The 1994 GM Goodwrench Dealer 400 was the 21st stock car race of the 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 25th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, August 21, 1994, in Cambridge Township, Michigan, at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete. At race's end, Geoff Bodine, driving for his own Geoff Bodine Racing team, would manage to dominate the race to take his 17th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season. To fill out the top three, Roush Racing driver Mark Martin and Precision Products Racing driver Rick Mast would finish second and third, respectively.
The race weekend was marred when on Saturday, a near-fatal crash involving championship contender Ernie Irvan would occur in the race's first Saturday practice session. Irvan would suffer a basilar skull fracture and a collapsed lung, and it would take over a year for Irvan to get back into the NASCAR Winston Cup Series.
Background
The race was held at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located in Cambridge Township, Michigan. The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway as MIS's oval design was a direct basis of TWS, with moderate modifications to the banking in the corners, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway. The track is owned by NASCAR. Michigan is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards).
Entry list (R) denotes rookie driver.
#DriverTeamMake1Rick MastPrecision Products RacingFord2Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord02Jeff PurvisTaylor RacingFord3Dale 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 & AssociatesFord28Ernie Irvan*Robert Yates RacingFord29Steve GrissomDiamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet30Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac31Ward BurtonA.G. Dillard MotorsportsChevrolet32Dick TrickleActive MotorsportsChevrolet33Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet34Bob BrevakBrevak RacingFord40Bobby HamiltonSABCO RacingPontiac41Joe Nemechek (R)Larry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet42Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac43John Andretti (R)Petty EnterprisesPontiac44Bobby Hillin Jr.Charles Hardy RacingFord45Rich Bickle (R)Terminal Trucking MotorsportsFord47Billy Standridge (R)Johnson Standridge RacingFord52Brad TeagueJimmy Means RacingFord54Robert PressleyLeo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet55Jimmy HensleyRaDiUs MotorsportsFord59Andy BelmontAndy Belmont RacingFord61Rick CarelliChesrown RacingChevrolet71Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet75Todd BodineButch Mock MotorsportsFord77Greg SacksU.S. Motorsports Inc.Ford82Laura LaneMiskotten RacingFord90Mike Wallace (R)Donlavey RacingFord98Jeremy Mayfield (R)Cale Yarborough MotorsportsFord *Withdrew due to injuries sustained in the race weekend's second practice.
Qualifying Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, August 19, at 3:30 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, August 20, at 10:30 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, won the pole, setting a time of 39.761 and an average speed of in the first round.
Eight drivers would fail to qualify, in addition to one withdrawn entry.
Full qualifying results Pos.#DriverTeamMakeTimeSpeed17Geoff BodineGeoff Bodine RacingFord39.761181.082243John Andretti (R)Petty EnterprisesPontiac39.770181.041324Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet40.012179.946411Bill ElliottJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord40.012179.946522Bobby LabonteBill Davis RacingPontiac40.025179.888641Joe Nemechek (R)Larry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet40.030179.86572Rusty WallacePenske Racing SouthFord40.076179.659875Todd BodineButch Mock MotorsportsFord40.093179.58291Rick MastPrecision Products RacingFord40.105179.5291030Michael WaltripBahari RacingPontiac40.123179.448113Dale EarnhardtRichard Childress RacingChevrolet40.150179.328124Sterling MarlinMorgan–McClure MotorsportsChevrolet40.162179.274136Mark MartinRoush RacingFord40.182179.1851419Loy Allen Jr. (R)TriStar MotorsportsFord40.194179.1311510Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord40.271178.7891677Greg SacksU.S. Motorsports Inc.Ford40.290178.704175Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet40.291178.7001833Harry GantLeo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet40.291178.7001925Ken SchraderHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet40.310178.656Failed to lock in Round 12029Steve Grissom (R)Diamond Ridge MotorsportsChevrolet40.034179.8472126Brett BodineKing RacingFord40.132179.4082245Rich Bickle (R)Terminal Trucking MotorsportsFord40.278178.7582302Jeff