| Type: | NASWINSTON |
| Year: | 1987 |
| Official Name: | 27th Annual Winston Western 500 |
| Announcers: | Ken Squier, Buddy Baker, Johnny Hayes |
| Radio: | Motor Racing Network |
| Network: | TBS |
| Pole Driver: | Geoff Bodine |
| First Team: | Blue Max Racing |
| Most Team: | Hendrick Motorsports |
| First Driver: | Rusty Wallace |
| Most Driver: | Geoff Bodine |
| Pole Team: | Hendrick Motorsports |
| Most Laps: | 92 |
| Avg: | 95.503mph |
| Date: | November 8 |
| Season No: | 29 |
| Location: | Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California |
| Race No: | 28 |
| Car: | 27 |
| Race Name: | Winston Western 500 |
| Scheduled Mi: | 311.78 |
| Course Km: | 4.216 |
| Scheduled Km: | 501.761 |
| Distance Km: | 501.761 |
| Scheduled Laps: | 119 |
| Distance Laps: | 119 |
| Course Mi: | 2.62 |
| Pole Time: | 1:19.977 |
| Distance Mi: | 311.78 |
| Attendance: | 64,500 |
The 1987 Winston Western 500 was the 28th and penultimate stock car race of the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season, the eighth and the final race of the 1987 NASCAR Winston West Series, and the 27th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, November 8, 1987, before an audience of 64,500 in Riverside, California, at the short layout of Riverside International Raceway, a 2.62miles permanent road course layout at the track. The race took the scheduled 119 laps to complete.
Taking advantage of misfortune caused by an aggressive battle for the lead in the closing laps between Dale Earnhardt and Geoff Bodine, Blue Max Racing's Rusty Wallace was able to pull ahead when Bodine blew a tire and Earnhardt blew his engine. Wallace was able to score his fourth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season.[1] [2] To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports' Benny Parsons and Wood Brothers Racing's Kyle Petty finished second and third, respectively.
Riverside International Raceway (sometimes known as Riverside, RIR, or Riverside Raceway) was a motorsports race track and road course established in the Edgemont area of Riverside County, California, just east of the city limits of Riverside and east of Los Angeles, in 1957. In 1984, the raceway became part of the newly incorporated city of Moreno Valley. Riverside was noted for its hot, dusty environment and for being somewhat of a complicated and dangerous track for drivers. It was also considered one of the finest tracks in the United States.
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, November 6, at 4:30 PM EST. Each driver had one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 25 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, November 7, at 2:00 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver had one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 26-40 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 provisionals were given.
Geoff Bodine, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 1:19.977 and an average speed of 117.934mph in the first round.[4]
Five drivers failed to qualify.
| Fin | St | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac | 119 | 11 | running | 180 | $47,725 | |
| 2 | 10 | 35 | Benny Parsons | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 119 | 0 | running | 170 | $28,700 | |
| 3 | 5 | 21 | Kyle Petty | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 119 | 0 | running | 165 | $21,125 | |
| 4 | 16 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 119 | 0 | running | 160 | $13,780 | |
| 5 | 11 | 22 | Bobby Allison | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 119 | 0 | running | 155 | $14,575 | |
| 6 | 27 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 119 | 1 | running | 155 | $6,745 | |
| 7 | 23 | 75 | Joe Ruttman | RahMoc Enterprises | Pontiac | 119 | 0 | running | 0 | $8,025 | |
| 8 | 4 | 11 | Terry Labonte | Junior Johnson & Associates | Chevrolet | 119 | 1 | running | 147 | $12,400 | |
| 9 | 22 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 119 | 0 | running | 138 | $9,415 | |
| 10 | 1 | 5 | Geoff Bodine | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 119 | 92 | running | 144 | $18,275 | |
| 11 | 7 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 119 | 0 | running | 130 | $8,655 | |
