|| *Comments on the 1987 TranSouth 500:* View the most recent comment <#26> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Matt posted: 12.01.2005 - 4:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Terry Labonte broke his left shoulder in a hard lap 144 crash. 2. Matthew Sullivan posted: 12.14.2005 - 3:24 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) On the last lap, Bill Elliott ran out of gas going into turn three. Earnhardt was able to get by in the middle of three and four to take the win. 3. Kevin posted: 08.19.2006 - 12:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last top 10, 8th, for Ron Bouchard. 4. myself posted: 02.16.2007 - 4:27 pm Rate this comment: (2) (6) I feel bad for my behavior during this race! I was in the middle of my "hate Bill Elliott" stage. When he ran out of gas on the last lap, I cheered when Earnhardt passed him. I now regret doing that, cause' I despise Dale Earnhardt more than any other driver in Nascar history! 5. Clayton posted: 03.29.2008 - 12:31 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) How could you hate Awesome Bill! He's such a loveable guy! 6. adamal82 posted: 09.03.2008 - 2:10 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) 2nd of 2 races that a Junie Donlavey Owned Car Sat on the Pole 7. Scott posted: 02.18.2009 - 10:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And here's a good point, this was DiGard's last race. 8. Anonymous posted: 12.19.2009 - 9:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNQ 81 Mike Potter 148.120 Joe Millikan 148.036 82 Mark Stahl 145.802 9. Ryan posted: 06.10.2010 - 2:22 am Rate this comment: (1) (2) Awesome finish! 10. RaceFanX posted: 12.20.2011 - 2:23 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Ken Schrader picks up the first of his 23 Winston Cup pole positions and as noted earlier his only one driving Junie's #90 Ford. 11. 83andJoe posted: 07.06.2013 - 5:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #10 crew chief: Roland Wlodyka 12. Schroeder51 posted: 01.24.2014 - 9:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution flags: 1. #30 Michael Waltrip spin, turn 4 (Laps 23-26) (Steve Christman spun out and hit the wall on lap 10, but did not bring out a caution) 2. #28 Davey Allison spin, turn 3 (Laps 72-78) 3. #64 Connie Saylor accident (Laps 136-140) 4. #11 Terry Labonte, #15 Ricky Rudd, #26 Morgan Shepherd, #35 Benny Parsons, #83 Lake Speed accident, turn 3 (Laps 146-157) 5. Oil on track (Laps 179-182) 6. #50 Greg Sacks spin, turn 2 (Laps 193-195) 7. #22 Bobby Allison, #28 Davey Allison accident, turn 3 (Davey Allison's car backed through a guardrail and burst into flames in this accident) (Laps 217-241) 8. #88 Buddy Baker accident, turn 4 (Laps 250-253) 9. #30 Michael Waltrip accident, turn 4 (Laps 275-277) 10. #8 Bobby Hillin, Jr. accident, turn 2 (Laps 295-298) 13. The Great Dave posted: 01.31.2016 - 9:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Update #48 Louise Smith Special 14. Thomas posted: 04.05.2016 - 1:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bob Jenkins missed this race because of the death of his father. So Jerry Punch joined Larry Nuber in the booth. 15. The Great Dave posted: 12.23.2016 - 10:01 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) What caused Tommy Ellis to quit three laps in? 16. JSPorts posted: 12.23.2016 - 10:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm not sure. You used to see "quit" listed rather often as a reason for a DNF, especially in the sport's early days. I'm not sure what the nature of those retirements were, whether they were start-and-parks or something else. 17. The Great Dave posted: 12.23.2016 - 10:42 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) I just noticed that this was Tommy's last race with the Freedlander. Maybe he was disgruntled with the team? 18. Scott B posted: 12.23.2016 - 6:39 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Some of the early "quit" statuses were start & parks (before that kind of honesty was frowned upon), and quite a few were heat-exhaustion related if a team didn't have, or didn't want to use, a relief driver. Obviously, heat wouldn't be a factor just three laps in, though. 19. George Costanza posted: 08.21.2018 - 12:02 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Dale Earnhardt reaches the 1000-lap led mark on the season in this race. It was the 5th race of the season. Insane. 