|| *Comments on the 1987 Miller High Life 400:* View the most recent comment <#19> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Dave posted: 03.17.2007 - 5:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Alan Kulwicki's first pole 2. 18fan posted: 03.02.2009 - 10:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale spun Gant in this race, but that is not what put Harry out of the race. 3. Anonymous posted: 12.19.2009 - 9:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNQ 83 Lake Speed Clark James (listed in a Pontiac) 48 Tony Spanos Eddie Drury (listed in a Chevrolet) 34 Ron Sheppard 02 Bill Hollar 4. 18fan posted: 02.18.2010 - 11:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) One year after crashing in the epic duel with Darrell Waltrip, Earnhardt wins the spring race and would also win the fall race. 5. AutoRockinRacing94 posted: 06.24.2012 - 2:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) First time that Kulwicki finished on the lead lap 6. Goernie28 posted: 08.26.2013 - 7:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) On the TV broadcast, the announcers said the race was originally scheduled to be the second of the year, but it was postponed due to weather. 7. SMR223 posted: 09.26.2013 - 11:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Why does Davey Allison have no points? 8. awesomebillfan9 posted: 01.05.2015 - 12:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) First time since 1979 a non GM product won the pole at Richmond. (15 races- 12 Chevrolets, 2 Pontiacs and a Buick) 9. zuel660 posted: 09.20.2015 - 1:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I believe Davey Allison was running an '86 T-Bird in this race; not sure why he's not shown having any points...an oversight, perhaps? 10. Anonymous posted: 09.20.2015 - 1:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Allison got 0 points for this race because he was a post-entry (PE). 11. Matthew Sullivan posted: 11.13.2015 - 1:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) There was a caution flag on the final lap due to Schrader's wreck between turns three and four. 12. saltsburgtrojanfan posted: 04.21.2016 - 3:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution 1: #67 spun frontstretch Caution 2: #33 accident turn 3 Caution 3: #15,18,22,26,27,35,43,55,71 accident frontstretch Caution 4: #28 accident turn 4 Caution 5: #64,75 accident turn 3 Caution 6: #35,67 accident backstretch 13. robby burns posted: 05.28.2016 - 9:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale Earnhardt tore up his number 3 Wrangler Jeans Chevy in practice his RCR team repaired it, when the race started on lap 9 while trying to pass Alan Kulwicki for the lead he spun out, there was no caution thrown and Earnhardt fell to the rear of the field, the first caution would be thrown until lap 114, he didn't take the lead until lap 133 but only lead for 2 circuits then regained it on lap 169 on lead all but 10 laps the rest of the way on his way to winning this race and the fall race. 14. ericthenau posted: 07.05.2016 - 8:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Davey Allison was not actually a post-entry (PE) for this race, and he received 85 points. 15. Bad Booking posted: 03.13.2018 - 5:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lake Speed and Tim Richmond contributed to commentary for this race. 16. RaceFanX posted: 02.06.2019 - 9:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale Earnhardt and Bill Elliott came into this race tied for the points lead after both had a victory and a fifth-place finish in the season's first two races. The Intimidator took sole possession of the top spot with his second-straight Cup win here...and he would not relinquish it for the rest of the season on his way to the championship. 17. Steve posted: 12.29.2019 - 11:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ron Shephard crashed in qualifying, Bill Hollar spun out in qualifying 18. NewGuyOnTheBlock posted: 08.12.2020 - 8:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) TBS broadcast this race. Ken Squier and Lake Speed were in the booth with Chris Economaki and Jerry Garrett in the pits. Dave Despain and Bob Varsha were in the STP Pit Communication Center. Benny Parsons carried the lone onboard camera. 19. NewGuyOnTheBlock posted: 08.16.2020 - 12:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale Earnhardt recovered from an early spin to score his second straight win of 1987. Earnhardt spun out early while battling Alan Kulwicki for the lead, but avoided going a lap down despite NASCAR not throwing a caution. Earnhardt would go on to lead 235 of 400 laps in another dominating performance. Geoffrey Bodine caved in the front of his Chevy early on but would persevere to finish a strong second. It was his first top-10 finish of the season after disappointing finished in the opening 2 rounds. Rusty Wallace suffered pretty severe damage to the front end of his Pontiac when he piled into a major crash in the early laps. Despite the damage, Wallace would run top-5 throughout the afternoon, finishing in third. Bill Elliott was the surprise of the race, leading 9 laps and finishing a solid fourth. While Elliott was used to running up front, he usually struggled on the short tracks, which made his performance all the more impressive. Terry Labonte fell a lap down early due to tire problems but would fight back to finish on the lead lap in fifth, leading a lap along the way. Alan Kulwicki scored the first pole of his career and led the opening 65 laps, eventually falling to sixth at the