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NASCAR in 1994: Key story lines, moments of the season
By Davey Segal | Published: August 30, 2019 15
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The 1994 NASCAR season saw Dale Earnhardt score his record-tying seventh championship matching a mark set by "The King" Richard Petty. Come along for the ride as we recap the key moments and story lines of the 1994 season.
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Prior to the season-opening Daytona 500, Neil Bonnett and Rodney Orr were both killed in practice accidents at Daytona International Speedway. Orr was making his Cup Series debut. But as the NASCAR world mourned the loss of two drivers, the show rolled on into the Great American Race.
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Sterling Marlin earned his first career Cup Series victory in his 279th start after nine second-place finishes, leading 30 laps en route to the Daytona 500 win. The win came in Marlin’s first start with Morgan-McClure Motorsports, beating out Ernie Irvan, who previously drove the No. 4 car.
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Earnhardt earned his ninth (and last) career checkered flag at the track "Too Tough To Tame," leading 166 laps in the TranSouth Financial 400 at Darlington Raceway. The win was The Intimidator's first of four wins on the season.
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Terry Labonte earned the win at North Wilkesboro, snapping a winless drought spanning more than four years -- 135 races to be exact. Labonte led the final 29 laps and took the lead from Rusty Wallace. It was Labonte's first win for Hendrick Motorsports.
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Geoff Bodine wound up victorious in "Winston Select" on Hoosier tires. In 1993, the tire war between Hoosier and Goodyear hit a breaking point, as Hoosier opted to sell tires at a select amount of tracks in 1994 before pulling out of the sport after that season. Bodine also visited Victory Lane at Pocono in his No. 7 Exide Batteries machine as one of three victories on the season.
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A Pittsboro, Indiana kid named Jeff Gordon won the Coca-Cola 600, his first win in the Cup Series coming in his second full-time season for Hendrick Motorsports. It would be the first of 93 wins in his Hall of Fame career. John Andretti also completed the Indy 500/Coke 600 double, finishing 36th after a crankshaft broke.
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Rusty Wallace won three races in a row, coming at Dover, Pocono and Michigan. He would go on to win eight races in 1994 (down two from a career-high 10 in 1993) and finish third in points. His most memorable win came in his season sweep of Dover that September where Wallace won albeit with a flat tire and a drop left in the fuel tank. As the race ended under caution, Wallace coasted around for his seventh win of the season. This was Wallace's first season in a Ford after racing the bulk of his Cup career thus far in a Pontiac.
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Jimmy Spencer, A.K.A. "Mr. Excitement" won for the first time in his career at Daytona International Speedway, beating Ernie Irvan to the line in a photo finish. He'd go on to win his second and final career race at Talladega Superspeedway later on in the season.
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In perhaps the most anticipated race in 35 years, NASCAR made its inaugural trip to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400. The hometown hero Gordon won the race in dominant fashion, leading 93 laps en route to his second win of the season.
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On Saturday morning at 8:40 a.m. at Michigan International Speedway, Ernie Irvan was involved in a practice crash. He suffered a severe head injury, swollen brain, collapsed lungs and was transported to a Ypsilanti hospital. A mere six weeks after his Michigan crash, Ernie Irvan was back to support his team at the race track, this time at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He'd wind up competing in three races the following year and winning three more in his career.
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In the circuit's second trip to Darlington, Bill Elliott earned his first win in almost two seasons. He would have to wait almost another seven years -- 218 races to be exact -- until he'd claim the checkered flag again.
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With three races remaining on the schedule, Earnhardt clinched his record-tying seventh Cup Series championship (second in a row), winning his fourth race of the 1994 season at Rockingham Speedway. The title came in his 16th season.
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Mark Martin closed the season with a win at Atlanta Motor Speedway (his second win of 1994) and finished second in the championship standings to Earnhardt for the second time in five years.
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Harry Gant called it a career after 22 years as a Cup Series driver at 54 years old. The Skoal Bandit earned seven top 10 finishes in his final season, earning one pole and leading 94 laps. For his career, he racked up 18 Cup wins and finished second in the standings in 1984.