1987 Miller High Life 400
The 1987 Miller High Life 400 was the third stock car race of the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 33rd iteration of the event. Originally scheduled to be the second race of the season, the race was postponed from its scheduled date of February 22, 1987 to March 8 due to winter storms that affected the Richmond area and scheduling conflicts.[1] The race was held before an audience of 30,000 in Richmond, Virginia, at Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway, a 0.542 miles (0.872 km) D-shaped oval. The race took the scheduled 400 laps to complete.
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 3 of 29 in the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
 The 1987 Miller High Life 400 program cover, featuring Kyle Petty. | |||
| Date | March 8, 1987 | ||
| Official name | 33rd Annual Miller High Life 400 | ||
| Location | Richmond, Virginia, Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway | ||
| Course |
Permanent racing facility 0.542 mi (0.872 km) | ||
| Distance | 400 laps, 300 mi (482.803 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 400 laps, 300 mi (482.803 km) | ||
| Average speed | 81.52 miles per hour (131.19 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 30,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | AK Racing | ||
| Time | 20.506 | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Laps | 235 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | TBS | ||
| Announcers | Ken Squier, Lake Speed | ||
| Radio in the United States | |||
| Radio | Motor Racing Network | ||
After recovering from a practice crash early in the race's weekend and an early spin during the ninth lap of the race itself, Richard Childress Racing's Dale Earnhardt was able to mount a comeback, dominating a majority of the race to take his 22nd career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second victory of the season.[2][3] To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports' Geoff Bodine and Blue Max Racing's Rusty Wallace finished second and third, respectively.
Background
Richmond International Raceway (RIR) is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, an IndyCar Series race, and two USAC sprint car races.
Entry list
- (R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 6, at 3:00 PM EST. Each driver had one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 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, March 7, at 10:45 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver had one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-30 were decided on time,[4] 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 in the previous season; up to two were given.
Alan Kulwicki, driving for his own AK Racing team, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 20.506 and an average speed of 95.153 miles per hour (153.134 km/h) in the first round.[5]
Five drivers failed to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
| Fin | St | # | Driver | Team | Make | Laps | Led | Status | Pts | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 3 | Dale Earnhardt | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet | 400 | 235 | running | 185 | $49,150 |
| 2 | 4 | 5 | Geoff Bodine | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 400 | 0 | running | 170 | $24,010 |
| 3 | 12 | 27 | Rusty Wallace | Blue Max Racing | Pontiac | 400 | 0 | running | 165 | $18,225 |
| 4 | 11 | 9 | Bill Elliott | Melling Racing | Ford | 400 | 9 | running | 165 | $14,285 |
| 5 | 9 | 11 | Terry Labonte | Junior Johnson & Associates | Chevrolet | 400 | 1 | running | 160 | $13,590 |
| 6 | 1 | 7 | Alan Kulwicki | AK Racing | Ford | 400 | 65 | running | 155 | $15,370 |
| 7 | 18 | 21 | Kyle Petty | Wood Brothers Racing | Ford | 399 | 0 | running | 146 | $6,870 |