PurvisTaylor RacingFord40.305178.6382412Derrike CopeBobby Allison MotorsportsFord40.373178.3372547 (R)Johnson Standridge RacingFord40.396178.2352631Ward Burton (R)A.G. Dillard MotorsportsChevrolet40.400178.2182790Mike Wallace (R)Donlavey RacingFord40.403178.205288Jeff Burton (R)Stavola Brothers RacingFord40.405178.1962915Lake SpeedBud Moore EngineeringFord40.410178.1743017Darrell WaltripDarrell Waltrip MotorsportsChevrolet40.410178.1743118Dale JarrettJoe Gibbs RacingChevrolet40.438178.0503244Bobby Hillin Jr.Charles Hardy RacingFord40.439178.046339Phil ParsonsMelling RacingFord40.443178.0283432Dick TrickleActive MotorsportsChevrolet40.446178.0153561Rick CarelliChesrown RacingChevrolet40.481177.8613621Morgan ShepherdWood Brothers RacingFord40.524177.6723771Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet40.545177.5803816Ted MusgraveRoush RacingFord40.591177.3793998Jeremy Mayfield (R)Cale Yarborough MotorsportsFord40.642177.157Provisionals4042Kyle PettySABCO RacingPontiac -* -*4127Jimmy SpencerJunior Johnson & AssociatesFord -* -*Failed to qualify or withdrew4240Bobby HamiltonSABCO RacingPontiac40.691176.9434323Hut StricklinTravis Carter EnterprisesFord40.790176.5144455Jimmy HensleyRaDiUs MotorsportsFord40.793176.5014554Robert PressleyLeo Jackson MotorsportsChevrolet40.869176.1734659Andy BelmontAndy Belmont RacingFord41.103175.1704782Laura LaneMiskotten RacingFord41.387173.9684852Brad TeagueJimmy Means RacingFord41.847172.0554934Bob BrevakBrevak RacingFord - -WD28Ernie IrvanRobert Yates RacingFord40.295178.682Official first round qualifying resultsOfficial starting lineup
Ernie Irvan practice crash At around 8:40 AM EST, nearing the end of the first practice session that occurred on Saturday, Robert Yates Racing driver Ernie Irvan was told to go for a practice run of 10 laps. The weather was extremely foggy and hazy according to Irvan's crew chief Larry McReynolds. In an interview for a documentary, McReynolds would say that Irvan would have a tendency to run a couple extra laps in order to "feel the car out". Irvan had completed his 10 lap run when he decided to run one more lap, as McReynolds had anticipated. According to the driver behind Irvan, Ted Musgrave, when Irvan exited the second turn of the track, Irvan's car would suffer a right front tire failure at around . Musgrave would then say that Irvan tried to lock the brakes up in vain, as the car careened towards the outside wall. In another report by Ricky Rudd's crew chief, Bill Ingle, he had seen Irvan's car slip onto its left side before flipping back onto all four wheels and stopping.
When first responders had arrived at the crash scene, they saw Irvan's mouth filled and spilling with blood, along with his nose also spilling blood; with this, his brain could not get enough oxygen in order to live. The doctor at the scene, Dr. John Maino, ordered an emergency tracheotomy to be performed on Irvan while he was in the car. The kit Maino had was missing his surgical knife, so he used a pocket knife in order to perform the tracheotomy, which was successful. After inserting a tube to let air into Irvan's system, he was airlifted to the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ypsilanti, Michigan where the doctor at the hospital, Dr. Errol Erlandson had reported that Irvan had suffered "severe major injuries in two organ areas, either of which could be fatal." Erlandson would report that Irvan had suffered a skull fracture along with bruised lungs that had filled with fluid. According to Ernie's wife, Kim, the doctor gave a 10-15% chance of survival to live through the night. He would manage to make it through the night, but was unconscious for the next two days in critical condition. On Monday, his medication was reduced when he would regain some consciousness, with Irvan being able to move all of his extremities; but he was still in critical condition. After around a month of recovery, Erlandson had reported that the condition of Irvan had been upgraded to "good", with his lungs back to normal and his brain recovering fast in a "miraculous" recovery. With this report, Irvan was allowed to head back to his home in Charlotte, North Carolina and enter the Charlotte Institute of Rehabilitation for further recovery.
One week later, Irvan would make his first public appearance, making a news conference. In the conference, Irvan stated that he had hopes of returning to racing at the 1995 Daytona 500, and stated that his rehabilitation had been going well. While he would not be featured on the entry list for that year's Daytona 500, he would eventually be cleared to race on September 5, and would eventually race his first NASCAR Winston Cup Series race in the 1995 Tyson Holly Farms 400.
Race results