1987 Budweiser 500

File:Dover_International_Speedway.svg, the venue where the race was held.]]

Dover Downs International Speedway is an oval race track in Dover, Delaware, United States that has held at least two NASCAR races since it opened in 1969. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the NTT IndyCar Series. The track features one layout, a 1-mile (1.6 km) concrete oval, with 24° banking in the turns and 9° banking on the straights. The speedway is owned and operated by Dover Motorsports.

The track, nicknamed "The Monster Mile", was built in 1969 by Melvin Joseph of Melvin L. Joseph Construction Company, Inc., with an asphalt surface, but was replaced with concrete in 1995. Six years later in 2001, the track's capacity moved to 135,000 seats, making the track have the largest capacity of sports venue in the mid-Atlantic. In 2002, the name changed to Dover International Speedway from Dover Downs International Speedway after Dover Downs Gaming and Entertainment split, making Dover Motorsports. From 2007 to 2009, the speedway worked on an improvement project called "The Monster Makeover", which expanded facilities at the track and beautified the track. After the 2014 season, the track's capacity was reduced to 95,500 seats.

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%" !# !Driver !Team !Make !Sponsor

1 |Brett Bodine |Ellington Racing |Buick |Bull's-Eye Barbecue Sauce

3 |Dale Earnhardt |Richard Childress Racing |Chevrolet |Wrangler

4 |Rick Wilson |Morgan–McClure Motorsports |Oldsmobile |Kodak

04 |Charlie Rudolph |Rudolph Racing |Chevrolet |Sunoco

5 |Geoff Bodine |Hendrick Motorsports |Chevrolet |Levi Garrett

6 |D. K. Ulrich |U.S. Racing |Chevrolet |U.S. Racing

7 |Alan Kulwicki |AK Racing |Ford |Zerex

8 |Bobby Hillin Jr. |Stavola Brothers Racing |Buick |Miller American

9 |Bill Elliott |Melling Racing |Ford |Coors

11 |Terry Labonte |Junior Johnson & Associates |Chevrolet |Budweiser

12 |Larry Pollard |Hamby Racing |Chevrolet |Hamby Racing

15 |Ricky Rudd |Bud Moore Engineering |Ford |Motorcraft Quality Parts

17 |Darrell Waltrip |Hendrick Motorsports |Chevrolet |Tide

18 |Dale Jarrett (R) |Freedlander Motorsports |Chevrolet |Freedlander Financial

21 |Kyle Petty |Wood Brothers Racing |Ford |Citgo

22 |Bobby Allison |Stavola Brothers Racing |Buick |Miller American

26 |Morgan Shepherd |King Racing |Buick |Quaker State

27 |Rusty Wallace |Blue Max Racing |Pontiac |Kodiak

28 |Davey Allison (R) |Ranier-Lundy Racing |Ford |Texaco, Havoline

30 |Michael Waltrip |Bahari Racing |Chevrolet |Bahari Racing

31 |Ron Shephard |Ron Shephard Racing |Chevrolet |L. B. S. Graphics, National Parts Peddler

33 |Harry Gant |Mach 1 Racing |Chevrolet |Skoal Bandit

35 |Benny Parsons |Hendrick Motorsports |Chevrolet |Folgers

37 |Curtis Markham |Beahr Racing |Ford |Hanover Printing

43 |Richard Petty |Petty Enterprises |Pontiac |STP

44 |Sterling Marlin |Hagan Racing |Oldsmobile |Piedmont Airlines

52 |Jimmy Means |Jimmy Means Racing |Pontiac |Jimmy Means Racing

55 |Phil Parsons |Jackson Bros. Motorsports |Oldsmobile |Copenhagen

58 |Jerry Bowman |Jerry Bowman Racing |Ford |Jerry Bowman Racing

62 |Steve Christman (R) |Winkle Motorsports |Pontiac |AC Spark Plug

64 |Rodney Combs |Langley Racing |Ford |Sunny King Ford

67 |Buddy Arrington |Arrington Racing |Ford |Pannill Sweatshirts

70 |J. D. McDuffie |McDuffie Racing |Pontiac |Rumple Furniture

71 |Dave Marcis |Marcis Auto Racing |Chevrolet |Lifebuoy

75 |Neil Bonnett |RahMoc Enterprises |Pontiac |Valvoline

80 |Gary Fedewa |Burke Racing |Chevrolet |Burke Racing

81 |Mike Potter |Fillip Racing |Ford |Fillip Racing

85 |Jimmy Horton |S&H Racing |Ford |S&H Racing

88 |Buddy Baker |Baker–Schiff Racing |Oldsmobile |Crisco

90 |Ken Schrader |Donlavey Racing |Ford |Red Baron Frozen Pizza

Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Saturday, May 30, at 10:00 AM 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, at 3:00 PM EST. As with the first round, each driver had one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 were decided on time,{{Cite news |date=May 29, 1987 |title=NASCAR Today |pages=3C |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-nascar-today/133988534/ |access-date=October 24, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} 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.

Bill Elliott, driving for Melling Racing, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 24.818 and an average speed of {{Convert|145.056|mph|km/h}} in the first round.{{Cite news |last=Higgins |first=Tom |date=May 31, 1987 |title=Fords, Led By Elliott, Dominate Qualifying For Dover Race |pages=8C |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-fords-led-by-ell/134005636/ |access-date=October 24, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}

No drivers failed to qualify.

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;Drivers' Championship standings

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"
! Pos ! Driver ! Points
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | Dale Earnhardt | style="text-align:center;"| 1,823
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 2 | Bill Elliott | style="text-align:center;"| 1,614 (-209)
align="left"| 10px 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 3 | Terry Labonte | style="text-align:center;"| 1,568 (-255)
align="left"| 10px 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 4 | Neil Bonnett | style="text-align:center;"| 1,556 (–267)
align="left"| 10px 2 | style="text-align:center;"| 5 | Rusty Wallace | style="text-align:center;"| 1,467 (–356)
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 6 | Kyle Petty | style="text-align:center;"| 1,465 (–358)
align="left"| 10px 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 7 | Darrell Waltrip | style="text-align:center;"| 1,458 (–365)
align="left"| 10px 3 | style="text-align:center;"| 8 | Richard Petty | style="text-align:center;"| 1,435 (–388)
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 9 | Ken Schrader | style="text-align:center;"| 1,406 (–417)
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 10 | Ricky Rudd | style="text-align:center;"| 1,378 (–445)
class="sortbottom" !colspan="9"|[https://www.newspapers.com/article/florence-morning-news-winston-cup-update/133993533/ Official driver's standings]

• Note: Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.

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{{reflist}}

{{NASCAR next race|Previous_race=1987 Coca-Cola 600|Next_race=1987 Miller High Life 500|Monsteryear=1987|Series=NASCAR Winston Cup Series}}

{{1987 Winston Cup}}

{{NASCAR on ESPN}}

Category:1987 in sports in Delaware

Category:1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

Category:May 1987 sports events in the United States

Category:NASCAR races at Dover Motor Speedway