The 1995 TranSouth Financial 400 was the fifth stock car race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 39th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, March 26, 1995, in Darlington, South Carolina, at Darlington Raceway, a permanent egg-shaped oval racetrack. The race took the scheduled 293 laps to complete. In a wreck-filled race, Morgan–McClure Motorsports driver Sterling Marlin would manage to make a late-race pass for the lead with 12 to go to take his third career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt and Roush Racing driver Ted Musgrave would finish second and third, respectively.

Background

Darlington Raceway is a race track built for NASCAR racing located near Darlington, South Carolina. It is nicknamed "The Lady in Black" and "The Track Too Tough to Tame" by many NASCAR fans and drivers and advertised as "A NASCAR Tradition." It is of a unique, somewhat egg-shaped design, an oval with the ends of very different configurations, a condition which supposedly arose from the proximity of one end of the track to a minnow pond the owner refused to relocate. This situation makes it very challenging for the crews to set up their cars' handling in a way that is effective at both ends.

Entry list

(R) denotes rookie driver.

#DriverTeamMake1Rick MastPrecision Products RacingPontiac2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet5Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord7Geoff BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord8Jeff BurtonStavola Brothers RacingFord9Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord10Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord11Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord12Derrike CopeBobby Allison MotorsportsFord15Dick TrickleBud Moore EngineeringFord16Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord17Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet18Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet19Phil ParsonsTriStar MotorsportsFord21Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord22Randy LaJoie (R)Bill Davis RacingPontiac23Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26Steve KinserKing RacingFord27Loy Allen Jr.Junior Johnson & AssociatesFord28Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord29Steve GrissomDiamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac31Ward BurtonA.G. Dillard MotorsportsChevrolet32Chuck BownActive MotorsportsChevrolet33Robert Pressley (R)Leo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet37John AndrettiKranefuss-Haas RacingFord40Greg SacksDick Brooks RacingPontiac41Ricky Craven (R)Larry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet42Kyle PettyTeam SABCOPontiac43Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac47Billy StandridgeStandridge MotorsportsFord52Brad TeagueJimmy Means RacingFord71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet75Todd BodineButch Mock MotorsportsFord77Davy Jones (R)Jasper MotorsportsFord81Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord87Joe NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsChevrolet90Mike WallaceDonlavey RacingFord94Bill ElliottElliott-Hardy RacingFord98Jeremy MayfieldCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord

Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 24, at 2:30 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, March 25, at 10:00 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 20-38 would be decided on time, 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 usually four. 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.

Jeff Gordon, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, won the pole, setting a time of 28.786 and an average speed of in the first round.

Three drivers would fail to qualify: Kenny Wallace, Brad Teague, and Phil Parsons.

Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed124Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28.786170.83325Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28.952169.854325Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet28.967169.766410Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord29.001169.56754Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet29.025169.426617Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet29.190168.469731Ward BurtonA.G. Dillard MotorsportsChevrolet29.218168.30782Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord29.228168.250933Robert Pressley (R)Leo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet29.242168.1691087Joe NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsChevrolet29.275167.9801118Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet29.278167.962126Mark MartinRoush RacingFord29.298167.8481312Derrike CopeBobby Allison MotorsportsFord29.331167.6591441Ricky Craven (R)Larry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.333167.6471537John AndrettiKranefuss-Haas RacingFord29.380167.3791621Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord29.401167.2601794Bill ElliottElliott-Hardy RacingFord29.414167.1861816Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord29.430167.0951915Dick TrickleBud Moore EngineeringFord29.436167.061208Jeff BurtonStavola Brothers RacingFord29.444167.015Failed to lock in Round 12111Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord29.187168.486229Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord29.188168.480233Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet29.204168.3882429Steve GrissomDiamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet29.207168.3712543Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac29.372167.4252628Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord29.387167.339277Geoff BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord29.434167.0722830Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac29.467166.8852923Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesFord29.518166.5973040Greg SacksDick Brooks RacingPontiac29.525166.5573175Todd BodineButch Mock MotorsportsFord29.542166.4613226Steve KinserKing RacingFord29.567166.3213322Randy LaJoie (R)Bill Davis RacingPontiac29.584166.2253477Davy Jones (R)Jasper MotorsportsFord29.614166.0573598Jeremy MayfieldCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord29.632165.9563647Billy StandridgeStandridge MotorsportsFord29.635165.9393732Chuck BownActive MotorsportsChevrolet29.651165.8493842Kyle PettyTeam SABCOPontiac29.690165.632Provisionals391Rick MastPrecision Products RacingFord -* -*4071Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet -* -*4190Mike WallaceDonlavey RacingFord -* -*4227Loy Allen Jr.Junior Johnson & AssociatesFord -* -*Failed to qualify4381Kenny WallaceFILMAR RacingFord -* -*4452Brad TeagueJimmy Means RacingFord -* -*4519Phil ParsonsTriStar MotorsportsFord -* -*Official first round qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup

Race results FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings154Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet29343running180$86,1852233Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet29337running175$54,35531816Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord29321running170$43,56543175Todd BodineButch Mock MotorsportsFord2930running160$36,57051312Derrike CopeBobby Allison MotorsportsFord2930running155$22,95062429Steve GrissomDiamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet2934running155$18,60072830Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac2931running151$22,72081621Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord2931running147$21,99092543Bobby HamiltonPetty EnterprisesPontiac2930running138$16,385101537John AndrettiKranefuss-Haas RacingFord2920running134$13,98011325Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet2910running130$20,500122111Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord2900running127$24,82013277Geoff BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord2888running129$25,610143647Billy StandridgeStandridge MotorsportsFord2870running121$10,805154190Mike WallaceDonlavey RacingFord2870running118$15,000163322Randy LaJoie (R)Bill Davis RacingPontiac2850running115$20,630171794Bill ElliottElliott-Hardy RacingFord2720running112$10,275184227Loy Allen Jr.Junior Johnson & AssociatesFord2490running109$18,14019208Jeff BurtonStavola Brothers RacingFord2422running111$18,595203477Davy Jones (R)Jasper MotorsportsFord2410running103$15,06521617Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet2390running100$18,095223040Greg SacksDick Brooks RacingPontiac2360running97$17,8752382Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord2350running94$24,630244071Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet2280running91$9,31025731Ward BurtonA.G. Dillard MotorsportsChevrolet2270running88$9,39026391Rick MastPrecision Products RacingFord2160crash85$17,275271118Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet2160crash82$17,110281915Dick TrickleBud Moore EngineeringFord2160crash79$16,95029229Lake SpeedMelling RacingFord2160running76$8,89030933Robert Pressley (R)Leo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet2120running73$16,805313598Jeremy MayfieldCale Yarborough MotorsportsFord20318running75$11,74532124Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet200156crash77$20,875331087Joe NemechekNEMCO MotorsportsChevrolet1970running64$8,6503425Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1930running61$23,565353842Kyle PettyTeam SABCOPontiac1900crash58$13,580362923Jimmy SpencerTravis Carter EnterprisesFord1832running60$8,54537126Mark MartinRoush RacingFord1570running52$22,531382628Dale JarrettRobert Yates RacingFord1330transmission49$22,809393732Chuck BownActive MotorsportsChevrolet1130oil leak46$8,409403226Steve KinserKing RacingFord950engine43$13,40941410Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord740crash40$21,409421441Ricky Craven (R)Larry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet470rocker arm37$8,409Official race results

References