| Type: | NASWINSTON |
| Scheduled Km: | 804.672 |
| Official Name: | 17th Annual Delaware 500 |
| Caption: | The 1987 Delaware 500 program cover. |
| Radio: | Motor Racing Network |
| Network: | ESPN |
| First Team: | Bud Moore Engineering |
| Most Team: | Bud Moore Engineering |
| First Driver: | Ricky Rudd |
| Most Driver: | Ricky Rudd |
| Pole Team: | AK Racing |
| Pole Driver: | Alan Kulwicki |
| Most Laps: | 373 |
| Car: | 15 |
| Distance Km: | 804.672 |
| Location: | Dover, Delaware, Dover Downs International Speedway |
| Scheduled Laps: | 500 |
| Scheduled Mi: | 500 |
| Distance Laps: | 500 |
| Avg: | 124.706mph |
| Date: | September 20 |
| Pole Time: | 24.687 |
| Course Km: | 1.6 |
| Course Mi: | 1 |
| Race Name: | Delaware 500 |
| Year: | 1987 |
| Season No: | 29 |
| Race No: | 23 |
| Distance Mi: | 500 |
| Announcers: | Bob Jenkins, Larry Nuber |
| Attendance: | 51,500 |
The 1987 Delaware 500 was the 23rd stock car race of the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 17th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, September 20, 1987, before an audience of 51,500 in Dover, Delaware at Dover Downs International Speedway, a 1-mile (1.6 km) permanent oval-shaped racetrack. The race took the scheduled 500 laps to complete.
By race's end, Bud Moore Engineering's Ricky Rudd managed to dominate a majority of the race, leading 373 laps en route to his eighth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season.[1] [2] To fill out the top three, Ranier-Lundy Racing's Davey Allison and RahMoc Enterprises' Neil Bonnett finished second and third, respectively.
Dover Downs International Speedway is an oval race track in Dover, Delaware, United States that has held at least two NASCAR races since it opened in 1969. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the NTT IndyCar Series. The track features one layout, a 1-mile (1.6 km) concrete oval, with 24° banking in the turns and 9° banking on the straights. The speedway is owned and operated by Dover Motorsports.
The track, nicknamed "The Monster Mile", was built in 1969 by Melvin Joseph of Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company, Inc., with an asphalt surface, but was replaced with concrete in 1995. Six years later in 2001, the track's capacity moved to 135,000 seats, making the track have the largest capacity of sports venue in the mid-Atlantic. In 2002, the name changed to Dover International Speedway from Dover Downs International Speedway after Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment split, making Dover Motorsports. From 2007 to 2009, the speedway worked on an improvement project called "The Monster Makeover", which expanded facilities at the track and beautified the track. After the 2014 season, the track's capacity was reduced to 95,500 seats.
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Saturday, September 19, at 10:00 AM 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 Saturday, at 3:00 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,[3] 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.
Alan Kulwicki, driving for his own AK Racing team, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 24.687 and an average speed of 145.826mph in the first round.[4]
No drivers failed to qualify.
| Fin | St | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | 15 | Ricky Rudd | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 500 | 373 | running | 185 | $54,550 | |
| 2 | 2 | 28 | Davey Allison (R) | Ranier-Lundy Racing | Ford | 500 | 39 | running | 175 | $25,875 | |
| 3 | 19 | 75 | Neil Bonnett | RahMoc Enterprises | Pontiac | 500 | 0 | running | 165 | $21,335 | |
| 4 | 9 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | 500 | 1 | running | 165 | $19,375 | |
| 5 | 11 | 44 | Sterling Marlin | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | 500 | 6 | running | 160 | $17,620 | |
| 6 | 6 | 5 | Geoff Bodine | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 498 | 0 | running | 150 | $13,175 | |
| 7 | 12 | 22 | Bobby Allison | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 498 | 1 | running | 146 | $12,440 | |
