14th race of the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Motor car race
The 1987 Miller American 400 was the 14th stock car race of the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 19th iteration of the event . The race was held on Sunday, June 28, 1987, before an audience of 78,000 in Brooklyn, Michigan , at Michigan International Speedway , a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway . The race took the scheduled 200 laps to complete.
By race's end, Richard Childress Racing 's Dale Earnhardt dominated a majority of the race, leading 154 laps en route to his 27th career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his seventh victory of the season. With the victory, Earnhardt was able to increase his driver's championship lead over Bill Elliott by 304 points.[ 1] [ 2] To fill out the top three, Ranier-Lundy Racing 's Davey Allison and Wood Brothers Racing 's Kyle Petty finished second and third, respectively.
Background
The layout of Michigan International Speedway , the venue where the race was held.
The race was held at Michigan International Speedway, a two-mile (3.2 km) moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located in Brooklyn, Michigan . The track is used primarily for NASCAR events. It is known as a "sister track" to Texas World Speedway as MIS's oval design was a direct basis of TWS, with moderate modifications to the banking in the corners, and was used as the basis of Auto Club Speedway . The track is owned by International Speedway Corporation . Michigan International Speedway is recognized as one of motorsports' premier facilities because of its wide racing surface and high banking (by open-wheel standards; the 18-degree banking is modest by stock car standards).
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
Qualifying
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Saturday, June 27, at 11:30 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 2:00 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,[ 3] 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 were given.
Rusty Wallace , driving for Blue Max Racing , managed to win the pole, setting a time of 42.168 and an average speed of 170.746 miles per hour (274.789 km/h) in the first round.[ 4]
12 drivers failed to qualify.
Full qualifying results
Race results
Fin
St
#
Driver
Team
Make
Laps
Led
Status
Pts
Winnings
1
6
3
Dale Earnhardt
Richard Childress Racing
Chevrolet
200
152
running
185
$60,250
2
8
28
Davey Allison (R)
Ranier-Lundy Racing
Ford
200
0
running
170
$27,575
3
23
21
Kyle Petty
Wood Brothers Racing
Ford
200
0
running
165
$26,025
4
17
25
Tim Richmond
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
200
7
running
165
$13,175
5
1
27
Rusty Wallace
Blue Max Racing
Pontiac
200
15
running
160
$25,150
6
11
8
Bobby Hillin Jr.
Stavola Brothers Racing
Buick
200
0
running
150
$16,100
7
14
17
Darrell Waltrip
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
199
0
running
146
$10,655
8
3
90
Ken Schrader
Donlavey Racing
Ford
199
3
running
147
$14,245
9
22
35
Benny Parsons
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
199
0
running
138
$16,500
10
30
83
Lake Speed
Speed Racing
Oldsmobile
199
0
running
134
$7,475
11
10
5
Geoff Bodine
Hendrick Motorsports
Chevrolet
199
0
running
130
$12,625
12
15
43
Richard Petty
Petty Enterprises
Pontiac
199
0
running
127
$9,425
13
20
33
Harry Gant
Mach 1 Racing
Chevrolet
199
0
running
124
$8,965
14
18
15
Ricky Rudd
Bud Moore Engineering
Ford
199
0
running
121
$12,950
15
29
71
Dave Marcis
Marcis Auto Racing
Chevrolet
199
0
running
118
$8,505
16
9
88
Buddy Baker
