1987 Wrangler Jeans Indigo 400

The 1987 Wrangler Jeans Indigo 400 was the 22nd stock car race of the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 30th iteration of the event. The race was held on Sunday, September 13, 1987, 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.

1987 Wrangler Jeans Indigo 400
Race details
Race 22 of 29 in the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
The 1987 Wrangler Jeans Indigo 400 program cover, featuring Richard Petty.
The 1987 Wrangler Jeans Indigo 400 program cover, featuring Richard Petty.
Date September 13, 1987
Official name 30th Annual Wrangler Jeans Indigo 400
Location Richmond, Virginia, Richmond Fairgrounds Raceway
Course Permanent racing facility
0.542 mi (0.872 km)
Distance 400 laps, 216.8 mi (348.905 km)
Scheduled Distance 400 laps, 216.8 mi (348.905 km)
Average speed 67.074 miles per hour (107.945 km/h)
Attendance 30,000
Pole position
Driver AK Racing
Time 20.746
Most laps led
Driver Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing
Laps 220
Winner
No. 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing
Television in the United States
Network SETN
Announcers Eli Gold, Jerry Punch
Radio in the United States
Radio Motor Racing Network

Coming back from a penalty and avoiding several wrecks, Richard Childress Racing's Dale Earnhardt managed to dominate the late stages of the race, leading 156 of the final 219 laps to take his 31st career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his 11th and final victory of the season. With the victory, Earnhardt was able to increase his driver's championship lead over Bill Elliott to 608 points, a lead that was seen as virtually insurmountable with seven races left in the season. To fill out the top three, Hendrick Motorsports' Darrell Waltrip and Bud Moore Engineering's Ricky Rudd finished second and third, respectively.[1][2]

Background

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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

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  • (R) denotes rookie driver.
# Driver Team Make Sponsor
3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet Wrangler
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
09 Doug French Caragias Racing Buick Caragias Racing
11 Terry Labonte Junior Johnson & Associates Chevrolet Budweiser
12 Larry Pollard Hamby Racing Oldsmobile 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
30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Chevrolet All Pro Auto Parts
33 Harry Gant Mach 1 Racing Chevrolet Skoal Bandit
35 Benny Parsons Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Folgers Decaf
43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac STP
44 Sterling Marlin Hagan Racing Oldsmobile Piedmont Airlines
52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac Eureka
55 Phil Parsons Jackson Bros. Motorsports Oldsmobile Skoal Classic
56 Ernie Irvan Reno Enterprises Chevrolet Dale Earnhardt Chevrolet
62 Steve Christman (R) Winkle Motorsports Pontiac AC Spark Plug
64 Trevor Boys 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
72 Eddie Drury Drury Racing Chevrolet Drury Racing
75 Neil Bonnett RahMoc Enterprises Pontiac Valvoline
76 Phil Good Good Racing Ford Good Racing
90 Ken Schrader Donlavey Racing Ford Red Baron Frozen Pizza
97 D. Wayne Strout Strout Racing Oldsmobile Strout Racing

Qualifying

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Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, September 11, 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, September 12, at 11:30 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,[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.

Alan Kulwicki, driving for his own AK Racing team, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 20.746 and an average speed of 94.052 miles per hour (151.362 km/h) in the first round.[4]

Four drivers failed to qualify.

Full qualifying results

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Pos. # Driver Team Make Time Speed
1 7 Alan Kulwicki AK Racing Ford 20.746 94.052
2 17 Darrell Waltrip Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 20.761 93.984
3 11 Terry Labonte Junior Johnson & Associates Chevrolet 20.796 93.826
4 33 Harry Gant Mach 1 Racing Chevrolet 20.813 93.749
5 21 Kyle Petty Wood Brothers Racing Ford 20.835 93.650
6 15 Ricky Rudd Bud Moore Engineering Ford 20.864 93.520
7 30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Chevrolet 20.901 93.354
8 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 20.907 93.328
9 27 Rusty Wallace Blue Max Racing Pontiac 20.944 93.163
10 5 Geoff Bodine Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 20.947 93.149
11 26 Morgan Shepherd King Racing Buick 20.953 93.123
12 35 Benny Parsons Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 21.022 92.817
13 75 Neil Bonnett RahMoc Enterprises Pontiac 21.033 92.769
14 44 Sterling Marlin Hagan Racing Oldsmobile 21.048 92.702
15 22 Bobby Allison Stavola Brothers Racing Buick 21.053 92.680
16 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford 21.056 92.667
17 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac 21.061 92.645
18 18 Dale Jarrett (R) Freedlander Motorsports Chevrolet 21.150 92.255
19 90 Ken Schrader Donlavey Racing Ford 21.151 92.251
20 56 Ernie Irvan Reno Enterprises Chevrolet 21.183 92.112
Failed to lock in Round 1
21 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 21.195 92.059
22 55 Phil Parsons Jackson Bros. Motorsports Oldsmobile 21.201 92.033
23 8 Bobby Hillin Jr. Stavola Brothers Racing Buick 21.247 91.834
24 62 Steve Christman (R) Winkle Motorsports Pontiac 21.287 91.662
25 52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac 21.359 91.353
26 6 D. K. Ulrich U.S. Racing Chevrolet 21.367 91.318
27 67 Buddy Arrington Arrington Racing Ford 21.387 91.233
28 12 Larry Pollard Hamby Racing Oldsmobile 21.443 90.995
29 64 Trevor Boys Langley Racing Ford 21.462 90.914
30 09 Doug French Caragias Racing Buick 21.573 90.446
Failed to qualify
31 76 Phil Good Good Racing Ford -* -*
32 97 D. Wayne Strout Strout Racing Oldsmobile -* -*
33 70 J. D. McDuffie McDuffie Racing Pontiac -* -*
34 72 Eddie Drury Drury Racing Chevrolet -* -*
Official first round qualifying results
Official starting lineup

