1995 AC Delco 400

{{Short description|29th race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series}}

{{Infobox NASCAR race report|Type=NASWINSTON|Official_name=31st Annual AC Delco 400|Date=October 22|Pole_Driver=Hut Stricklin|Pole_Team=King Racing|Announcers=Mike Joy, Buddy Baker, Dick Berggren|Most_Driver=Rick Mast|First_Driver=Ward Burton|Most_laps=139|Most_Team=Precision Products Racing|First_Team=Bill Davis Racing|Car=22|Network=TNN|Radio=Motor Racing Network|Avg={{convert|114.778|mph|km/h}}|Attendance=|Location=Rockingham, North Carolina, North Carolina Motor Speedway|Distance_km=643.224|Scheduled_km=643.224|Scheduled_mi=399.681|Scheduled_laps=393|Distance_laps=393|Course_km=1.636|Course_mi=1.017|Season_No=31|Race_No=29|Race_Name=AC Delco 400|Year=1995|Pole_Time=23.563|Distance_mi=399.681|Caption=The 1995 AC Delco 400 program cover, featuring Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon.|Image=1995_AC_Delco_400.jpeg}}

The 1995 AC Delco 400 was the 29th stock car race of the 1995 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 31st iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, October 22, 1995, in Rockingham, North Carolina, at North Carolina Motor Speedway, a {{Convert|1.017|mi|km}} permanent high-banked racetrack. The race took the scheduled 393 laps to complete. On the final restart of the race with 10 to go, Bill Davis Racing driver Ward Burton would manage to defend the field to take his first career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season.{{Cite news |last=Harris |first=Mike |date=October 23, 1995 |title=MBNA driver Burton makes Delco 400 his first victory |pages=17 |work=The News Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113162216/mbna-driver-burton-makes-delco-400-his/ |access-date=November 16, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}{{Cite news |last=Higgins |first=Tom |date=October 23, 1995 |title=Burton wins; Gordon's points lead dwindles |pages=11 |work=The Republic |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113164311/burton-wins-gordons-points-lead/ |access-date=November 16, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} To fill out the top three, Penske Racing South driver Rusty Wallace and Roush Racing driver Mark Martin would finish second and third, respectively.

The race was marred in controversy when late in the race, a NASCAR official had mistaken a dark-colored lug-nut on championship contender Dale Earnhardt's car as missing, when in reality the lug-nut was on the car. Initially, Earnhardt was forced to suffer a one-lap penalty. However, after NASCAR had realized the mistake, NASCAR would declare an extended caution period to ensure that Earnhardt could gain his lost lap back. This decision led to extreme anger from drivers and their crews, saying that the caution had ruined their strategies and that the decision had preferred a single driver that had been a deterrent to every other driver.{{Cite news |last=Higgins |first=Tom |date=October 23, 1995 |title=Let's spruce up those murky lug nuts |pages=17 |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113164837/lets-spruce-up-those-murky-lug-nuts/ |access-date=November 16, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}

In the overall driver's championship points race, second-place driver Dale Earnhardt was able to close the gap between himself and points leader Jeff Gordon by 43 points, decreasing Gordon's lead to 162 points. With only two races left in the season, Gordon was listed as the heavy favorite to win the championship.{{Cite news |last=Higgins |first=Tom |date=October 23, 1995 |title=Gordon sees his points lead shrink |pages=17 |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/113165039/gordon-sees-his-points-lead-shrink/ |access-date=November 16, 2022 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}

Background

File:Rockingham_Speedway.svg, the venue where the race was held.]]

North Carolina Speedway was opened as a flat, one-mile oval on October 31, 1965. In 1969, the track was extensively reconfigured to a high-banked, D-shaped oval just over one mile in length. In 1997, North Carolina Motor Speedway merged with Penske Motorsports, and was renamed North Carolina Speedway. Shortly thereafter, the infield was reconfigured, and competition on the infield road course, mostly by the SCCA, was discontinued. Currently, the track is home to the Fast Track High Performance Driving School.{{cite web |date= |title=Fast Track High Performance Driving School, Inc |url=http://www.fasttrackracing.com/ |accessdate=July 16, 2012 |publisher=Fasttrackracing.com}}

= Entry list =

(R) denotes rookie driver.

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%"

!Driver

!Team

!Make

!Sponsor

|Rick Mast

|Precision Products Racing

1995 AC Delco 400

Background

= Entry list =

Qualifying

= Full qualifying results =

Race results

References