design was a direct basis of TWS, with moderate modifications to the banking in the corners, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation. Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards).
Entry list
edit- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
editQualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, August 18, at 3:30 PM EST. 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, August 19, at 10:30 AM EST. 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,[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.
Bobby Labonte, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would win the pole, setting a time of 39.045 and an average speed of 184.403 miles per hour (296.768 km/h) in the first round.[4]
Four drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
editRace results
editReferences
edit- ^ Higgins, Tom (August 21, 1995). "Labonte makes it two straight at Michigan". St. Lucie News Tribune. p. 32. Retrieved November 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Atkins, Harry (August 21, 1995). "Running on empty". The Paducah Sun. p. 11. Retrieved November 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "GM Goodwrench Dealer 400". The Charlotte Observer. August 18, 1995. p. 28. Retrieved November 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ McCollister, Tom (August 19, 1995). "Bobby Labonte edges Rudd to take pole at Michigan". The Atlanta Constitution. p. 56. Retrieved November 9, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