20. Ryan posted: 08.21.2018 - 12:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @19 And 1600+ after the first eight races in which he won six of them. 21. Greg1&9Fan posted: 09.07.2018 - 7:58 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Wasn't this the infamous "ice cream" break race between Benny Parsons and his Crew Chief Hyde? haha 22. Ryan posted: 03.29.2020 - 12:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anybody know why the caution for the crash involving Bobby and Davey was so long? 23. Jeff posted: 03.29.2020 - 12:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @22 I believe it was the wreck where Davey went over the infield guardrail and had a huge fire. 24. NewGuyOnTheBlock posted: 08.20.2020 - 2:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ESPN broadcast this race. Larry Nuber and Jerry Punch were in the booth with Dick Berggren and Gary Lee in the pits. 25. NewGuyOnTheBlock posted: 08.23.2020 - 12:06 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Dale Earnhardt won his third race of 1987 in another dominating display, leading 239 of 367 laps. Earnhardt's win wasn't a sure thing though, as he had to pit from the lead for a quick fuel stop late in the running. Despite brushing the wall several times, Earnhardt charged back up to second place and took the lead for good on the final lap when Elliott ran out of fuel. Bill Elliott had one turn away from his second win of the season. Awesome Bill led 41 laps and was leading on the final lap when he ran out of fuel feet from the finish line. Elliott would have to settle for second, a victim of the poor fuel mileage of the Ford Thunderbird. King Richard Petty grabbed his best finish of the year in third, leading a lap in the process. For Petty, the race was an indication that the King still had the ability to challenge for wins. Sterling Marlin had himself a day, leading 5 laps and scoring his first top-5 finish of the year in fourth. Marlin's highlight was when he went three-wide around Buddy Baker and Geoff Bodine to take the lead on a restart, a move that is usually impossible at Darlington. Ken Schrader continued to impress his fellow drivers with another excellent performance. Schrader started on pole and led for 19 laps, finishing in fifth after he ran out of fuel in the closing laps. Neil Bonnett was a threat to win all day, leading 7 laps and running top-5 throughout the afternoon. An engine misfire would cause Bonnett to drop to sixth at the finish. Harry Gant finally managed to finish a race, scoring a nice top-10 in the process by finishing a lap down in seventh. It was a breath of fresh air for Gant, who was coming off a brutal crash at Atlanta where he lacerated his tongue. Ron Bouchard scored what would end up being his final career top-10 finish, coming home a lap down in eighth. This result would also be the only top-10 finish of the year for Ellington Racing. Phil Parsons ran a solid race, scoring his first top-10 finish of the year in ninth, 1 lap down. Darrell Waltrip would lead one lap during pit stops, but other than that was never a factor to win all day. Waltrip would finish 1 lap down in tenth. Geoff Bodine fell a lap down early and never recovered it, finishing 3 laps down in eleventh at the end of the day. Slick Johnson replaced David Sosebee full time in the Roger Hamby #12, as Sosebee had been canned for his abysmal performance to start the year. The veteran Johnson ran a fantastic race, coming home 4 laps down in twelfth, his best finish of the season. Kyle Petty ran a quiet, consistent race, finishing 5 laps off the pace in thirteenth. Alan Kulwicki lost his crew chief entering the weekend, and also had to drive his short-track car after his superspeedway car was demolished in a crash at Atlanta. Kulwicki impressed many by bringing his Ford home in fourteenth, 6 laps down after losing a wheel during a round of pitstops. Cale Yarborough avoided both the lap 146 pile up and the crash between the Allisons on lap 217 but was unable to avoid Bobby Hillin's spinning car late in the race, suffering slight damage to his Oldsmobile. Yarborough finished 13 laps down in fifteenth. With car owner Buddy Arrington looking the make some changes in the driving department going forward, Eddie Bierschwale was on the hot seat entering Darlington. Bierschwale managed to have an incident-free race, scoring his best finish of the season in sixteenth, 18 laps down. H.B. Bailey managed to pick up his best finish of the 1987 season in seventeenth, 19 laps down at the finish. D.K. Ulrich had a new look for the #6 Chevy at Darlington, as Metro Mobile joined Ulrich for the weekend as a primary sponsor. Thanks to the high attrition, Ulrich capitalized to finish in eighteenth, 20 laps down. For this race, Ulrich will receive the "NewGuyOnTheBlock Snail Award". Michael Waltrip had a bad day, spinning out early and smacking the wall off turn 4 late in the race. Waltrip would limp home 29 laps down to finish nineteenth. Rusty Wallace struggled with overheating issues all day, eventually retiring from the race after 322 laps due to the intense heat. Benny Parsons was having another great run when he was collected in a multi-car crash on lap 146. Parsons suffered significant damage to the right side of his Chevy but would make it to the finish, crawling home 53 laps off the pace in twenty-first. Morgan Shepherd was collected in the lap 146 pile up, severely damaging the front of his Buick. Shepherd's team managed to get the car repaired enough to return