1987 Winston Western 500
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 28 of 29 in the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1987 Winston Western 500 program cover, featuring Tim Richmond and Dale Earnhardt. | |||
| Date | November 8, 1987 | ||
| Official name | 27th Annual Winston Western 500 | ||
| Location | Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.62 mi (4.216 km) | ||
| Distance | 119 laps, 311.78 mi (501.761 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 119 laps, 311.78 mi (501.761 km) | ||
| Average speed | 95.503 miles per hour (153.697 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 64,500 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 1:19.977 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Geoff Bodine | Hendrick Motorsports | |
| Laps | 92 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | TBS | ||
| Announcers | Ken Squier, Buddy Baker, Johnny Hayes | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
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 2.62 miles (4.22 km) 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.
Background
[edit]
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 50 mi (80 km) 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.
Entry list
[edit]- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
[edit]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 117.934 miles per hour (189.796 km/h) in the first round.[4]
Five drivers failed to qualify.
Full qualifying results
[edit]Race results
[edit]Standings after the race
[edit]
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References
[edit]- ^ Higgins, Tom (November 9, 1987). "Wallace Snatches Victory From Geoff Bodine". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1D, 6D. Retrieved November 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Glick, Shav (November 9, 1987). "Wallace Gets the Win, but Not the Cheers". The Los Angeles Times. pp. III-2, III-4. Retrieved October 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "NASCAR Today". The Charlotte Observer. November 6, 1987. pp. 7C. Retrieved November 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Higgins, Tom (November 7, 1987). "Bodine Holds On To Capture Sunday's Western 500 Pole". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1B, 3C. Retrieved November 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
