1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series was the 39th season of professional stock car racing in the United States and the 16th modern-era cup series. The season began on February 8 and ended on November 22. Dale Earnhardt of Richard Childress Racing won the championship for the third time. The 1987 season was the first since 1959 without NASCAR legend David Pearson. Team changes. After three championships together in 1981, 1982, and 1985, Darrell Waltrip decided to move from the No. 11 Junior Johnson Chevrolet to the new No. 17 Chevrolet, a third full -time Hendrick Motorsports team. A famous quote stemmed from this move, which crew chief Jeff Hammond describes in his book "Real Men Work In the Pits" went like this: "I finally got me a thoroughbred." – Darrell Waltrip, referring to his new ride. "I don't know about any thoroughbred. I do know we had a jackass around here who recently left." – Junior Johnson The rest of "silly season" looked like this among full-time teams: Terry Labonte left the No. 44 Piedmont Oldsmobile owned by Billy Hagan to replace Waltrip in the No. 11. Johnson decided to disband the No . 12 Budweiser team and let go driver Neil Bonnett, who moved to the No. 75 Pontiac. Morgan Shepherd vacated the No. 75 in favor of the No. 26 Buick owned by Kenny Bernstein, driven by Joe Ruttman in 1986. Phil Parsons would replace older brother Benny in the No. 55 Oldsmobile owned by Leo and Richard Jackson. Lake Speed started out 1986 in the No. 75 RahMoc ride but was let go early in the season. Speed would form his own team for 1987 in the No. 83 Oldsmobile. A few car number changes took place as well. Kyle Petty  would continue to drive the Wood Brothers Ford, switching from No. 7 to No. 21. Alan Kulwicki took the No. 7 for his independent team. Cale Yarborough exited the No. 28 Ford team and drove his self-owned No. 29 Oldsmobile. Davey Allison would compete for Rookie Of The Year in the Harry Ranier No. 28 Ford.. Michael Waltrip would continue driving for Chuck Rider but switched from the No. 23 Chevrolet to the No. 30 Chevrolet. Drivers remaining with the same teams from 1986 would be: No. 3 Dale Earnhardt (owner: Richard Childress), No. 4 Rick Wilson (Larry McClure ) No. 5 Geoff Bodine (Rick Hendrick), No. 8 Bobby Hillin Jr. (Stavola Brothers), No. 9 Bill Elliott ( Harry Melling), No. 15 Ricky Rudd (Bud Moore), No. 18 Tommy Ellis (Eric Freelander), No. 22 Bobby Allison (Stavola Brothers), No. 27 Rusty Wallace (Raymond Beadle), No. 33 Harry Gant (Hal Needham), No. 43 Richard Petty ( Petty Enterprises), No. 52 Jimmy Means, No. 70 J. D. McDuffie (Tom Winkle), No. 71 Dave Marcis, No. 88 Buddy Baker (Baker/Danny Schiff), No. 90 Ken Schrader (Junie Donlavey) and the part-time/independent efforts of No. 14 A. J. Foyt, No. 67 Buddy Arrington, No . 77 Ken Ragan (Marvin Ragan), No. 81 Chet Fillip (Corey Fillip) and No. 89 Jim Sauter (Mueller Brothers). Top drivers out of a ride included Benny Parsons and Joe Ruttman. Those who officially threw their hat in the ring for NASCAR Rookie of the Year in 1987 would be: Davey Allison, Steve Christman (No. 62 AC Delco, Tom Winkle), Rodney Combs (No. 10 DiGard) and Derrike Cope (No. 19 Stoke Racing). Ron Bouchard, Trevor Boys, Eddie Bierschwale and a host of others would battle for the remaining open spots. Busch Clash. The Busch Clash, an annual invitational event for all  Busch Pole winners the previous season, was held February 8 at Daytona International Speedway. Bill Elliott drew for the pole. Alan Kulwicki was the wild card. Results 7-Eleven Twin 125's. The 7-Eleven Twin 125's, a pair of qualifying races for the Daytona 500, were held February 12 at Daytona International Speedway. Bill Elliott and Davey Allison won the poles for both races, respectively, as a result of their speeds in qualifying on February 9. Race One: Top Ten Results Notes: Race Two: Top Ten Results Goodwrench 500. The Goodwrench 500 was held March 1 at North  Carolina Motor Speedway. Davey Allison won his first career pole. Top Ten Results Miller High Life 400. The Miller High Life 400 was held March 8 at Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway. Alan Kulwicki won his first career pole. Top Ten Results Failed to qualify: 34-Ron Sheppard, 83-Lake Speed, 02-Bob Hollar Motorcraft Quality Parts 500. The Motorcraft Quality Parts 500 was held March 15 at Atlanta International Raceway. Dale Earnhardt won the pole. Top Ten Results Failed to qualify: 67-Eddie Bierschwale, 68-Jerry Holden, 74-Bobby Wawak TranSouth 500. The TranSouth 500 was held March 29 at Darlington  Raceway. Bill Elliott was leading at the white flag but ran out of gas in Turn 3. This allowed Dale Earnhardt to overtake Elliott and cruise to victory. Ken Schrader won the pole. Top Ten Results