| 8 | 14 | 88 | Buddy Baker | Baker–Schiff Racing | Oldsmobile | 498 | 0 | running | 142 | $5,900 | |
| 9 | 26 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 496 | 0 | running | 138 | $8,575 | |
| 10 | 23 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 495 | 0 | running | 134 | $7,390 | |
| 11 | 5 | 90 | Ken Schrader | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 495 | 0 | running | 130 | $7,355 | |
| 12 | 20 | 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac | 495 | 0 | running | 127 | $10,900 | |
| 13 | 15 | 1 | Brett Bodine | Ellington Racing | Chevrolet | 493 | 0 | running | 124 | $2,650 | |
| 14 | 1 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 493 | 25 | running | 126 | $10,735 | |
| 15 | 27 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 490 | 0 | running | 118 | $6,275 | |
| 16 | 18 | 35 | Benny Parsons | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 489 | 0 | running | 115 | $11,400 | |
| 17 | 30 | 62 | Steve Christman (R) | Winkle Motorsports | Pontiac | 487 | 0 | running | 112 | $2,650 | |
| 18 | 40 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Chevrolet | 486 | 0 | running | 109 | $5,515 | |
| 19 | 31 | 67 | Buddy Arrington | Arrington Racing | Ford | 479 | 0 | running | 106 | $5,255 | |
| 20 | 36 | 6 | Rick Knoop | U.S. Racing | Chevrolet | 470 | 0 | running | 0 | $5,595 | |
| 21 | 33 | 12 | Larry Caudill | Hamby Racing | Oldsmobile | 470 | 0 | running | 0 | $4,725 | |
| 22 | 16 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 468 | 0 | running | 97 | $4,665 | |
| 23 | 8 | 21 | Kyle Petty | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 403 | 0 | running | 94 | $8,850 | |
| 24 | 29 | 82 | Rick Jeffrey | Jeffery Racing | Chevrolet | 391 | 0 | clutch | 91 | $1,800 | |
| 25 | 7 | 33 | Harry Gant | Mach 1 Racing | Chevrolet | 381 | 0 | engine | 88 | $4,605 | |
| 26 | 37 | 97 | D. Wayne Strout | Strout Racing | Oldsmobile | 381 | 0 | fatigue | 85 | $1,700 | |
| 27 | 4 | 4 | Rick Wilson | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 356 | 0 | distributor | 82 | $1,650 | |
| 28 | 38 | 70 | J. D. McDuffie | McDuffie Racing | Pontiac | 335 | 0 | engine | 79 | $1,600 | |
| 29 | 21 | 55 | Phil Parsons | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 328 | 0 | running | 76 | $1,550 | |
| 30 | 34 | 51 | David Simko | Simko Racing | Chevrolet | 308 | 0 | clutch | 73 | $1,500 | |
| 31 | 22 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 304 | 18 | engine | 75 | $12,700 | |
| 32 | 3 | 11 | Terry Labonte | Junior Johnson & Associates | Chevrolet | 295 | 37 | crash | 72 | $11,050 | |
| 33 | 24 | 64 | Trevor Boys | Langley Racing | Ford | 281 | 0 | engine | 0 | $4,085 | |
| 34 | 32 | 98 | Mark Gibson | Gibson Racing | Pontiac | 204 | 0 | axle | 61 | $1,300 | |
| 35 | 28 | 81 | Mike Potter | Fillip Racing | Ford | 185 | 0 | exhaust | 58 | $1,200 | |
| 36 | 39 | 29 | Cale Yarborough | Cale Yarborough Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 117 | 0 | engine | 55 | $1,175 | |
| 37 | 35 | 80 | Eddie Bierschwale | S&H Racing | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | engine | 52 | $1,175 | |
| 38 | 17 | 18 | Dale Jarrett (R) | Freedlander Motorsports | Chevrolet | 45 | 0 | engine | 49 | $3,175 | |
| 39 | 25 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 45 | 0 | crash | 46 | $8,150 | |
| 40 | 10 | 26 | Morgan Shepherd | King Racing | Buick | 20 | 0 | engine | 43 | $3,150 | |
| Withdrew | |||||||||||
| WD | 72 | Eddie Drury | Drury Racing | Chevrolet | |||||||
| Official race results | |||||||||||
| Pos | Driver | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dale Earnhardt | 3,781 | |||||||
| 2 | Bill Elliott | 3,263 (-518) | |||||||
| 3 | Terry Labonte | 3,091 (-690) | |||||||
| 4 | Rusty Wallace | 3,069 (–712) | |||||||
| 1 | 5 | Ricky Rudd | 3,063 (–718) | ||||||
| 1 | 6 | Darrell Waltrip | 3,032 (–749) | ||||||
| 7 | Neil Bonnett | 3,007 (–774) | |||||||
| 8 | Richard Petty | 2,946 (–835) | |||||||
| 9 | Kyle Petty | 2,866 (–915) | |||||||
| 10 | Ken Schrader | 2,788 (–993) | |||||||
| Official driver's standings | |||||||||