1987 Sovran Bank 500

File:Martinsville_Speedway_track_map.png, the venue where the race was held.]]

Martinsville Speedway is a NASCAR-owned stock car racing track located in Henry County, in Ridgeway, Virginia, just to the south of Martinsville. At 0.526 miles (0.847 km) in length, it is the shortest track in the NASCAR Cup Series. The track was also one of the first paved oval tracks in NASCAR, being built in 1947 by H. Clay Earles. It is also the only remaining race track that has been on the NASCAR circuit from its beginning in 1948.

• (R) denotes rookie driver.

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

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

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

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 |Slick Johnson |Hamby Racing |Chevrolet |Hesco Exhaust Systems

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

19 |Derrike Cope (R) |Stoke Racing |Chevrolet |Stoke Racing

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

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

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

35 |Benny Parsons |Hendrick Motorsports |Chevrolet |Folgers

43 |Richard Petty |Petty Enterprises |Pontiac |STP

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

48 |Tony Spanos |Hylton Motorsports |Chevrolet |Hylton Motorsports

52 |Jimmy Means |Jimmy Means Racing |Pontiac |Turtle Wax

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

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

64 |Jerry Cranmer |Langley Racing |Ford |Sunny King Ford

67 |Eddie Bierschwale |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

81 |Buddy Arrington |Fillip Racing |Ford |Pannill Sweatshirts

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

Qualifying was originally scheduled to be split into two rounds. The first round was held on Thursday, April 23, at 2:00 pm EST. Originally, the first 20 positions were going to be determined by first round qualifying, with positions 21–30 meant to be determined the following day on Friday, April 24.{{Cite news |date=April 23, 1987 |title=NASCAR Today |pages=6B |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-nascar-today/133705111/ |access-date=October 19, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} However, due to rain, the second round was cancelled. As a result, the rest of the starting lineup was set using the results from the first round. Depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars that had not otherwise qualified but were high enough in owner's points; up to two were given.{{Cite news |last=Higgins |first=Tom |date=April 24, 1987 |title=Rain at Martinsville Puts Elliott In Back |pages=14C |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-rain-at-martinsvi/133736857/ |access-date=October 19, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}

Morgan Shepherd, driving for King Racing, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 20.728 and an average speed of {{Convert|91.355|mph|km/h}}.{{Cite news |last=Higgins |first=Tom |date=April 24, 1987 |title=Driver Shepherd Awakens In Time To Take Pole |pages=1B, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-driver-shepherd-a/133709744/ 10B] |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-driver-shepherd-a/133709688/ |access-date=October 19, 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;"| 1,390
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 2 | Bill Elliott | style="text-align:center;"| 1,233 (-157)
align="left"| 10px 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 3 | Neil Bonnett | style="text-align:center;"| 1,138 (-252)
align="left"| 10px 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 4 | Richard Petty | style="text-align:center;"| 1,105 (–285)
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 5 | Ricky Rudd | style="text-align:center;"| 1,085 (–305)
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 6 | Terry Labonte | style="text-align:center;"| 1,078 (–312)
align="left"| 10px 2 | style="text-align:center;"| 7 | Rusty Wallace | style="text-align:center;"| 1,061 (–329)
align="left"| 10px | style="text-align:center;"| 8 | Kyle Petty | style="text-align:center;"| 1,029 (–361)
align="left"| 10px 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 9 | Ken Schrader | style="text-align:center;"| 1,028 (–362)
align="left"| 10px 3 | style="text-align:center;"| 10 | Darrell Waltrip | style="text-align:center;"| 1,022 (–368)
class="sortbottom" !colspan="9"|[https://www.newspapers.com/article/florence-morning-news-winston-cup-update/133708240/ Official driver's standings]

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

{{col-end}}

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{{NASCAR next race|Previous_race=1987 Valleydale Meats 500|Next_race=1987 Winston 500|Monsteryear=1987|Series=NASCAR Winston Cup Series}}

{{1987 Winston Cup}}

Category:1987 in sports in Virginia

Category:1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series

Category:April 1987 sports events in the United States

Category:NASCAR races at Martinsville Speedway