The 1994 Mountain Dew Southern 500 was the 23rd stock car race of the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 45th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, September 4, 1994, before an audience of 50,000 in Darlington, South Carolina, at Darlington Raceway, a permanent egg-shaped oval racetrack. The race took the scheduled 367 laps to complete. In the final stages of the race, Junior Johnson & Associates driver Bill Elliott would make a late-race charge to the lead, passing with 13 to go to take his 40th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his only victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Richard Childress Racing driver Dale Earnhardt and Wood Brothers Racing driver Morgan Shepherd would finish second and third, respectively. The race would be Bill Elliott's last win in a Ford.

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 RacingFord2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord3Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet4Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet5Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet6Mark MartinRoush RacingFord7Geoff BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord8Jeff Burton (R)Stavola Brothers RacingFord9Phil ParsonsMelling RacingFord10Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord11Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord12Derrike CopeBobby Allison MotorsportsFord15Lake SpeedBud Moore EngineeringFord16Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord17Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet18Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet19Loy Allen Jr. (R)TriStar MotorsportsFord21Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord22Bobby LabonteBill Davis RacingPontiac23Hut StricklinTravis Carter EnterprisesFord24Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet25Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet26Brett BodineKing RacingFord27Jimmy SpencerJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord28Kenny WallaceRobert Yates RacingFord29Steve GrissomDiamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac31Ward BurtonA.G. Dillard MotorsportsChevrolet32Dick TrickleActive MotorsportsChevrolet33Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet40Bobby HamiltonSABCO RacingPontiac41Joe Nemechek (R)Larry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet42Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac43John Andretti (R)Petty EnterprisesPontiac47Billy Standridge (R)Johnson Standridge RacingFord52Brad TeagueJimmy Means RacingFord55Butch MillerRaDiUs MotorsportsFord57Bob SchachtBalough RacingFord61Rick CarelliChesrown RacingChevrolet71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet75Todd BodineButch Mock MotorsportsFord77Greg SacksU.S. Motorsports Inc.Ford90Mike Wallace (R)Donlavey RacingFord98Jeremy Mayfield (R)Cale Yarborough MotorsportsFord

Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, September 2, 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, September 3, at 11:30 am EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 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; up to two provisionals were given. 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.

Geoff Bodine, driving for his own Geoff Bodine Racing team, would win the pole, setting a time of 29.447 and an average speed of in the first round.

Two drivers would fail to qualify.

Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed17Geoff BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord29.447166.998225Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.477166.828331Ward Burton (R)A.G. Dillard MotorsportsChevrolet29.484166.789441Joe Nemechek (R)Larry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.528166.540526Brett BodineKing RacingFord29.534166.50666Mark MartinRoush RacingFord29.538166.484724Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.547166.433822Bobby LabonteBill Davis RacingPontiac29.547166.433911Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord29.552166.405101Rick MastPrecision Products RacingFord29.621166.0171128Kenny WallaceRobert Yates RacingFord29.627165.9841277Greg SacksU.S. Motorsports Inc.Ford29.660165.7991321Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord29.662165.788148Jeff Burton (R)Stavola Brothers RacingFord29.668165.7541533Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet29.727165.4251640Bobby HamiltonSABCO RacingPontiac29.775165.1591732Dick TrickleActive MotorsportsChevrolet29.803165.0041810Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord29.865164.662192Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord29.920164.3582012Derrike CopeBobby Allison MotorsportsFord29.936164.270Failed to lock in Round 12117Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet29.941164.243225Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet29.961164.1332375Todd BodineButch Mock MotorsportsFord29.967164.101244Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet29.977164.0462598Jeremy Mayfield (R)Cale Yarborough MotorsportsFord30.009163.8712630Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac30.015163.838273Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet30.036163.7242852Brad TeagueJimmy Means RacingFord30.059163.5982943John Andretti (R)Petty EnterprisesPontiac30.072163.5283027Jimmy SpencerJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord30.076163.5063116Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord30.134163.1913229Steve Grissom (R)Diamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet30.139163.1643347Billy Standridge (R)Johnson Standridge RacingFord30.156163.072349Phil ParsonsMelling RacingFord30.216162.7483518Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet30.235162.6463623Hut StricklinTravis Carter EnterprisesFord30.259162.5173742Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac30.293162.3353871Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet30.488161.2963990Mike Wallace (R)Donlavey RacingFord30.519161.1324015Lake SpeedBud Moore EngineeringFord30.551160.963Provisionals4155Butch MillerRaDiUs MotorsportsFord -* -*4219Loy Allen Jr. (R)TriStar MotorsportsFord -* -*Failed to qualify4361Rick CarelliChesrown RacingChevrolet -* -*4457Bob SchachtBalough RacingFord -* -*Official first round qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup

Race results FinSt#DriverTeamMakeLapsLedStatusPtsWinnings1911Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord36721running180$68,3302273Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet36787running175$45,03031321Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord3670running165$32,73041810Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord3673running165$24,7155244Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet3674running160$26,8706724Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet3660running150$22,7657192Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord3668running151$23,6208148Jeff Burton (R)Stavola Brothers RacingFord3660running142$19,50093518Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet3650running138$23,37010225Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet3650running134$21,930111128Kenny WallaceRobert Yates RacingFord3640running130$20,765123742Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac3620running127$19,970132117Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet3624running129$16,180143623Hut StricklinTravis Carter EnterprisesFord3610running121$11,89015349Phil ParsonsMelling RacingFord3610running118$8,750162943John Andretti (R)Petty EnterprisesPontiac3600running115$11,930173990Mike Wallace (R)Donlavey RacingFord3590running112$11,160184155Butch MillerRaDiUs MotorsportsFord3590running109$7,885191277Greg SacksU.S. Motorsports Inc.Ford3580running106$10,70520101Rick MastPrecision Products RacingFord3560running103$14,335214219Loy Allen Jr. (R)TriStar MotorsportsFord3540running100$7,200221640Bobby HamiltonSABCO RacingPontiac3530running97$13,780233229Steve Grissom (R)Diamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet3500running94$9,560243347Billy Standridge (R)Johnson Standridge RacingFord3470running91$6,7852566Mark MartinRoush RacingFord342105engine93$20,975262375Todd BodineButch Mock MotorsportsFord3330running85$9,0152717Geoff BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord3236engine87$17,805283871Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet3210engine79$8,59529526Brett BodineKing RacingFord2900running76$12,385302852Brad TeagueJimmy Means RacingFord2810crash73$6,125312630Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac2782engine75$12,04032225Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet272127oil77$13,350332598Jeremy Mayfield (R)Cale Yarborough MotorsportsFord2650engine64$7,78534331Ward Burton (R)A.G. Dillard MotorsportsChevrolet2360overheating61$5,750352012Derrike CopeBobby Allison MotorsportsFord2130crash58$11,14036822Bobby LabonteBill Davis RacingPontiac1850overheating55$10,080373027Jimmy SpencerJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord1810crash52$5,570381732Dick TrickleActive MotorsportsChevrolet1430engine49$5,476393116Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord1280overheating46$9,390404015Lake SpeedBud Moore EngineeringFord1120overheating43$15,330411533Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet940handling40$9,33042441Joe Nemechek (R)Larry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet660oil pump37$5,330Official race results

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Dale Earnhardt 3,450 1 2 Rusty Wallace 3,223 (-227) 1 3 Mark Martin 3,167 (-283) 2 4 Ricky Rudd 3,055 (–395) 1 5 Ernie Irvan 3,026 (–424) 1 6 Ken Schrader 3,001 (–449) 7 Morgan Shepherd 2,956 (–494) 2 8 Bill Elliott 2,769 (–681) 1 9 Jeff Gordon 2,746 (–704) 1 10 Michael Waltrip 2,744 (–706)Official driver's standings

Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

References