Tenth race of the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Motor car race
The 1994 Save Mart Supermarkets 300 was the 10th
stock car race of the
1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, the third race of the
1994 NASCAR Winston West Series , and the sixth iteration of the
event . The race was held on Sunday, May 15, 1994, at the Grand Prix layout of
Sears Point Raceway , a 2.52 miles (4.06 km) permanent road course layout. The race took the scheduled 74 laps to complete. At race's end,
Robert Yates Racing driver
Ernie Irvan would manage to dominate the race to take his 12th career
NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his third and final victory of the season.
[1]
[2] To fill out the top three,
Geoff Bodine , driving for his own
Geoff Bodine Racing , and
Richard Childress Racing driver
Dale Earnhardt would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
The layout of
Sears Point Raceway used by
NASCAR at the time.
Sears Point Raceway is one of two road courses to hold
NASCAR races, the other being
Watkins Glen International . The standard road course at Sears Point Raceway is a 12-turn course that is 2.52 miles (4.06 km) long;
[3] the track was modified in 1998, adding the Chute , which bypassed turns 5 and 6, shortening the course to 1.95 miles (3.14 km). The Chute was only used for NASCAR events such as this race, and was criticized by many drivers, who preferred the full layout.
[4] In 2001, it was replaced with a 70-
degree turn , 4A, bringing the track to its current dimensions of 1.99 miles (3.20 km).
[5]
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, April 22, at 6:30 PM
EST . Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 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 1:00 PM
EST . As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 26-40 would be decided on time,
[6] 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 two for cars in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series and one extra provisional for the NASCAR Winston West Series. 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.
Ernie Irvan , driving for
Robert Yates Racing , would win the pole, setting a time of 1:39.132 and an average speed of 91.514 miles per hour (147.278 km/h) in the first round.
[7]
12 drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
Fin
St
#
Driver
Team
Make
Laps
Led
Status
Pts
Winnings
1
1
28
Ernie Irvan
Robert Yates Racing
Ford
74
68
running
185
$78,810
2
26
7
Geoff Bodine
Geoff Bodine Racing
Ford
74
0
running
170
$45,640
3
4
3
Dale Earnhardt
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
74
3
running
170
$37,825
4
7
43
Wally Dallenbach Jr.
Petty Enterprises
Pontiac
74
0
running
160
$24,920
5
12
2
Rusty Wallace
Penske Racing South
Ford
74
0
running
155
$25,970
6
15
16
Ted Musgrave
Roush Racing
Ford
74
0
running
150
$20,370
7
19
21
Morgan Shepherd
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford
74
1
running
151
$22,020
8
2
6
Mark Martin
Roush Racing
Ford
74
0
running
142
$24,120
9
8
25
Ken Schrader
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
74
0
running
138
$18,170
10
16
33
Harry Gant
Leo Jackson Motorsports
Chevrolet
74
0
running
134
$19,815
11
10
42
Kyle Petty
SABCO Racing
Pontiac
74
0
running
130
$16,755
12
20
18
Dale Jarrett
Joe Gibbs Racing
Chevrolet
74
0
running
127
$20,755
13
23
26
Brett Bodine
King Racing
Ford
74
0
running
124
$16,355
14
3
10
Ricky Rudd
Rudd Performance Motorsports
Ford
74
0
running
121
$9,155
15
21
8
Jeff Burton (R)
Stavola Brothers Racing
Ford
74
0
running
118
$16,705
16
9
30
Michael Waltrip
Bahari Racing
Pontiac
74
0
running
115
$15,005
17
22
22
Bobby Labonte
Bill Davis Racing
Pontiac
74
0
running
112
$14,730
18
33
17
Darrell Waltrip
Darrell Waltrip Motorsports
Chevrolet
74
0
running
109
$14,580
19
38
14
John Andretti (R)
Hagan Racing
Chevrolet
74
0
running
106
$14,955
20
37
23
Hut Stricklin
Travis Carter Enterprises
Ford
74
0
running
103
$8,480
21
41
12
Chuck Bown
Bobby Allison Motorsports
Ford
73
0
running
100
$14,230
22
32
41
Joe Nemechek (R)
Larry Hedrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
73
0
running
97
$10,105
23
28
90
Mike Wallace (R)
Donlavey Racing
Ford
73
0
running
94
$9,980
24
42
77
Greg Sacks
U.S. Motorsports, Inc.