| 12 | 13 | 78 | Jim Robinson | Lois Williams Racing | Oldsmobile | 118 | 0 | running | 127 | $4,785 | |
| 13 | 37 | 55 | Phil Parsons | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 118 | 0 | running | 124 | $2,350 | |
| 14 | 25 | 28 | Davey Allison (R) | Ranier-Lundy Racing | Ford | 118 | 0 | running | 121 | $3,000 | |
| 15 | 36 | 95 | Chad Little | George Jefferson Racing | Ford | 117 | 0 | running | 118 | $4,775 | |
| 16 | 24 | 29 | George Follmer | Midgley Racing | Chevrolet | 117 | 8 | running | 120 | $2,005 | |
| 17 | 39 | 18 | Dale Jarrett (R) | Freedlander Motorsports | Chevrolet | 116 | 0 | running | 112 | $5,370 | |
| 18 | 19 | 4 | Rick Wilson | Morgan–McClure Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 116 | 0 | running | 109 | $1,905 | |
| 19 | 34 | 6 | Ernie Irvan | U.S. Racing | Chevrolet | 116 | 0 | running | 106 | $5,060 | |
| 20 | 12 | 93 | Derrike Cope (R) | Stoke Racing | Chevrolet | 114 | 0 | running | 103 | $2,355 | |
| 21 | 41 | 67 | Buddy Arrington | Arrington Racing | Ford | 114 | 0 | running | 100 | $4,800 | |
| 22 | 18 | 88 | Irv Hoerr | Baker–Schiff Racing | Oldsmobile | 114 | 0 | running | 0 | $1,705 | |
| 23 | 6 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | 114 | 0 | running | 94 | $10,255 | |
| 24 | 17 | 44 | Sterling Marlin | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | 112 | 0 | running | 91 | $4,380 | |
| 25 | 26 | 26 | Morgan Shepherd | King Racing | Buick | 110 | 0 | running | 88 | $4,920 | |
| 26 | 9 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Chevrolet | 109 | 0 | running | 85 | $4,180 | |
| 27 | 40 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 108 | 0 | running | 82 | $4,110 | |
| 28 | 14 | 33 | Harry Gant | Mach 1 Racing | Chevrolet | 106 | 0 | engine | 79 | $3,325 | |
| 29 | 38 | 90 | Ken Schrader | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 102 | 0 | clutch | 76 | $3,275 | |
| 30 | 8 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 93 | 1 | engine | 78 | $11,975 | |
| 31 | 2 | 15 | Ricky Rudd | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 90 | 5 | engine | 75 | $9,600 | |
| 32 | 33 | 14 | Harry Goularte | Goularte Racing | Chevrolet | 79 | 0 | suspension | 67 | $1,675 | |
| 33 | 21 | 25 | Rick Hendrick | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 75 | 0 | transmission | 0 | $1,150 | |
| 34 | 15 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 63 | 0 | engine | 61 | $8,125 | |
| 35 | 29 | 64 | Rick McCray | Langley Racing | Chevrolet | 63 | 0 | suspension | 58 | $3,100 | |
| 36 | 35 | 73 | Bill Schmitt | Schmitt Racing | Chevrolet | 36 | 0 | clutch | 55 | $1,500 | |
| 37 | 30 | 63 | Jocko Maggiacomo | Linro Motorsports | Chevrolet | 26 | 0 | transmission | 52 | $975 | |
| 38 | 31 | 76 | Tommy Kendall | Spears Motorsports | Buick | 26 | 0 | oil pressure | 0 | $950 | |
| 39 | 42 | 32 | Ruben Garcia | Stoke Racing | Chevrolet | 24 | 0 | engine | 46 | $1,425 | |
| 40 | 20 | 79 | Roy Smith | Razore Racing | Ford | 23 | 0 | overheating | 43 | $1,425 | |
| 41 | 28 | 81 | Glen Steurer | Steurer Racing | Chevrolet | 19 | 0 | suspension | 0 | $925 | |
| 42 | 32 | 04 | Hershel McGriff | Smith Racing | Pontiac | 7 | 0 | engine | 37 | $2,525 | |
| Failed to qualify | |||||||||||
| 43 | 12 | Trevor Boys | Hamby Racing | Chevrolet | |||||||
| 44 | 66 | John Krebs | Krebs Racing | Oldsmobile | |||||||
| 45 | 98 | Brad Noffsinger | Curb Racing | Pontiac | |||||||
| 46 | 2 | St. James Davis | St. James Racing | Buick | |||||||
| 47 | 41 | Jack Sellers | Vincent Racing | Chevrolet | |||||||
| Official race results | |||||||||||
| Pos | Driver | Points | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dale Earnhardt | 4,521 | |||||||
| 2 | Bill Elliott | 4,022 (-499) | |||||||
| 3 | Terry Labonte | 3,923 (-598) | |||||||
| 4 | Darrell Waltrip | 3,802 (–719) | |||||||
| 5 | Rusty Wallace | 3,691 (–830) | |||||||
| 1 | 6 | Richard Petty | 3,635 (–886) | ||||||
| 1 | 7 | Kyle Petty | 3,613 (–908) | ||||||
| 2 | 8 | Ricky Rudd | 3,572 (–949) | ||||||
| 2 | 9 | Bobby Allison | 3,365 (–1,156) | ||||||
| 1 | 10 | Neil Bonnett | 3,352 (–1,169) | ||||||
| Official driver's standings | |||||||||