1987 Winston 500
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 9 of 29 in the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series | |||
Layout of Talladega Superspeedway
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| Date | May 3, 1987 | ||
| Official name | Winston 500 | ||
| Location | Alabama International Motor Speedway, Talladega, Alabama | ||
| Course | 2.660 mi (4.280 km) | ||
| Distance | 178 laps, 473.5 mi (762.0 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 188 laps, 500.1 mi (804.8 km) | ||
| Weather | Warm with temperatures approaching 84.9 °F (29.4 °C); wind speeds up to 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 154.228 mph (248.206 km/h) | ||
| Attendance | 135,000 | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Melling Racing | ||
| Time | 44.998 seconds | ||
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Davey Allison | Ranier-Lundy Racing | |
| Laps | 101 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 28 | Davey Allison | Ranier-Lundy Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | ESPN | ||
| Announcers |
Bob Jenkins Larry Nuber |
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The 1987 Winston 500 was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series racing event that took place on May 3, 1987, at Alabama International Motor Speedway in Talladega, Alabama, USA. The race was a turning point in the balance between stock car speed and safety in NASCAR.
Davey Allison was the winner of the race, cut ten laps short due to darkness. It was Allison's first win in his career.
Allison's victory was somewhat overshadowed by a lap 22 crash in which the car of his father, Bobby Allison went airborne near the track's start/finish line, ripping down almost 100 feet of protective catch fence. Two large steel cables backing the fence managed to deflect Allison's car and prevent it from spearing unabated into the spectator grandstands. If this had happened, the accident had the potential to be a disaster on the scale of the 1955 Le Mans disaster.
Unrestricted high-speed races at Talladega Superspeedway ended after the 1987 Winston 500 because of the lap 22 crash. While the summer race (Talladega 500) would be run with a smaller carburetor, restrictor plates would end up being compulsory by the end of the year.
Talladega Superspeedway, originally known as Alabama International Motor Superspeedway (AIMS), is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base in the small city of Lincoln. The track is a Tri-oval and was constructed by International Speedway Corporation, a business controlled by the France Family, in the 1960s. Talladega is most known for its steep banking and the unique location of the start/finish line - located just past the exit to pit road. The track currently hosts the NASCAR series such as the Monster Energy Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. Talladega Superspeedway is the longest NASCAR oval with a length of 2.66 miles (4.28 km), and the track at its peak had a seating capacity of 175,000 spectators.
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