| Type: | NASWINSTON |
| Most Team: | Blue Max Racing |
| Announcers: | Bob Jenkins, Larry Nuber |
| Official Name: | 2nd Annual The Budweiser at The Glen |
| Date: | August 10 |
| Season No: | 29 |
| Avg: | 90.682mph |
| Course Km: | 3.907 |
| Pole Team: | Junior Johnson & Associates |
| Pole Time: | 1:14.102 |
| Pole Driver: | Terry Labonte |
| Race No: | 18 |
| Radio: | Motor Racing Network |
| Network: | ESPN |
| Most Driver: | Rusty Wallace |
| Location: | Watkins Glen, New York, Watkins Glen International |
| Most Laps: | 63 |
| First Team: | Blue Max Racing |
| First Driver: | Rusty Wallace |
| Car: | 27 |
| Scheduled Mi: | 218.52 |
| Distance Km: | 351.673 |
| Distance Laps: | 90 |
| Scheduled Laps: | 90 |
| Scheduled Km: | 351.673 |
| Course Mi: | 2.428 |
| Race Name: | The Budweiser at The Glen |
| Year: | 1987 |
| Distance Mi: | 218.52 |
| Caption: | The 1987 The Budweiser at The Glen program cover. |
| Attendance: | 35,000 |
The 1987 The Budweiser at The Glen was the 18th stock car race of the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the second iteration of the event. The race was originally scheduled to be held on Sunday, August 9, 1987, but was delayed until Monday, August 10, due to heavy rain.[1] The race was held before an audience of 35,000 in Watkins Glen, New York, at the shortened layout of Watkins Glen International, a 2.428miles permanent road course layout.
By race's end, Blue Max Racing's Rusty Wallace, managing to retain the lead after a last-lap pit stop, dominated a majority of the race to take his third 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 owner-driver Dave Marcis finished second and third, respectively.
Watkins Glen International (nicknamed "The Glen") is an automobile race track located in Watkins Glen, New York at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. It was long known around the world as the home of the Formula One United States Grand Prix, which it hosted for twenty consecutive years (1961–1980), but the site has been home to road racing of nearly every class, including the World Sportscar Championship, Trans-Am, Can-Am, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the International Motor Sports Association and the IndyCar Series.
Initially, public roads in the village were used for the race course. In 1956 a permanent circuit for the race was built. In 1968 the race was extended to six hours, becoming the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen. The circuit's current layout has more or less been the same since 1971, although a chicane was installed at the uphill Esses in 1975 to slow cars through these corners, where there was a fatality during practice at the 1973 United States Grand Prix. The chicane was removed in 1985, but another chicane called the "Inner Loop" was installed in 1992 after J.D. McDuffie's fatal accident during the previous year's NASCAR Winston Cup event.
The circuit is known as the Mecca of North American road racing and is a very popular venue among fans and drivers. The facility is currently owned by International Speedway Corporation.
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, August 7, at 1:00 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 Saturday, August 8, at 11:00 AM 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,[4] 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 provisionals were given.
Terry Labonte, driving for Junior Johnson & Associates, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 1:14.102 and an average speed of 117.956mph in the first round.[5]
No drivers failed to qualify.
| Fin | St | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac | 90 | 63 | running | 185 | $52,925 | |
| 2 | 1 | 11 | Terry Labonte | Junior Johnson & Associates | Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | running | 170 | $35,850 | |
| 3 | 14 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | running | 165 | $23,880 | |
| 4 | 7 | 15 | Ricky Rudd | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 90 | 0 | running | 160 | $20,135 | |
| 5 | 15 | 35 | Benny Parsons | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | running | 155 | $19,655 | |
| 6 | 19 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 90 | 0 | running | 150 | $13,875 | |
| 7 | 6 | 55 | Phil Parsons | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 90 | 0 | running | 146 | $6,120 | |
| 8 | 11 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 90 | 6 | running | 147 | $17,005 | |
| 9 | 21 | 22 | Bobby Allison | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 90 | 0 | running | 138 | $12,540 | |
| 10 | 4 | 25 | Tim Richmond | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 90 | 7 | running | 139 | $5,960 | |
| 11 | 8 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 90 | 0 | running | 130 | $4,180 | |
| 12 | 24 | 21 | Kyle Petty | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 90 | 0 | running | 127 | $11,945 | |
| 13 | 27 | 88 | Buddy Baker | Baker–Schiff Racing | Oldsmobile | 90 | 0 | running | 124 | $3,715 | |
| 14 | 22 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 90 | 0 | running | 121 | $7,655 | |
| 15 | 3 | 5 | Geoff Bodine | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 90 | 10 | running | 123 | $11,305 | |
| 16 | 12 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Chevrolet | 89 | 0 | running | 115 | $8,205 | |
| 17 | 33 | 28 | Davey Allison (R) | Ranier-Lundy Racing | Ford | 88 | 0 | running | 112 | $3,775 | |
| 18 | 18 | 33 | Harry Gant | Mach 1 Racing | Chevrolet | 88 | 0 | running | 109 | $6,870 | |
| 19 | 29 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 88 | 0 | running | 106 | $6,585 | |
| 20 | 37 | 67 | Buddy Arrington | Arrington Racing | Ford | 88 | 0 | running | 103 | $6,865 | |
| 21 | 16 | 4 | Rick Wilson | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 88 | 0 | running | 100 | $2,505 | |
| 22 | 5 | 26 | Morgan Shepherd | King Racing | Buick | 88 | 0 | running | 97 | $5,810 | |
| 23 | 36 | 64 | Rodney Combs | Langley Racing | Ford | 87 | 0 | running | 0 | $5,490 | |
| 24 | 31 | 70 | J. D. McDuffie | McDuffie Racing | Pontiac | 87 | 0 | running | 91 | $2,225 | |
| 25 | 34 | 6 | Rick Knoop | U.S. Racing | Chevrolet | 86 | 0 | running | 0 | $5,310 | |
| 26 | 35 | 81 | Tom Rotsell | Chilson Racing | Ford | 84 | 0 | running | 85 | $2,110 | |
| 27 | 23 | 90 | Ken Schrader | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 83 | 0 | running | 82 | $4,830 | |
| 28 | 9 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | 77 | 0 | running | 79 | $10,600 | |
| 29 | 17 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 75 | 0 | running | 76 | $9,695 | |
| 30 | 39 | 61 | Mike Potter | Arrington Racing | Ford | 74 | 0 | running | 73 | $1,890 | |
| 31 | 25 | 19 | Derrike Cope (R) | Stoke Racing | Chevrolet | 65 | 0 | transmission | 70 | $1,835 | |
| 32 | 13 | 44 | Sterling Marlin | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | 64 | 0 | running | 67 | $4,515 | |
| 33 | 30 | 89 | Patty Moise | Reno Enterprises | Chevrolet | 53 | 0 | crash | 64 | $1,690 | |
| 34 | 28 | 62 | Steve Christman (R) | Winkle Motorsports | Pontiac | 52 | 0 | crash | 61 | $1,635 | |
| 35 | 26 | 63 | Jocko Maggiacomo | Linro Motorsports | Chevrolet | 51 | 0 | engine | 58 | $1,580 | |
| 36 | 20 | 18 | Dale Jarrett (R) | Freedlander Motorsports | Chevrolet | 42 | 0 | transmission | 55 | $4,280 | |
| 37 | 10 | 75 | Neil Bonnett | RahMoc Enterprises | Pontiac | 24 | 4 | engine | 57 | $4,230 | |
| 38 | 32 | 12 | Trevor Boys | Hamby Racing | Chevrolet | 17 | 0 | engine | 0 | $3,465 | |
| 39 | 38 | 76 | Phil Good | Good Racing | Ford | 10 | 0 | transmission | 46 | $1,435 | |
| 40 | 40 | 1 | Chuck Schroedel | Gray Racing | Pontiac | 8 | 0 | engine | 43 | $1,375 | |
| Withdrew | |||||||||||
| WD | 50 | Greg Sacks | Dingman Brothers Racing | Pontiac | |||||||
| WD | 51 | Paul Newman | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | |||||||
| Official race results | |||||||||||
| Pos | Driver | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dale Earnhardt | 2,971 | |||||||
| 1 | 2 | Terry Labonte | 2,488 (-483) | ||||||
| 1 | 3 | Bill Elliott | 2,473 (-498) | ||||||
| 1 | 4 | Kyle Petty | 2,381 (–590) | ||||||
| 1 | 5 | Neil Bonnett | 2,369 (–602) | ||||||
| 6 | Darrell Waltrip | 2,362 (–609) | |||||||
| 2 | 7 | Rusty Wallace | 2,315 (–656) | ||||||
| 8 | Ricky Rudd | 2,314 (–657) | |||||||
| 2 | 9 | Ken Schrader | 2,280 (–691) | ||||||
| 10 | Richard Petty | 2,188 (–783) | |||||||
| Official driver's standings | |||||||||