Baker–Schiff Racing
Oldsmobile
199
0
running
115
$3,975
17
34
75
Neil Bonnett
RahMoc Enterprises
Pontiac
198
1
running
117
$7,585
18
41
44
Sterling Marlin
Hagan Racing
Oldsmobile
198
0
running
109
$7,200
19
35
77
Eddie Bierschwale
Ragan Racing
Ford
197
0
running
0
$3,310
20
38
18
Dale Jarrett (R)
Freedlander Motorsports
Chevrolet
197
0
running
103
$7,060
21
13
55
Phil Parsons
Jackson Bros. Motorsports
Oldsmobile
196
0
running
100
$3,450
22
25
1
Brett Bodine
Ellington Racing
Chevrolet
196
0
running
97
$2,835
23
40
64
Rodney Combs
Langley Racing
Ford
196
0
running
94
$5,930
24
27
89
Jim Sauter
Mueller Brothers Racing
Pontiac
195
0
running
91
$2,615
25
21
26
Morgan Shepherd
King Racing
Buick
194
3
running
93
$5,650
26
39
51
David Simko
Simko Racing
Chevrolet
194
0
running
85
$2,420
27
7
22
Bobby Allison
Stavola Brothers Racing
Buick
193
0
running
82
$9,360
28
5
11
Terry Labonte
Junior Johnson & Associates
Chevrolet
192
0
running
79
$11,100
29
24
50
Greg Sacks
Dingman Brothers Racing
Pontiac
189
0
running
76
$2,230
30
12
4
Rick Wilson
Morgan–McClure Motorsports
Oldsmobile
169
0
engine
73
$2,180
31
19
7
Alan Kulwicki
AK Racing
Ford
163
0
engine
70
$5,900
32
36
91
Ken Bouchard
Sullivan Racing
Chevrolet
158
0
oil pressure
67
$2,075
33
26
29
Cale Yarborough
Cale Yarborough Motorsports
Oldsmobile
130
0
brakes
64
$2,025
34
4
9
Bill Elliott
Melling Racing
Ford
126
19
engine
66
$12,050
35
31
69
Donny Paul
Paul Racing
Chevrolet
104
0
engine
58
$1,915
36
37
08
Butch Miller
Throop Racing
Chevrolet
90
0
engine
0
$1,885
37
33
67
Buddy Arrington
Arrington Racing
Ford
83
0
engine
52
$4,650
38
28
6
Connie Saylor
U.S. Racing
Chevrolet
63
0
engine
0
$4,640
39
16
30
Michael Waltrip
Bahari Racing
Chevrolet
62
0
engine
46
$4,620
40
32
36
H. B. Bailey
Bailey Racing
Pontiac
32
0
crash
43
$1,875
41
2
19
Derrike Cope (R)
Stoke Racing
Ford
0
0
did not start
0
$0
Failed to qualify (results unknown)
42
04
Charlie Rudolph
Rudolph Racing
Chevrolet
43
38
Rickey Hood
Hood Racing
Ford
44
49
Bob Keselowski
Keselowski Racing
Chevrolet
45
52
Jimmy Means
Jimmy Means Racing
Pontiac
46
62
Steve Christman (R)
Winkle Motorsports
Pontiac
47
68
Jerry Holden
Holden Racing
Chevrolet
48
70
J. D. McDuffie
McDuffie Racing
Pontiac
49
74
Bobby Wawak
Wawak Racing
Chevrolet
50
80
Gary Fedewa
Burke Racing
Chevrolet
51
81
Mike Potter
Fillip Racing
Ford
52
82
Rick Jeffrey
Jeffrey Racing
Chevrolet
53
85
Bobby Gerhart
Bobby Gerhart Racing
Chevrolet
Official race results
Standings after the race
Drivers' Championship standings
Pos
Driver
Points
1
Dale Earnhardt
2,314
2
Bill Elliott
2,010 (-304)
3
Neil Bonnett
1,985 (-329)
1
4
Kyle Petty
1,891 (–423)
1
5
Terry Labonte
1,869 (–445)
6
Ricky Rudd
1,825 (–489)
1
7
Darrell Waltrip
1,801 (–513)
1
8
Ken Schrader
1,799 (–515)
2
9
Richard Petty
1,788 (–526)
1
10
Rusty Wallace
1,710 (–604)
Official driver's standings
Note : Only the first 10 positions are included for the driver standings.
References
^ Higgins, Tom (June 29, 1987). "Earnhardt Tops Allison At Michigan" . The Charlotte Observer . pp. 1B, 8B . Retrieved October 27, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Brown, Clifton (June 29, 1987). "Earnhardt wins 400 at MIS" . Detroit Free Press . pp. 1D, 9D . Retrieved October 27, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ "NASCAR Today" . The Charlotte Observer . May 19, 1987. pp. 27A. Retrieved October 27, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
^ Higgins, Tom (June 28, 1987). "Wallace, Cope form Unlikely Front Row" . The Charlotte Observer . pp. 1D, 7D . Retrieved October 27, 2023 – via Newspapers.com .
Points races Exhibition races