| Type: | NASWINSTON |
| Course Km: | 4.28 |
| Caption: | The 1987 Winston 500 program cover, featuring Bobby Allison. |
| Pole Time: | 44.998 |
| First Team: | Ranier-Lundy Racing |
| First Driver: | Davey Allison |
| Attendance: | 135,000 |
| Announcers: | Bob Jenkins, Larry Nuber |
| Radio: | Motor Racing Network |
| Network: | ESPN |
| Most Team: | Ranier-Lundy Racing |
| Car: | 28 |
| Most Laps: | 101 |
| Most Driver: | Davey Allison |
| Pole Driver: | Bill Elliott |
| Avg: | 154.228mph |
| Location: | Lincoln, Alabama, Alabama International Motor Speedway |
| Pole Team: | Melling Racing |
| Scheduled Km: | 804.8 |
| Distance Km: | 761.992 |
| Distance Laps: | 178 |
| Scheduled Laps: | 188 |
| Scheduled Mi: | 500.08 |
| Season No: | 29 |
| Race No: | 9 |
| Race Name: | Winston 500 |
| Course Mi: | 2.66 |
| Date: | May 3 |
| Year: | 1987 |
| Distance Mi: | 473.48 |
| Official Name: | 18th Annual Winston 500 |
The 1987 Winston 500 was the ninth stock car race of the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 18th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, May 3, 1987, before an audience of 135,000 in Lincoln, Alabama at Alabama International Motor Speedway, a 2.66 miles (4.28 km) permanent triangle-shaped superspeedway. The race was shortened from its scheduled 188 laps to 178 due to impending darkness that was caused by a lengthy red flag for debris cleanup and catch fence repairs for an earlier accident.[1]
By race's end, Ranier-Lundy Racing's Davey Allison had managed to dominate a majority of the race, leading 101 laps when the race was called to take his first career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his first victory of the season.[2] [3] To fill out the top three, Junior Johnson & Associates' Terry Labonte and Wood Brothers Racing's Kyle Petty finished second and third, respectively.
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, Stavola Brothers Racing's Bobby Allison lost his engine, with pieces of his engine cutting his right rear tire at speeds of around 210mph. The car turned backwards and went airborne, hitting the wall and tearing down a wide stretch of protective fencing to protect fans from accidents. After the car hit the fence, the car was described to have spun "round-and-round like an insane top" per The Atlanta Constitution writer Bill Robinson,[4] collecting other cars in the accident and the accident itself injuring four spectators; none of them serious.[5]
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]
Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a tri-oval and was constructed in the 1960s by the International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France family. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line that's located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega is the longest NASCAR oval, a 2.66-longNaN-long tri-oval like the Daytona International Speedway, which also is a 2.5-longNaN-long tri-oval.
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 212.809mph 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]
| 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 | |||||||||||
| Pos | Driver | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dale Earnhardt | 1,555 | |||||||
| 2 | Bill Elliott | 1,335 (-220) | |||||||
| 3 | Neil Bonnett | 1,289 (-266) | |||||||
| 1 | 4 | Terry Labonte | 1,253 (–302) | ||||||
| 1 | 5 | Richard Petty | 1,220 (–335) | ||||||
| 1 | 6 | Rusty Wallace | 1,216 (–339) | ||||||
| 1 | 7 | Kyle Petty | 1,194 (–361) | ||||||
| 1 | 8 | Ken Schrader | 1,175 (–380) | ||||||
| 4 | 9 | Ricky Rudd | 1,158 (–397) | ||||||
| 10 | Darrell Waltrip | 1,152 (–403) | |||||||
| Official driver's standings | |||||||||