| 8 | 19 | 71 | Dave Marcis | Marcis Auto Racing | Chevrolet | 399 | 0 | running | 142 | $6,360 |
| 9 | 13 | 22 | Bobby Allison | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 399 | 16 | running | 143 | $8,470 |
| 10 | 7 | 35 | Benny Parsons | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 398 | 0 | running | 134 | $11,700 |
| 11 | 27 | 8 | Bobby Hillin Jr. | Stavola Brothers Racing | Buick | 396 | 0 | running | 130 | $7,845 |
| 12 | 14 | 30 | Michael Waltrip | Bahari Racing | Chevrolet | 396 | 0 | running | 127 | $5,945 |
| 13 | 16 | 90 | Ken Schrader | Donlavey Racing | Ford | 395 | 0 | crash | 124 | $5,035 |
| 14 | 23 | 52 | Jimmy Means | Jimmy Means Racing | Pontiac | 394 | 0 | running | 121 | $4,845 |
| 15 | 22 | 55 | Phil Parsons | Jackson Bros. Motorsports | Oldsmobile | 391 | 0 | running | 118 | $2,145 |
| 16 | 31 | 70 | J. D. McDuffie | McDuffie Racing | Pontiac | 389 | 0 | running | 115 | $1,700 |
| 17 | 26 | 81 | Buddy Arrington | Fillip Racing | Ford | 387 | 0 | running | 112 | $1,625 |
| 18 | 25 | 67 | Eddie Bierschwale | Arrington Racing | Ford | 381 | 0 | running | 109 | $4,410 |
| 19 | 29 | 12 | Slick Johnson | Hamby Racing | Oldsmobile | 379 | 0 | running | 106 | $4,260 |
| 20 | 6 | 17 | Darrell Waltrip | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet | 351 | 23 | rear end | 108 | $1,885 |
| 21 | 5 | 44 | Sterling Marlin | Hagan Racing | Oldsmobile | 351 | 1 | running | 105 | $4,060 |
| 22 | 24 | 75 | Neil Bonnett | RahMoc Enterprises | Pontiac | 321 | 0 | crash | 97 | $3,805 |
| 23 | 15 | 43 | Richard Petty | Petty Enterprises | Pontiac | 317 | 0 | running | 94 | $3,480 |
| 24 | 28 | 64 | Jerry Cranmer | Langley Racing | Ford | 312 | 0 | crash | 91 | $3,435 |
| 25 | 2 | 33 | Harry Gant | Mach 1 Racing | Chevrolet | 265 | 50 | transmission | 93 | $3,615 |
| 26 | 21 | 28 | Davey Allison (R) | Ranier-Lundy Racing | Ford | 206 | 0 | crash | 0 | $1,685 |
| 27 | 17 | 18 | Tommy Ellis | Freedlander Motorsports | Chevrolet | 161 | 0 | crash | 82 | $3,310 |
| 28 | 8 | 15 | Ricky Rudd | Bud Moore Engineering | Ford | 143 | 0 | crash | 79 | $8,215 |
| 29 | 20 | 62 | Steve Christman (R) | Winkle Motorsports | Pontiac | 116 | 0 | rear end | 76 | $1,080 |
| 30 | 32 | 6 | D. K. Ulrich | U.S. Racing | Chevrolet | 105 | 0 | oil leak | 73 | $2,545 |
| 31 | 10 | 26 | Morgan Shepherd | King Racing | Buick | 79 | 0 | crash | 70 | $2,545 |
| 32 | 30 | 74 | Bobby Wawak | Wawak Racing | Chevrolet | 62 | 0 | overheating | 67 | $1,045 |
| Failed to qualify | ||||||||||
| 33 | 04 | Clark James | James Racing | Pontiac | ||||||
| 34 | 48 | Tony Spanos | Hylton Motorsports | Chevrolet | ||||||
| 35 | 72 | Eddie Drury | Drury Racing | Chevrolet | ||||||
| 36 | 34 | Ron Shephard | AAG Racing | Oldsmobile | ||||||
| 37 | 02 | Bill Hollar | Hollar Racing Enterprises | Pontiac | ||||||
| Official race results | ||||||||||
Standings after the race
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References
- Branham, Russell (February 22, 1987). "Wallace welcomed cancellation of Winston Cup's Miller 400". Florence Morning News. pp. 2B. Retrieved September 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (March 9, 1987). "Earnhardt, Bent Car Wheel To Victory". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1C, 3C. Retrieved September 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Pearson, Herald (March 9, 1987). "Earnhardt dominates field with well-repaired Chevrolet". Richmond Times-Dispatch. pp. C1, C7. Retrieved September 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- "NASCAR Today". The Charlotte Observer. March 8, 1987. pp. 4B. Retrieved September 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- Higgins, Tom (March 7, 1987). "Winning Pole At Richmond Makes Kulwicki's Day". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 3C. Retrieved September 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.