| Race details | |||
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| Race 6 of 31 in the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1994 Food City 500 program cover, featuring Jeff Gordon. | |||
| Date | April 10, 1994 | ||
| Official name | 34th Annual Food City 500 | ||
| Location | Bristol, Tennessee, Bristol Motor Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 0.533 mi (0.858 km) | ||
| Distance | 500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.89 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 500 laps, 266.5 mi (428.89 km) | ||
| Average speed | 91.308 miles per hour (146.946 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 76,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Bobby Allison Motorsports | ||
| Time | 15.357 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Laps | 183 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
The 1994 Food City 500 was the sixth stock car race of the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 34th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, April 10, 1994, in Bristol, Tennessee at Bristol Motor Speedway, a 0.533 miles (0.858 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete. At race's end, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt would manage to dominate the late stages of the race to take his 61st career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports driver Ken Schrader and Bud Moore Engineering driver Lake Speed would finish second and third, respectively.
Background
The Bristol Motor Speedway, formerly known as Bristol International Raceway and Bristol Raceway, is a NASCAR short track venue located in Bristol, Tennessee. Constructed in 1960, it held its first NASCAR race on July 30, 1961. Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating. It has also been named one of the loudest NASCAR tracks.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, April 8, at 3:00 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, April 9, at 12:30 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-34 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 two. 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.
Chuck Bown, driving for Bobby Allison Motorsports, would win the pole, setting a time of 15.357 and an average speed of 124.946 miles per hour (201.081 km/h) in the first round.
Five drivers would fail to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
Standings after the race
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References
- Macenka, Joe (April 11, 1994). "New car proves Earnhardt wrong". The Morning Call. p. 33. Retrieved November 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (April 11, 1994). "Earnhardt avoids trouble in 500". Kenosha News. p. 22. Retrieved November 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- "NASCAR today". The Charlotte Observer. April 8, 1996. p. 23. Retrieved November 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
- Macenka, Joe (April 9, 1994). "Bown rocks Bristol". The State. p. 11. Retrieved November 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
| Previous race: 1994 TranSouth Financial 400 |
NASCAR Winston Cup Series 1994 season |
Next race: 1994 First Union 400 |
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