finish. Still, it was a breakout performance for the Wisconsin-native, who was driving a year-old version of the Ford Thunderbird (Contrary to his fellow Ford drivers, who drove newer 1987 models). Kyle Petty returned to the site of his first career win a year prior and turned in a solid performance. Petty ran up front throughout the race, finishing 1 lap down in seventh. Dave Marcis was pinched into the wall during the 9-car pileup on lap 145 but would recover to score his first top-10 finish of the season in eighth, 1 lap down. Bobby Allison ran very well in the opening laps, leading 16 laps before he was collected in the lap 145 pile up. Allison suffered pretty significant damage but would capitalize on the attrition to finish a lap down in ninth. Benny Parsons lost his hood in the "Big One", and later spun out Eddie Bierschwale when the slower driver got in his way. Parsons would manage to finish 2 laps down in tenth, which wasn't bad for a driver that hadn't run at Richmond since 1982. Bobby Hillin Jr. was one of the few drivers who escaped Richmond unscathed, finishing 4 laps down in eleventh. Michael Waltrip spent much of the day in and around the top-15, coming home 4 laps down in twelfth. Ken Schrader struggled throughout the race after blowing a tire in the early laps. Towards the end of the event, Schrader started suffering more tire problems, eventually crashing out on the final lap when a tire finally burst. Schrader placed thirteenth, which kept him inside the top-5 in points. Jimmy Means capitalized on the attrition rate to score an excellent top-20 finish, coming home 6 laps down in fourteenth. Phil Parsons was unfortunately collected in the "Big One", spinning in front of the field while avoiding the accident in front of him. Despite the heavy side damage, Parsons toughed it out to finish 9 laps down in fifteenth. J.D. McDuffie scored his best result of 1987 in sixteenth, 11 laps off the pace. This would be McDuffie's final start for Winkle Motorsports, as he left the team after this race to focus on his own race team. Buddy Arrington came out of retirement to drive Chet Filip's car for this race, bringing the #81 home 13 laps down in seventeenth. Arrington notably finished ahead of his own driver, Eddie Bierschwale. Speaking of Bierschwale... Eddie Bierschwale had a race to forget, spinning out twice and finishing 19 laps down in eighteenth. Car owner Buddy Arrington, who finished ahead of Bierschwale, was not pleased. Veteran Slick Johnson replaced David Sosebee in the #12 Roger Hamby car for this race, as Sosebee has been performing terribly in the opening rounds. Johnson kept the car out of trouble but was still the slowest car on the track, finishing 21 laps down in nineteenth. For this race, he will receive the "NewGuyOnTheBlock Snail Award". Darrell Waltrip finally had a legit run in his new Hendrick ride, leading 23 laps and running second to Earnhardt for much of the event. However, lingering rear end problems would eventually sideline Waltrip with about 50 laps to go, ending his chance of victory. Sterling Marlin led a lap early under caution and was running well before mechanical problems sent him to the garage. Marlin would finish the race in twenty-first, 49 laps down. Neil Bonnett managed to walk away from a frightening wreck when he slammed into the stalled car of Jerry Cranmer on lap 326. The accident destroyed the front end of Bonnett's Pontiac, and the veteran needed several minutes to catch his breath before getting out of the car. Richard Petty suffered suspension damage in the "Big One", and was sidelined for much of the race. He eventually returned to the track, finishing in twenty-third, 83 laps down. Rookie Jerry Cranmer spun out of the race on lap 326, right into the path of Neil Bonnett. Cranmer thankfully would walk away after Bonnett slammed into Cranmer's Ford driver-side, but car owner Elmo Langley would still hire another driver for the next race as a precaution. Harry Gant DNF Counter: 3. Gant actually had his best performance of the 1987 season, leading 50 laps during the opening stages. Gant's day was ruined by Dale Earnhardt, who spun Gant into the wall on lap 128. Gant would continue on, though he eventually dropped out with a broken transmission after 265 laps. Davey Allison struggled in his first short track race of the season, crashing out shortly after halfway thanks to a flat tire. This was the last race of the year in which Allison would be unsponsored, as Havoline joined the Rainer-Lundy team for the next race in Atlanta. Short-track specialist Tommy Ellis was collected in the "Big One", knocking him out of the race. Ricky Rudd's car was in the process of blowing its engine when the "Big One" broke out in front of him. With nowhere to go, Rudd piled in, putting him out of the race. Rookie Steve Christman made his Winston Cup debut in a team-car to J.D. McDuffie. Christman made it 116 laps in his debut before rear end problems forced him out. D.K. Ulrich may have inadvertently caused the first caution of the race when he pulled off track after 105 laps with an oil leak. Fluid from his car caused Eddie Bierschwale to spin out a few laps later, bringing out the caution. Morgan Shepherd headed to the garage with transmission issues in the opening laps, eventually returning to the track many laps down. Shepherd ended up causing the "Big One" when he drifted high on track and hit the wall, sliding down into Bobby Allison. Bobby Wawak made a rare appearance on a non-superspeedway, retiring after 62 laps with an overheating engine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: