1987 Daytona 500

1987 Daytona 500

Race details[1]
Race 1 of 29 in the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season
Track map of Daytona International Speedway showing mainly the speedway.
Date	February 15, 1987
Location	Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.02336 km)
Distance	200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather	Mild with temperatures approaching 72 °F (22 °C); wind speeds approaching 10.1 miles per hour (16.3 km/h)
Average speed	176.263 miles per hour (283.668 km/h)
Attendance	145,000[2]
Pole position
Driver	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing
Qualifying race winners
Duel 1 Winner	Ken Schrader	Donlavey Racing
Duel 2 Winner	Benny Parsons	Hendrick Motorsports
Most laps led
Driver	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing
Laps	104
Winner
No. 9	Bill Elliott	Melling Racing
Television in the United States
Network	CBS
Announcers	Ken Squier, David Hobbs and Ned Jarrett
Nielsen Ratings	9.4/26 (12.4 million viewers)

The 1987 Daytona 500, the 29th running of the event, was held February 15 at Daytona International Speedway, in Daytona Beach, Florida. Bill Elliott won the pole and the race.

Nearly 8% of the race was held under a caution flag while the average green flag run was 37 laps. For the final fifty laps of the race, Elliott, Earnhardt, Parsons, Baker, Bodine, Petty and Schrader made valiant efforts for a first-place finish.

Results

Top Ten Results

1. 9-Bill Elliott
2. 35-Benny Parsons
3. 43-Richard Petty
4. 88-Buddy Baker
5. 3-Dale Earnhardt
6. 22-Bobby Allison
7. 90-Ken Schrader
8. 17-Darrell Waltrip
9. 15-Ricky Rudd
10. 29-Cale Yarborough

Failed to qualify

• 18-Tommy Ellis
• 24-Grant Adcox
• 32-Jonathan Lee Edwards
• 39-Blackie Wangerin
• 41-Ronnie Thomas
• 48-Steve Moore
• 49-Delma Cowart
• 51-David Simko
• 54-Donnie Allison
• 62-Steve Christman
• 74-Bobby Wawak
• 89-Jim Sauter
• 93-Charlie Baker
• 98-Ed Pimm
• 00-Dick McCabe
• 02-Joe Booher
• 09-Jeff Swindell
• Jocko Maggiacomo (did not start qualifying race).

Recap

• This was the last of the non-restrictor plate Daytona 500's.
• Bill Elliott dominated much of the race, leading 104 of the 200 laps. During two different points in the race, he pulled away from the other leaders and was all by himself on the track, leading the first 35 laps, 29 in a row at another point, and the last three.
• Benny Parsons finished three car lengths back of Elliott. During the late race pit stops for fuel, he over shot his pit which cost him several seconds.
• Geoff Bodine led the race with three laps to go after all the front runners had pitted for fuel. His crew chief Gary Nelson told CBS pit reporter Mike Joy that they were not going to pit and would either win or run out of fuel. Ironically, it was Bodine who won the 1986 Daytona 500 after Dale Earnhardt ran out of fuel with three laps to go. Bodine, though, was largely a non-factor in the rest of the race, only leading 10 laps which were all related to having better fuel mileage than the other competitors.

References

1. "Weather of the 1987 Daytona 500". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Archived from the original on 2013-07-02. Retrieved 2013-06-25.
2. 1987 Daytona 500 race information at Racing Reference