The 1987 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 29th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, February 15, 1987, before an audience of 130,000 in Daytona Beach, Florida at Daytona International Speedway, a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) permanent triangular-shaped superspeedway. The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 of 29 in the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1987 Daytona 500 program cover, featuring Geoff Bodine. | |||
| Date | February 15, 1987 | ||
| Official name | 29th Annual Daytona 500 | ||
| Location | Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona International Speedway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.0 km) | ||
| Distance | 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Average speed | 137.531 miles per hour (221.335 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 130,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Melling Racing | ||
| Time | 42.783 | ||
| 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, Chris Economaki, Ned Jarrett | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
Nearing the race's end, Hendrick Motorsports' Geoff Bodine tried to forego a final pitstop but ran out of fuel with three laps to go. Melling Racing's Bill Elliott took the lead and held off Bodine's teammate, Benny Parsons, and owner-driver Richard Petty to take his 18th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory, his first victory of the season, and his second and final Daytona 500 victory.[1][2]
Background
edit
Daytona International Speedway is one of three superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other two being Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.
Entry list
edit- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
editQualifying was set by the 1987 7-Eleven Twin 125s. The top two positions were set by qualifying speeds held for the Twin 125 Qualifiers held on Monday, February 9, with the top two qualifiers in the session earning the top two positions for the Daytona 500. The rest of the starting was set in the Twin 125 Qualifiers, held on Thursday, February 12, during two races. The top 14 finishers in the first race, excluding the pole position winner, set the inside row from rows two to 15, and the top 14 finishers in the second race, excluding the outside pole position winner, set the outside row from rows two to 15. The remaining non-qualifiers set positions 31-40 based on qualifying speeds from the first qualifying session held on Saturday. If needed, up to two extra provisionals were given to teams high enough in the previous season's owner's standings that did not qualify for the race by either qualifying speed or from the Twin 125 Qualifiers.
Bill Elliott, driving for Melling Racing, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 42.783 and an average speed of 210.364 miles per hour (338.548 km/h) in Monday's session.[4]
19 drivers failed to qualify.
Full qualifying results
editRace results
editStandings after the race
edit
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ Higgins, Tom (February 16, 1987). "Elliott Outlasts Daytona Field". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1B, 4B. Retrieved September 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Coble, Don (February 16, 1987). "Elliott conquers Daytona 500". Florida Today. pp. 1C, 2C. Retrieved September 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Chuhran, John (February 13, 1987). "Mamaroneck team can only watch". The Standard-Star. pp. E10. Retrieved September 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (February 12, 1987). "Daytona 500 Pole Goes To Elliott". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1B, 5B. Retrieved September 20, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
