Revisionist NASCAR: 1994 Winston Cup Season

Our series starts with the 1994 Winston Cup Season. That year, Dale Earnhardt won his 7th and final Winston Cup Championship, besting Mark Martin by a whopping 444 points. Let’s take a look at what would have happened using the 2014-Present playoff format (minus stage points).

The playoffs begin with 10 drivers clinching the playoffs with wins. They are:

Six drivers qualify for the playoffs on points:

Round of 16

The Round of 16 is made up of races at Bristol, Darlington and Richmond. Rusty Wallace enters the playoffs as the points leader with 25 playoff points (5 per win).

Bristol- Rusty Wallace punches his ticket to the Round of 12, leading 105 laps and taking the MGD Ford to Victory Lane at Thunder Valley. Five of the 16 playoff drivers have trouble that could lead to elimination.

Darlington- Bill Elliott beats Dale Earnhardt by a commanding 6.39 seconds in the Southern 500 to advance to the Round of 12. Elliott and Earnhardt are just two of eight playoff drivers in the top 10. A 40th place finish for Lake Speed all but seals his fate in the round.

Richmond- The Iceman Terry Labonte takes the checkers in Richmond to move to the Round of 12.

Here’s how the bracket looks moving forward:

Round of 12

The Round of 12 features three tracks all one mile or less in length: Dover, Martinsville, and North Wilkesboro.

Dover- Rusty Wallace rips off another victory as Mark Martin crashes out on lap 496 of 500, to take the first spot in the Round of 8.

Martinsville- The most dominant force of the season thus far, Rusty Wallace, takes another checkered flag, leaving seven of eight spots up for grabs at North Wilkesboro to finish off the round.

North Wilkesboro- Geoffrey Bodine gets it done at the .625 mile speedway, lapping the entire field to advance to the Round of 8!

Four more drivers are eliminated as we move to Charlotte to start the Round of 8:

Round of 8

North Carolina is featured twice in the Round of 8 as the series heads to Charlotte, Rockingham, and Phoenix where the drivers will have three shots at clinching a spot in the Championship 4 at Atlanta.

Charlotte- Non-playoff driver Dale Jarrett in the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing machine takes the checkered flag at Charlotte. Earnhardt, Schrader, and Labonte are the only three playoff drivers to finish in the top 10.

Rockingham- The Intimidator holds off a hard charging Rick Mast to win at the one mile speedway. Earnhardt takes the first spot in the Championship 4. (This was the race in real life where Earnhardt clinched his record-tying seventh championship)

Phoenix- Texas Terry Labonte wins at Phoenix to clinch a spot in the Championship 4 alongside Earnhardt. A strong round by Darrel Waltrip lands him a spot in the finale. Rusty Wallace uses his mountain of playoff points to grab the fourth and final spot.

Championship 4

Our Championship 4, are set to duke it out at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The highest finishing driver in the Hooters 500 will take home the crown.

Mark Martin crosses the Finish Line first, but it is Dale Earnhardt who takes home the 1994 Winston Cup Championship with a runner-up finish. Labonte comes home 8th, Waltrip 21st, and Wallace a disappointing 32nd after an oil pan failure.

1994 produces the same champion under today’s playoff system and the traditional Winston Cup points system. Congratulations to the Intimidator on a 7th Winston Cup Championship!