1987 Winston 500
Race details | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 9 of 29 in the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||||
Date | May 3, 1987 | ||||
Official name | 18th Annual Winston 500 | ||||
Location |
Alabama International Motor Speedway | ||||
Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.66 mi (4.28 km) | ||||
Distance | 178 laps, 473.48 mi (761.992 km) | ||||
Scheduled Distance | 188 laps, 500.08 mi (804.8 km) | ||||
Average speed | 154.228 miles per hour (248.206 km/h) | ||||
Attendance | 135,000 | ||||
Pole position | |||||
Driver | Melling Racing | ||||
Time | 44.998 | ||||
Most laps led | |||||
Driver | Davey Allison |
Ranier-Lundy Racing | |||
Laps | 101 | ||||
Winner | |||||
No. 28 | Davey Allison |
Network | ESPN | ||
Announcers | Bob Jenkins, Larry Nuber | ||||
Radio in the United States | |||||
Radio | Motor Racing Network |
The 1987 Winston 500 was the ninth
By race's end,
The race is considered to be one of the most influential races in terms of the advancement of auto racing safety. On the 21st lap of the race,
The nature of the crash became a source of controversy for NASCAR. In response, NASCAR implemented the mandatory restrictor plate by the start of the 1988 season, which restricted air intake to the engine, made cars considerably slower, and unintentionally ushered in the era of pack racing.[6]
Background
Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, April 30, at 2:00 PM EST. Each driver had one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 drivers in the round were 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 Friday, May 1, at 2:00 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver had one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 were decided on time,[7] 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 were given.
Bill Elliott, driving for Melling Racing, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 44.998 and an average speed of 212.809 miles per hour (342.483 km/h) in the first round.[8] The lap set a new all-time record for the fastest recorded qualifying lap based on average speed; the record still stands as of April 2023.[9]
Two drivers failed to qualify. One of the drivers who failed to qualify, Blackie Wangerin, crashed during his second-round qualifying run, crashing his only car in the process.[10] The other driver, Ronnie Sanders, elected to stand on his time; the time was the slowest out of all drivers who ran a lap in both sessions and he did not have enough owner's points for a provisional.[11]
Full qualifying results
Race results
Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | 28 | Davey Allison (R) | Ranier-Lundy Racing
|
Ford | 178 | 101 | running | 185 | $71,250 |
2 | 8 | 11 | Terry Labonte | Junior Johnson & Associates | Chevrolet | 178 | 7 | running | 175 | $47,060 |
3 | 6 | 21 | Kyle Petty | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 178 | 0 | running | 165 | $30,915 |
4 | 5 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 178 | 10 | running | 165 | $31,350 |
5 | 16 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 178 | 0 | running | 155 | $25,055 |
6 | 14 | 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing
|
Pontiac | 178 | 1 | running | 155 | $21,325 |
7 | 21 | 75 | Neil Bonnett | RahMoc Enterprises | Pontiac | 178 | 2 | running | 151 | $16,520 |
8 | 15 | 90 | Ken Schrader | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 178 | 4 | running | 147 | $17,050 |
9 | 10 | 83 | Lake Speed | Speed Racing
|
Oldsmobile | 177 | 0 | running | 138 | $9,575 |
10 | 19 | 26 | Morgan Shepherd | King Racing | Buick | 177 | 0 | running | 134 | $13,965 |
