 His victory also came at a time where Pontiac was underfunding their NASCAR teams in advance of their permanent withdrawal from NASCAR after the 2003 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season.1994 and 1995 were critical years for drivers using the Pontiac manufacturer as first-rate equipment started to become harder to come by.While future superstar Jeff Gordon would clinch the pole position driving up to during solo qualifying runs, the average pace of the race was .