Ford
73
1
running
96
$7,610
25
39
71
Dave Marcis
Marcis Auto Racing
Chevrolet
73
0
running
88
$9,900
26
25
27
Jimmy Spencer
Junior Johnson & Associates
Ford
73
0
running
85
$9,780
27
14
36
Butch Gilliland
Gilliland Racing
Chevrolet
72
0
running
82
$7,755
28
5
5
Terry Labonte
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
72
0
running
79
$17,680
29
13
4
Sterling Marlin
Morgan–McClure Motorsports
Chevrolet
72
0
running
76
$17,470
30
11
11
Bill Elliott
Junior Johnson & Associates
Ford
71
0
running
73
$13,540
31
35
50
Mike Chase
JTC Racing
Chevrolet
70
0
running
70
$7,355
32
29
15
Lake Speed
Bud Moore Engineering
Ford
70
0
running
67
$17,305
33
30
40
Bobby Hamilton
SABCO Racing
Pontiac
68
0
transmission
64
$13,255
34
24
1
Rick Mast
Precision Products Racing
Ford
62
0
transmission
61
$13,230
35
40
29
Steve Grissom (R)
Diamond Ridge Motorsports
Chevrolet
61
0
rear end
58
$7,205
36
27
31
Ward Burton (R)
A.G. Dillard Motorsports
Chevrolet
60
0
running
55
$7,195
37
6
24
Jeff Gordon
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
59
0
rearend
52
$12,675
38
31
75
Todd Bodine
Butch Mock Motorsports
Ford
56
0
running
49
$7,155
39
18
76
Ron Hornaday Jr.
Spears Motorsports
Chevrolet
53
0
running
46
$7,125
40
43
20
Gary Collins
Venable Racing
Ford
43
0
running
43
$7,100
41
36
61
Rick Carelli
Chesrown Racing
Chevrolet
24
0
engine
40
$7,100
42
34
9
John Krebs
Diamond Ridge Motorsports
Chevrolet
18
1
accident
42
$8,100
43
17
98
Derrike Cope
Cale Yarborough Motorsports
Ford
18
0
accident
34
$8,600
Failed to qualify
44
52
Scott Gaylord
Jimmy Means Racing
Ford
45
32
Dick Trickle
Active Motorsports
Chevrolet
46
81
Jeff Davis
Jeff Davis Racing
Ford
47
37
Doug George
Olson Technology Racing
Ford
48
55
Jimmy Hensley
RaDiUs Motorsports
Ford
49
09
Charlie O'Brien
O'Brien Racing
Pontiac
50
90W
Joe Heath
Heath Racing
Ford
51
19
Loy Allen Jr. (R)
TriStar Motorsports
Ford
52
38
Tobey Butler
Bill Stroppe Motorsports
Ford
53
48
Jack Sellers
Sellers Racing
Chevrolet
54
58
Wayne Jacks
Jacks Motorsports
Pontiac
55
86
Rich Woodland Jr.
Gilliland Racing
Oldsmobile
Official race results
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings
Pos
Driver
Points
1
Ernie Irvan
1,639
2
Dale Earnhardt
1,599 (-40)
3
Mark Martin
1,369 (-270)
4
Ken Schrader
1,349 (–290)
1
5
Morgan Shepherd
1,295 (–344)
1
6
Rusty Wallace
1,290 (–349)
2
7
Lake Speed
1,225 (–414)
1
8
Ricky Rudd
1,215 (–424)
1
9
Kyle Petty
1,204 (–435)
1
10
Ted Musgrave
1,186 (–453)
Official driver's standings
Note : Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
References
^ Schiffmann, William (May 16, 1994).
"Irvan's road-racing prowess shows as he dominates, wins" . Messenger-Inquirer . p. 18. Retrieved November 28, 2022 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ Higgins, Tom (May 16, 1994).
"Irvan speeds to convincing victory in Save Mart 300" . Evansville Press . p. 16. Retrieved November 28, 2022 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
"Sears Point" . www.gt-racing.co.uk . Retrieved 2021-11-13 .
^
"Passing is tough in Chute | chronicle.augusta.com" . 2011-06-07. Archived from
the original on 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2021-11-13 .
^
"SEARS POINT BREAKS GROUND ON MODIFIED CHUTE - RacingWest" . 2007-09-29. Archived from
the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2021-11-13 .
^
"NASCAR today" .
The Charlotte Observer . May 13, 1996. p. 34. Retrieved November 28, 2022 – via
Newspapers.com .
^ Higgins, Tom (May 14, 1994).
"Irvan stays course for Sears Point pole" .
The Charlotte Observer . p. 13. Retrieved November 28, 2022 .
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