First Union 400. The First Union 400 was held April 5 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Bill Elliott won the pole. Top Ten Results Valleydale Meats 500. The Valleydale Meats 500 was held April 12 at Bristol International Raceway. Harry Gant won the pole. Top Ten Results Sovran Bank 500. The Sovran Bank 500 was held April 26 at Martinsville Speedway. The No. 26 of  Morgan Shepherd won the pole. Top Ten Results Winston 500. The Winston 500 was held May 3 at Alabama International Motor Speedway. Bill Elliott won the pole at a record speed of 212.809 mph (44.998 seconds), a record that still stands today and will likely never be broken. Top Ten Results The Winston. The Winston, an annual invitational race for previous winners in Winston Cup, was held May 17 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Top Ten Results Coca-Cola 600. The Coca-Cola 600 was held May 24 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The No. 9 of Bill Elliott won the pole . Top Ten Results Budweiser 500. The Budweiser 500 was held May 31 at Dover Downs International Speedway. Bill Elliott won the pole. Top Ten Results Miller High Life 500. The Miller High Life 500 was held June 14 at Pocono International Raceway. The No. 11 of Terry Labonte won the pole. Top Ten Results Budweiser 400. The Budweiser 400 was held June 21 at Riverside International Raceway. Terry Labonte won the pole. Top Ten Results Miller American 400. The Miller American 400 was held June 28 at Michigan International Speedway. Rusty Wallace won his 1st career pole. Top Ten Results  Pepsi Firecracker 400. The Pepsi Firecracker 400 was held July 4 at Daytona International Speedway. The No. 28 of Davey Allison won the pole. Top Ten Results Failed to qualify: 0-Delma Cowart, 6-Connie Saylor, 39-Blackie Wangerin, 48-Tony Spanos, 62-Steve Christman, 70-J. D. McDuffie, 73-Phil Barkdoll, 74-Bobby Wawak Summer 500. The Summer 500 was held July 19 at Pocono International Raceway. Tim Richmond won the pole for the final time in his career. Top Ten Results Talladega 500. The Talladega 500 was held July 26 at Alabama International Motor Speedway. Bill Elliott won  the pole at with the smaller Busch series carburetors. Top Ten Results Budweiser at The Glen. The Budweiser at The Glen was held August 10 at Watkins Glen International. Terry Labonte won the pole. The race started a day late due to rain. Top Ten Results Champion Spark Plug 400. The Champion Spark Plug 400 was held August 16 at Michigan International Speedway. Davey Allison won the pole. Top Ten Results Busch 500. The Busch 500 was held August 22 at Bristol International Raceway. Terry Labonte won the pole. Top Ten Results Failed to qualify: Tony Spanos (No. 48), Troy  Beebe (No. 6), Mike Potter (No. 81), J. D. McDuffie (No. 70) Southern 500. The Southern 500 was held September 6 at Darlington Raceway. Davey Allison won the pole. Top Ten Results Wrangler Jeans Indigo 400. The Wrangler Jeans Indigo 400 was held September 13 at Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway. Alan Kulwicki won the pole. Top Ten Results Delaware 500. The Delaware 500 was held September 20 at Dover Downs International Speedway. Alan Kulwicki won the pole. Top Ten Results Goody's 500. The Goody's 500 was held September 27 at Martinsville Speedway. Geoff Bodine won the pole. Top Ten  Results Holly Farms 400. The Holly Farms 400 was held October 4 at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Bill Elliott won the pole. Top Ten Results Oakwood Homes 500. The Oakwood Homes 500 was held October 11 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Bobby Allison won the pole for the final time in his career. Top Ten Results AC Delco 500. The AC Delco 500 was held October 25 at North Carolina Motor Speedway. Davey Allison won the pole. Top Ten Results Winston Western 500. The Winston Western 500 was held November 8 at Riverside International Raceway. Geoff Bodine won the pole. Top Ten  Results Failed to qualify: Trevor Boys (No. 12), John Krebs (No. 66), Brad Noffsinger (No. 98), St. James Davis, Jack Sellers Atlanta Journal 500. The Atlanta Journal 500 was held November 22 at Atlanta International Raceway. Bill Elliott won the pole. Top Ten Results Full Drivers' Championship. () Bold – Pole position awarded by time. "Italics" – Pole position set by owner's points. * – Most laps led. Rookie of the Year. Davey Allison won the Rookie of the Year award in 1987, winning two races for Harry Ranier after making an aborted attempt at the award the previous season. He was followed by  Dale Jarrett, who had two top-ten finishes, and Steve Christman, who did not race in NASCAR again following the season. The other contenders were Rodney Combs, Derrike Cope, and Jerry Cranmer, all running incomplete schedules.