|| *Comments on the 1995 Dura Lube 500:* View the most recent comment <#30> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. MASH_guy posted: 06.08.2005 - 2:03 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) In his 2nd race back from his injuries, Ernie Irvan led 111 consecutive laps before the engine let go. This is the first race I remember where changing two tires seemed to work as well as four. Irvan used the strategy to get and hold lead, and Rudd used it to move up from the 29th starting position and win the race. 2. Djrfan posted: 09.08.2005 - 2:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ricky Rudd wins his 16th career race. 3. Anonymous posted: 08.15.2006 - 5:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) It was great to see Cope racing Rudd for the win, Just came up a little short!! Is Ernie Cope related to Derrike Cope??? 4. Thomas posted: 09.14.2006 - 7:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yep, they're related. I think they're cousins. 5. Zed posted: 03.06.2007 - 7:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) For the first time PIR's attendence reached over 100,000, (102,000), If I am not mistaken this was also the first race for the Turn 2 (Allison grandstand) 6. 3fan4eva posted: 05.17.2007 - 7:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes I am mistaken they werent built till 98' but anyway yes first 100,000+ crowd 7. Anonymous posted: 10.28.2007 - 12:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) How could Hut Stricklin fall out of this race with a spoiler problem? 8. Anonymous posted: 11.05.2007 - 4:58 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) I have this race on DVD and Stricklin's rear spoiler broke completely off the car. However It was an engine failure that forced him out of the race. Not his spoiler, it was repaired. 9. RaceFanX posted: 12.11.2007 - 8:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Only Cup start for Derrike Cope's cousin Ernie Cope. Ernie's car shared a sponsor and paint job with Derrike even though it was a different make. 10. Anonymous posted: 06.25.2008 - 3:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ernie Cope Drove a Chevy Lumina. One of if not the last person to do so 11. RaceFanX posted: 08.11.2008 - 9:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A.J. Foyt's last attempt to run a NASCAR race outside of Indy, sadly the purple #50 Motorola Ford was not able to make the race. He was mainly there that weekend to run the Truck race the day before, which he did make the grid for and finished 18th in. 12. Taylor posted: 12.14.2008 - 5:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ricky Rudd the first driver to win from starting 29th. 13. Bobby posted: 01.28.2009 - 2:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeah, as a native of Phoenix, the Allison grandstands weren't built until 98 or 99. This may have been when they added the backstretch bleachers though, I can't recall for sure. PIR has exploded in the last 10 years, and I love calling it my "home track", its a great place to watch a race. 14. Haywood posted: 10.01.2010 - 12:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) why was there 44 cars starting this race? 15. Anonymous posted: 10.23.2010 - 5:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "14. Haywood posted: 10.01.10 - 12:11 am why was there 44 cars starting this race?" The races at Sonoma and Phoenix were combination races with the Winston West series back then, so NASCAR added two Winston West provisional places to the back of the field for drivers from that series. 16. 00andJoe posted: 08.06.2011 - 1:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Attendance: 102,000 17. Ryan posted: 10.26.2011 - 6:59 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Derrike Cope's last legitimate shot at a win in cup? 18. 18fan posted: 11.11.2011 - 11:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ernie Irvan started this race from the back after crashing his primary car in practice. 19. Sebastien posted: 12.21.2011 - 4:00 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Rich Bickle was a relief driver for Jimmy Spencer early in the race. 20. Bailey Canterbury posted: 09.04.2014 - 4:18 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I've ALWAYS wondered where did Derrike Cope come from to have this buzzare 2nd place run at. Nearly won.. Remeber I was pulling for him desperately in the race to get The Straight Arrow Bobby Allison ford in victory lane this day. Damn it Ricky Rudd 21. RaceFanX posted: 10.19.2014 - 12:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor: #42 Kyle Petty- Coors Light / The Great Pumpkin This was Rudd's only victory of 1995, extending his streak of consecutive seasons with a victory to 13 years. Given that this was the penultimate race of the season he cut it very close to losing his streak in 1995. This was the second and final race for Kyle Petty in his black-and-orange Halloween colors. The #42 Pontiac returned to its normal blue-and-pink colors for the last race of the season at Atlanta. 22. RaceFanX posted: 11.01.2015 - 10:28 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Ron Hornaday, Jr. had a very busy weekend leading up to this race, his only Winston Cup start of 1995, as he completed in all three of the weekend's major race. On Friday he started from the pole in the NASCAR Southwest Tour race and led 67 laps en route to a top-10 finish. On Saturday he finished fifth in the season finale of the Truck series' inaugural season, capping off a year where he finished third in points. He was a nonfactor in this race though and finished well down the running order, getting dumped into a spin off turn 2 by Dick Trickle right as the caution came out for Doug George's crash certainly didn't help his efforts. 23. TeamDCR fan posted: 09.23.2016 - 10:24 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) This was the only time Derrike and Ernie Cope raced against each other. 24. TeamDCR fan posted: 09.23.2016 - 10:28 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) In NASCAR's top 3 series I should say. They did run two races together in the NASCAR Northwest series. 25. HD11 posted: 11.02.2016 - 12:54 pm Rate this comment: (4) (0) As noted above, Kyle Petty drove the great pumpkin car for Rockingham and this race. Buddy Baker had been critical of how ugly the car was until Mike Joy told him that Kyle's daughter had designed the pumpkin. In classic Baker form he responded "Well, the car is ugly but that sure is a pretty pumpkin!" I always enjoyed races when Buddy Baker was in the booth. 26. Bad Booking posted: 05.19.2018 - 8:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Only the second race, after Sonoma, that Jeff Gordon did not a lap in during the 1995 season. 27. Anthony posted: 05.19.2018 - 9:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @26 that just shows you how bonus points made a huge difference in Jeff Gordon winning the title over Dale Earnhardt. That also helped Rusty Wallace win his only championship in 1989. 28. RaceFanX posted: 03.14.2019 - 9:03 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Rusty Wallace leads a nice chunk of laps late in the race and comes home with a top-5 in the last regular outing for the black-and-gold #2 Ford in its famous Miller Genuine Draft colors. Rusty and his team retired the MGD look after this race and debuted their 1996 paint scheme, featuring just Miller branding, one race early at the finale in Atlanta. Almost a decade later Wallace would get to run the Miller Genuine Draft colors one last time during his final season behind the wheel in 2005 when the team brought them back out as a throwback paint scheme at Chicagoland. It was heartwarming to see Ernie Irvan running so well in this one and heartbreaking to see him get nothing for it once the #88 Texaco / Havoline Ford blew its motor. Irvan at least got the old Goody's Headache Award for his efforts, the second race in a row where it went to a dominate driver who blew a motor after Rick Mast got it at Rockingham. Still, given how strong Irvan had run both here and in his first race back at North Wilkesboro despite not being back to 100% just yet it was clear to see he was going to be a factor again when he returned full-time in 1996...and he was. 29. SweetRich21/43 posted: 08.03.2020 - 3:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators were Mike Joy, Buddy Baker and Dr. Dick Berggren. The pit road reporters were Glenn Jarrett and Randy Pemberton. 30. RaceFanX posted: 10.07.2020 - 4:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle Petty's Halloween scheme was initially going to feature the image of a celebrity or popular comic strip character on the hood (I'd lean more toward a celebrity, Coors would know better than to put a comic character on a beer-sponsored race car). Rights issues caused the deal to fall through so Kyle's daughter offered to draw a pumpkin to put on the car instead and he did so. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: