Editor’s Note: NASCAR is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2023. SPEED SPORT was founded in 1934 and was already on its way to becoming America’s Motorsports Authority when NASCAR was formed. As a result, we will bring you Part 47 of a 75-part series on the history of NASCAR as told in the pages of National Speed Sport News and SPEED SPORT Magazine.
Champions are consistent. From one week to the next, champions perform well, no matter the circumstances or the competition.
Six-time and defending NASCAR Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt drove consistently better from race to race in 1994 than in any other year in his career. The result was his record-tying seventh Winston Cup title.
Once again Earnhardt’s season began on a disappointing note in the Daytona 500 at Daytona Int’I Speedway. The No. 3 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet Lumina was loose throughout the race and Earnhardt finished seventh. Sterling Marlin won in his first race with the Morgan-McClure racing team.
Rusty Wallace won for the third straight time at North Carolina Motor Speedway in the GM Goodwrench 500. Wallace’s fifth victory on the 1.017-mile oval came in dominant fashion. He led 346 of the 492 laps. Earnhardt was seventh.
Ernie lrvan won his third and fourth races since joining the Robert Yates team in September with victories at Richmond (Va.) Raceway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Earnhardt was sixth and 12th in the two races, but won for the first time in 1994 at Darlington Raceway. It was the 60th victory of his career.
Earnhardt grabbed the point lead with an April 10 triumph at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway and finished fifth the following week as Terry Labonte won from the pole at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway. Wallace won at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
Earnhardt’s third victory of the season was at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. As always, restrictor plates made the final laps of the race on the 2.66-mile track exciting. The field was under yellow with 22 laps remaining and Earnhardt was 11th.
However, he took advantage of the restart and pushed into second behind Jimmy Spencer with 10 laps left.
Five laps later, the top two sped into turn one and Spencer drifted high while Earnhardt shot low for the lead, pulling lrvan into second at the checkered flag.
“I took the lead when I could,” said Earnhardt in the May 4 edition of National Speed Sport News. “The opportunity was there and I took it.”
Gordon, Wallace & Bodine Visit Victory Lane
lrvan outran Geoff Bodine and Earnhardt at Sears Point Raceway the Sunday prior to Bodine’s victory in the All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Jeff Gordon won for the first time in his Winston Cup career, topping the Coca-Cola 600 from the pole.
Gordon was not a factor until the final 18 laps of the 400-lap event. His crew chief, Ray Evernham, who had set up the chassis of Gordon’s Chevrolet Lumina to run best as the track cooled late in the race, called for a two-tire change on the final pit stop. Evernham’s call proved decisive as Gordon outran Wallace for the victory.
The Charlotte race was the last one Wallace lost for more than a month. Consecutive victories at Dover Int’l Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Michigan lnt’l Speedway put Wallace over the $10 million mark in career earnings.
With a five Cup Series victories on the season, he was back in the hunt for his second championship.
Jimmy Spencer took the lead on the final lap and held off Irvan to win the Pepsi 400 at Daytona, while Ricky Rudd triumphed the following week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It was the 12th consecutive season in which Rudd won a Cup Series race.
Geoff Bodine won the next round at Pocono, despite the efforts of rookies Ward Burton, Joe Nemechek and Jeff Burton, who finished second through fourth. Spencer won again at Talladega and Earnhardt dropped out with a blown engine after 80 laps.
“He’s the best, but let me tell you, I was glad to see him go out,” said Spencer. “It’s a whole lot easier to win a race when you’re not watching Earnhardt in your mirror.”
On Aug. 6, Gordon made history by winning the inaugural Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Gordon dueled Irvan over 25 laps before Irvan fell back with a flat tire. Gordon’s $613,000 winner’s purse was a Cup Series record.
Martin won for the third consecutive season at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) Int’l and Bodine claimed the return trip to Michigan. The day prior to the race at the two-mile track, Irvan crashed in practice and suffered a fractured skull and bruised lungs.
By this time, Wallace had fallen 213 points behind Earnhardt in the championship race, but started to climb out of the hole with his victory at Bristol. Bill Elliott won the next event, the Southern 500 at Darlington. His first victory in 52 starts was also the 40th in his career.
Tire Wars Erupt
Meanwhile, the tire wars had erupted again on the Winston Cup ovals.
The Hoosier Tire Co. returned to NASCAR in 1994 in another attempt to gain a foothold where Goodyear traditionally ruled. However, while Geoff Bodine won three races on Hoosiers and Hoosier drivers totaled 12 poles, the company withdrew from the Cup Series at the end of the season.
Labonte led Gordon in a Rick Hendrick 1-2 sweep at Richmond, while the top three in the point race, Earnhardt Wallace and Martin, finished third through fifth.
Wallace earned his series-best eighth victory at Dover, with Earnhardt finished second. Even when Wallace won again the next race at Martinsville. he only gained 10 points on Earnhardt, who finished second again.
“I’m 35 points ahead of where I was last year and I almost caught him then, so were not giving up,” Wallace said.
Geoff Bodine won at North Wilkesboro as Wallace’s fourth spot put him within 263 points of the championship leader. The difference grew to 321 the following Sunday as Earnhardt was third behind race-winner Dale Jarrett at Charlotte, while Wallace finished 37th after an engine failure.
The race to the championship ended with Earnhardt’s victory at North Carolina Motor Speedway.
Earnhardt was elated after securing his record-tying seventh series title.
“It’s been a tough year. I have to dedicate this year to Neil Bormett (who was killed in a February crash at Daytona) and this race to Frank Wilson (the president of the Rockingham track who died in August). Bonnett was my best friend and Wilson was a good friend.”
The final two races of the season at Phoenix Raceway and Atlanta Motor Speedway, fell to Labonte and Martin, respectively.
Other winners from 1994 were Most Popular Driver Elliott and rookie of the year Jeff Burton.
David Green won the Busch Grand National title. Mike Chase was the Winston West titlist while Steve Portenga was the Featherlite Southwest Tour champion. Mike Cope took the Slim Jim All Pro Series season honors, Dale Shaw became the BGN North champion and Will Hobgood was the top driver in the Goody’s Dash Series.