Race results

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Fin St # Driver Team Make Laps Led Status Pts Winnings
1 8 3 Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 400 220 running 185 $44,950
2 2 17 Darrell Waltrip Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 400 86 running 175 $22,680
3 6 15 Ricky Rudd Bud Moore Engineering Ford 400 0 running 165 $20,050
4 16 9 Bill Elliott Melling Racing Ford 400 0 running 160 $14,675
5 17 43 Richard Petty Petty Enterprises Pontiac 399 0 running 155 $10,180
6 10 5 Geoff Bodine Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 398 0 running 150 $9,170
7 21 71 Dave Marcis Marcis Auto Racing Chevrolet 398 0 running 146 $8,280
8 3 11 Terry Labonte Junior Johnson & Associates Chevrolet 398 1 running 147 $10,230
9 25 52 Jimmy Means Jimmy Means Racing Pontiac 397 21 running 143 $7,300
10 13 75 Neil Bonnett RahMoc Enterprises Pontiac 397 0 running 134 $6,930
11 24 62 Steve Christman (R) Winkle Motorsports Pontiac 391 0 running 130 $2,850
12 15 22 Bobby Allison Stavola Brothers Racing Buick 391 0 running 127 $7,575
13 28 12 Larry Pollard Hamby Racing Oldsmobile 391 0 running 0 $4,755
14 27 67 Buddy Arrington Arrington Racing Ford 386 0 running 121 $4,615
15 23 8 Bobby Hillin Jr. Stavola Brothers Racing Buick 386 0 running 118 $7,675
16 12 35 Benny Parsons Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 382 0 running 115 $9,430
17 9 27 Rusty Wallace Blue Max Racing Pontiac 373 56 crash 117 $8,155
18 5 21 Kyle Petty Wood Brothers Racing Ford 346 0 axle 109 $7,130
19 7 30 Michael Waltrip Bahari Racing Chevrolet 309 0 running 106 $4,090
20 22 55 Phil Parsons Jackson Bros. Motorsports Oldsmobile 294 15 crash 108 $2,565
21 19 90 Ken Schrader Donlavey Racing Ford 294 0 running 100 $3,790
22 14 44 Sterling Marlin Hagan Racing Oldsmobile 289 0 crash 97 $3,585
23 1 7 Alan Kulwicki AK Racing Ford 241 1 crash 99 $8,810
24 29 64 Trevor Boys Langley Racing Ford 222 0 engine 0 $3,215
25 4 33 Harry Gant Mach 1 Racing Chevrolet 140 0 crash 88 $3,320
26 26 6 D. K. Ulrich U.S. Racing Chevrolet 112 0 engine 85 $3,175
27 18 18 Dale Jarrett (R) Freedlander Motorsports Chevrolet 109 0 crash 82 $2,430
28 30 09 Doug French Caragias Racing Buick 75 0 crash 79 $895
29 20 56 Ernie Irvan Reno Enterprises Chevrolet 35 0 overheating 76 $860
30 11 26 Morgan Shepherd King Racing Buick 12 0 crash 73 $2,325
Failed to qualify
31 76 Phil Good Good Racing Ford
32 97 D. Wayne Strout Strout Racing Oldsmobile
33 70 J. D. McDuffie McDuffie Racing Pontiac
34 72 Eddie Drury Drury Racing Chevrolet
Official race results

Standings after the race

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References

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  1. ^ Higgins, Tom (September 14, 1987). "Earnhardt Wins Wild Richmond Race". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1C, 4C. Retrieved November 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  2. ^ Pearson, Herald (September 14, 1987). "Earnhardt's 'magic act' helps him capture 400". Richmond Times-Dispatch. pp. C1, C7. Retrieved November 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  3. ^ "NASCAR Today". The Charlotte Observer. September 11, 1987. pp. 8B. Retrieved November 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  
  4. ^ Higgins, Tom (September 12, 1987). "Kulwicki Edges Waltrip In Richmond Qualifying". The Charlotte Observer. pp. 1C, 12C. Retrieved November 9, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.  


Previous race:
1987 Southern 500
NASCAR Winston Cup Series
1987 season
Next race:
1987 Delaware 500