| Type: | NASWINSTON |
| Official Name: | 29th Annual Daytona 500 |
| Caption: | The 1987 Daytona 500 program cover, featuring Geoff Bodine. |
| Date: | February 15 |
| Avg: | 137.531mph |
| Season No: | 29 |
| Race No: | 1 |
| Scheduled Laps: | 200 |
| Course Km: | 4.0 |
| Distance Laps: | 200 |
| Distance Km: | 804.672 |
| Course Mi: | 2.5 |
| Scheduled Km: | 804.672 |
| Scheduled Mi: | 500 |
| Race Name: | Daytona 500 |
| Location: | Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona International Speedway |
| Announcers: | Ken Squier, Chris Economaki, Ned Jarrett |
| Radio: | Motor Racing Network |
| Network: | CBS |
| First Team: | Melling Racing |
| First Driver: | Bill Elliott |
| Pole Team: | Melling Racing |
| Most Team: | Melling Racing |
| Pole Driver: | Bill Elliott |
| Most Driver: | Bill Elliott |
| Most Laps: | 104 |
| Car: | 9 |
| Year: | 1987 |
| Distance Mi: | 500 |
| Pole Time: | 42.783 |
| Attendance: | 130,000 |
The 1987 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 29th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, February 15, 1987, before an audience of 130,000 in Daytona Beach, Florida at Daytona International Speedway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) permanent triangular-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete.
Nearing the race's end, Hendrick Motorsports' Geoff Bodine tried to forego a final pitstop but ran out of fuel with three laps to go. Melling Racing's Bill Elliott took the lead and held off Bodine's teammate, Benny Parsons, and owner-driver Richard Petty to take his 18th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his first victory of the season, and his second and final Daytona 500 victory.[1] [2]
Daytona International Speedway is one of three superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other two being Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.
Qualifying was set by the 1987 7-Eleven Twin 125s. The top two positions were set by qualifying speeds held for the Twin 125 Qualifiers held on Monday, February 9, with the top two qualifiers in the session earning the top two positions for the Daytona 500. The rest of the starting was set in the Twin 125 Qualifiers, held on Thursday, February 12, during two races. The top 14 finishers in the first race, excluding the pole position winner, set the inside row from rows two to 15, and the top 14 finishers in the second race, excluding the outside pole position winner, set the outside row from rows two to 15. The remaining non-qualifiers set positions 31-40 based on qualifying speeds from the first qualifying session held on Saturday. If needed, up to two extra provisionals were given to teams high enough in the previous season's owner's standings that did not qualify for the race by either qualifying speed or from the Twin 125 Qualifiers.
Bill Elliott, driving for Melling Racing, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 42.783 and an average speed of 210.364mph in Monday's session.[3]
19 drivers failed to qualify.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Make | Reason | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | Qualified on pole | |
| 2 | 28 | Davey Allison (R) | Ranier-Lundy Racing | Ford | Qualified on outside pole | |
| 3 | 90 | Ken Schrader | Donlavey Racing | Ford | First in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 4 | 35 | Benny Parsons | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | First in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 5 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | Third in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 6 | 22 | Bobby Allison | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | Second in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 7 | 88 | Buddy Baker | Baker–Schiff Racing | Oldsmobile | Fourth in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 8 | 5 | Geoff Bodine | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | Third in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 9 | 4 | Rick Wilson | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Oldsmobile | Fifth in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 10 | 44 | Sterling Marlin | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | Fourth in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 11 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | Sixth in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 12 | 33 | Harry Gant | Mach 1 Racing | Chevrolet | Fifth in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 13 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | Seventh in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 14 | 11 | Terry Labonte | Junior Johnson & Associates | Chevrolet | Seventh in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 15 | 75 | Neil Bonnett | RahMoc Enterprises | Pontiac | Eighth in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 16 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | Eighth in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 17 | 1 | Ron Bouchard | Ellington Racing | Chevrolet | Ninth in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 18 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Chevrolet | Ninth in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 19 | 55 | Phil Parsons | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | Tenth in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 20 | 21 | Kyle Petty | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | Tenth in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 21 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 11th in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 22 | 29 | Cale Yarborough | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 11th in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 23 | 19 | Derrike Cope (R) | Stoke Racing | Ford | 12th in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 24 | 77 | Ken Ragan | Ragan Racing | Ford | 12th in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 25 | 64 | Connie Saylor | Langley Racing | Ford | 13th in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 26 | 81 | Chet Fillip | Fillip Racing | Ford | 13th in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 27 | 86 | Ronnie Sanders | Moss Racing | Ford | 14th in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 28 | 6 | Trevor Boys | U.S. Racing | Chevrolet | 14th in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 29 | 66 | Tom Sneva | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 15th in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 30 | 82 | Mark Stahl | Stahl Racing | Ford | 15th in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 31 | 15 | Ricky Rudd | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | Speed provisional (204.634) | |
| 32 | 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac | Speed provisional (204.448) | |
| 33 | 83 | Lake Speed | Speed Racing | Oldsmobile | Speed provisional (204.160) | |
| 34 | 67 | Eddie Bierschwale | Arrington Racing | Ford | Speed provisional (203.087) | |
| 35 | 26 | Morgan Shepherd | King Racing | Buick | Speed provisional (202.789) | |
| 36 | 10 | Rodney Combs (R) | DiGard Motorsports | Oldsmobile | Speed provisional (202.425) | |
| 37 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | Speed provisional (201.771) | |
| 38 | 70 | J. D. McDuffie | McDuffie Racing | Pontiac | Speed provisional (200.929) | |
| 39 | 12 | David Sosebee | Hamby Racing | Chevrolet | Owner's points provisional | |
| 40 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | Owner's points provisional | |
| Forced to start at rear | ||||||
| 41 | 14 | A. J. Foyt | A. J. Foyt Racing | Oldsmobile | Speed provisional (203.832) | |
| 42 | 50 | Greg Sacks | Dingman Brothers Racing | Pontiac | Speed provisional (201.428) | |
| Failed to qualify or withdrew | ||||||
| 43 | 74 | Bobby Wawak | Wawak Racing | Chevrolet | 16th in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 44 | 51 | David Simko | Simko Racing | Chevrolet | 19th in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 45 | 02 | Joe Booher | Booher Racing | Pontiac | 19th in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 46 | 92 | Ralph Jones | LC Racing | Ford | 20th in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 47 | 93 | Charlie Baker | Salmon Racing | Chevrolet | 20th in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 48 | 39 | Blackie Wangerin | Wangerin Racing | Ford | 21st in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 49 | 24 | Grant Adcox | Adcox Racing | Chevrolet | 22nd in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 50 | 62 | Steve Christman (R) | Winkle Motorsports | Pontiac | 23rd in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 51 | 32 | Jonathan Lee Edwards | Edwards Racing | Chevrolet | 23rd in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 52 | 49 | Delma Cowart | H. L. Waters Racing | Chevrolet | 24th in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 53 | 89 | Jim Sauter | Mueller Brothers Racing | Pontiac | 25th in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 54 | 09 | Jeff Swindell | Swindell Racing | Chevrolet | 25th in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 55 | 18 | Tommy Ellis | Freedlander Motorsports | Chevrolet | 27th in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 56 | 98 | Ed Pimm | Curb Racing | Oldsmobile | 27th in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 57 | 48 | Steve Moore | Hylton Motorsports | Chevrolet | 28th in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 58 | 41 | Ronnie Thomas | Ronnie Thomas Racing | Pontiac | 29th in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 59 | 73 | Phil Barkdoll | Barkdoll Racing | Oldsmobile | 30th in Twin 125 #1 | |
| 60 | 54 | Donnie Allison | Gray Racing | Chevrolet | 30th in Twin 125 #2 | |
| 61 | 00 | Dick McCabe | McCabe Racing | Chevrolet | 31st in Twin 125 #2 | |
| WD | 63 | Jocko Maggiacomo | Linro Motorsports | Chevrolet | Injuries sustained in a practice crash | |
| Official Twin 125s results | ||||||
| Official starting lineup | ||||||
| Pos | Driver | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bill Elliott | 185 | |||||||
| 2 | Benny Parsons | 175 (-10) | |||||||
| 3 | Richard Petty | 170 (-15) | |||||||
| 4 | Buddy Baker | 165 (–20) | |||||||
| 5 | Dale Earnhardt | 160 (–25) | |||||||
| 6 | Ken Schrader | 151 (–34) | |||||||
| 7 | Bobby Allison | 150 (–35) | |||||||
| 8 | Darrell Waltrip | 147 (–38) | |||||||
| 9 | Ricky Rudd | 138 (–47) | |||||||
| 10 | Cale Yarborough | 134 (–51) | |||||||
| Official driver's standings | |||||||||