1987 Winston Western 500

{{Short description|28th race of the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series}}

{{Infobox NASCAR race report|Type=NASWINSTON|Year=1987|Official_name=27th Annual Winston Western 500|Image=1987 Winston Western 500.jpeg|Caption=The 1987 Winston Western 500 program cover, featuring Tim Richmond and Dale Earnhardt.|Announcers=Ken Squier, Buddy Baker, Johnny Hayes|Radio=Motor Racing Network|Network=TBS|Pole_Driver=Geoff Bodine|First_Team=Blue Max Racing|Most_Team=Hendrick Motorsports|First_Driver=Rusty Wallace|Most_Driver=Geoff Bodine|Pole_Team=Hendrick Motorsports|Most_laps=92|Avg={{convert|95.503|mph|km/h}}|Date=November 8|Season_No=29|Location=Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California|Race_No=28|Car=27|Race_Name=Winston Western 500|Scheduled_mi=311.78|Course_km=4.216|Scheduled_km=501.761|Distance_km=501.761|Scheduled_laps=119|Distance_laps=119|Course_mi=2.62|Pole_Time=1:19.977|Distance_mi=311.78|Attendance=64,500}}

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 {{convert|2.62|mi|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.{{Cite news |last=Higgins |first=Tom |date=November 9, 1987 |title=Wallace Snatches Victory From Geoff Bodine |pages=1D, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-wallace-snatches/135555380/ 6D] |work=The Charlotte Observer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-charlotte-observer-wallace-snatches/135555366/ |access-date=November 21, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}}{{Cite news |last=Glick |first=Shav |date=November 9, 1987 |title=Wallace Gets the Win, but Not the Cheers |pages=III-2, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-wallace-gets-the-w/135555579/ III-4] |work=The Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-wallace-gets-the-w/135555557/ |access-date=October 26, 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports' Benny Parsons and Wood Brothers Racing's Kyle Petty finished second and third, respectively.

Background

File:Riverside_International_Raceway_1980_and_1967.svg, the venue where the race was held.]]

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 {{cvt|50|mi|km|abbr=on}} 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 =

(R) denotes rookie driver.

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%"

!Driver

!Team

!Make

!Sponsor

|St. James Davis

|St. James Racing

1987 Winston Western 500

Background

= Entry list =

Qualifying

= Full qualifying results =

Race results

Standings after the race

References