11 | 4 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 177 | 0 | running | 130 | $7,565 |
12 | 20 | 35 | Benny Parsons | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 177 | 2 | running | 132 | $16,315 |
13 | 35 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 177 | 0 | running | 124 | $11,570 |
14 | 7 | 44 | Sterling Marlin | Hagan Racing
|
Oldsmobile | 176 | 0 | running | 121 | $10,050 |
15 | 36 | 12 | Slick Johnson | Hamby Racing | Chevrolet | 175 | 2 | running | 123 | $9,940 |
16 | 25 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 173 | 0 | running | 115 | $9,030 |
17 | 33 | 82 | Mark Stahl | Stahl Racing
|
Ford | 173 | 0 | running | 112 | $5,395 |
18 | 34 | 67 | Eddie Bierschwale | Arrington Racing
|
Ford | 172 | 0 | running | 109 | $7,900 |
19 | 40 | 62 | Steve Christman (R) | Winkle Motorsports | Pontiac | 167 | 0 | running | 106 | $4,495 |
20 | 27 | 4 | Rick Wilson | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 165 | 0 | overheating | 103 | $4,845 |
21 | 29 | 77 | Ken Ragan | Ragan Racing | Ford | 158 | 0 | crash | 100 | $4,035 |
22 | 1 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | 150 | 48 | engine | 102 | $16,685 |
23 | 32 | 64 | Connie Saylor | Langley Racing
|
Ford | 134 | 0 | engine | 94 | $6,840 |
24 | 39 | 6 | Rick Knoop | U.S. Racing
|
Chevrolet | 130 | 0 | wheel bearing | 91 | $6,470 |
25 | 24 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Chevrolet | 125 | 0 | clutch | 88 | $6,460 |
26 | 22 | 50 | Greg Sacks | Dingman Brothers Racing | Pontiac | 109 | 0 | crash | 0 | $3,545 |
27 | 30 | 98 | Ed Pimm | Curb Racing | Buick | 103 | 1 | engine | 87 | $3,495 |
28 | 38 | 18 | Dale Jarrett (R) | Freedlander Motorsports | Chevrolet | 96 | 0 | engine | 79 | $6,200 |
29 | 26 | 33 | Harry Gant | Mach 1 Racing | Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | crash | 76 | $6,130 |
30 | 17 | 15 | Ricky Rudd | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 89 | 0 | crash | 73 | $11,745 |
31 | 9 | 55 | Phil Parsons | Jackson Bros. Motorsports
|
Oldsmobile | 84 | 0 | running | 70 | $3,250 |
32 | 12 | 88 | Buddy Baker | Baker–Schiff Racing | Oldsmobile | 69 | 0 | engine | 67 | $3,225 |
33 | 41 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 61 | 0 | wheel bearing | 64 | $5,200 |
34 | 28 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 30 | 0 | engine | 61 | $6,175 |
35 | 37 | 73 | Phil Barkdoll | Barkdoll Racing | Chevrolet | 27 | 0 | transmission | 58 | 3,150 |
36 | 23 | 99 | Joe Ruttman | Ball Motorsports | Chevrolet | 27 | 0 | transmission | 0 | $3,125 |
37 | 18 | 29 | Cale Yarborough | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 22 | 0 | crash | 52 | $3,100 |
38 | 13 | 1 | Ron Bouchard | Ellington Racing
|
Buick | 22 | 0 | crash | 49 | $3,075 |
39 | 2 | 22 | Bobby Allison | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 21 | 0 | crash | 46 | $11,275 |
40 | 11 | 5 | Geoff Bodine | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 11 | 0 | engine | 43 | $10,000 |
41 | 31 | 81 | Chet Fillip | Fillip Racing | Ford | 3 | 0 | engine | 40 | $3,000 |
Failed to qualify | ||||||||||
42 | 86 | Ronnie Sanders | Moss Racing | Ford | ||||||
43 | 39 | Blackie Wangerin | Wangerin Racing | Ford | ||||||
Official race results |
Standings after the race
|
References
- ^ Ingram, Jonathan (January 19, 2023). "How Bobby Allison's 1987 Horrific Talladega Crash Led to Birth of Restrictor Plate Races". Autoweek. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
- Jalopnik. Archived from the originalon April 5, 2016. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
- ^ Hembree, Mike (April 19, 2023). "Fast times at Talladega: The year everyone reached 200 mph". NBC Sports. Retrieved October 21, 2023.