to the track, with Rick Wilson taking over driving duties from the exhausted Shepherd. Wilson nursed the wounded car home 55 laps down in twenty-second. A possible top-5 run for Bobby Hillin Jr. ended after Hillin nosed into the inside wall on lap 295. Hillin tried to make it to the finish, but his damaged engine began to overheat on lap 308, putting him out of the running. Connie Saylor struggled all afternoon after crashing into Dave Marcis in the early running. Saylor would return to the track after numerous laps in the pits, finishing 76 laps down in twenty-fourth. Buddy Baker led 40 laps and appeared to be the only driver capable of running down Dale Earnhardt. While leading on lap 250, Baker suddenly lost control and spun in turn 4, slamming into the wall. Baker would make a few more laps before eventually retiring from the race. Greg Sacks was having a fantastic race, running as high as second in the Dingman Brothers Pontiac. Unfortunately, a blown engine would end Sack's day on lap 259. Davey Allison suffered the first of many terrifying crashes over the course of his career when he cut a tire and collected father Bobby on lap 217. Davey's car slammed through the infield guardrail and burst into flames, causing the race to be placed under an extended caution. Davey was able to escape the burning wreck uninjured, though he was a little shell-shocked. Bobby Allison led a lap under caution and was running well when he was collected in a crash by son Davey on lap 217, with the elder Allison's car jumping into the air upon contact. After coming to a stop, Bobby lept from his car and rushed to son Davey's burning Ford to help pull his son from the wreckage (Although Davey had already escaped the fire). Bobby was pretty shaken up in post-crash interviews. Bobby Wawak would drive a car originally scheduled to be driven by Ken Ragan in this race, hence the sponsorship change. Wawak was eliminated when he slapped the wall after 168 laps and slid down the track, narrowly avoiding a collision with Dale Earnhardt. Ricky Rudd had a fast car in the opening lap, leading for 12 circuits before he dropped down the running order. Rudd was eliminated following the lap 146 crash when he slammed into the side of Terry Labonte's stricken Chevy. Lake Speed was running inside the top-10 when he was collected in the lap 146 pile up. Speed suffered severe front-end damage and was forced to retire. Terry Labonte suffered a broken shoulder in a hard crash on lap 146 when he was t-boned in the door by Ricky Rudd. Labonte would start the next race at North Wilkesboro but would have Busch Series regular Brett Bodine relieve him early in the affair. Dave Marcis stayed out under the first caution to lead a lap, snatching up some juicy bonus points. While Marcis was having a solid afternoon, his luck changed when he was collected in a crash with Connie Saylor, breaking his steering and forcing him to retire from the race. Rick Wilson had a solid run going in the early laps, but yet again mechanical failure would end his day. This time, it was a blown head gasket that sent Wilson behind the wall after 118 laps. Jonathan Lee Edwards made his first start of the season, retiring after just 104 laps with fuel pump problems. Jimmy Means was an early retirement, pulling off track with a blown engine after 85 laps. Rookie Rodney Combs made just his second start of the year, in what was the penultimate race for DiGard. The #10 Chevy made it 38 laps before a faulty ignition wire sent Combs to the garage. James Hylton made what would end up being his final start of 1987, retiring with ignition problems after 14 laps. Hylton would attempt two more races that year, but failed to qualify both times. Rookie Steve Christman was an easy target for the Lady in Black. On lap 9, Christman lost control and spun into the turn 2 wall, ending his day. For some reason, NASCAR didn't throw a caution, ruling that Christman was so far behind the rest of the field that he wasn't a hazard. Tommy Ellis and the Freedlander Racing team ended their three-year partnership at this race, as Ellis pulled behind the wall after 3 laps. Ellis would return to full-time competition in the Busch Series, while Freedlander Racing would turn to a rookie for the rest of the 1987 campaign. His name was Dale Jarrett. J.D. McDuffie was the first to fall, retiring after just a single lap with a blown engine. 26. QFH posted: 10.31.2020 - 10:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Qualifying Results (times in mph) 1. Schrader 158.387 mph 2. Earnhardt 158.071 3. Elliott 157.863 4. B. Parsons 157.833 5. D. Allison 157.792 6. Wallace 157.022 7. G. Bodine 156.991 8. B. Allison 156.706 9. Speed 156.636 10. Rudd 156.442 11. Baker 156.308 12. Gant 156.238 13. Bonnett 156.218 14. Labonte 156.194 15. P. Parsons 155.758 16. Marlin 155.085 17. Marcis 154.988 18. Shepherd 154.934 19. D. Waltrip 154.827 20. Hillin 154.680 Second Round 21. Yarborough 155.404 22. Wilson 154.603 23. K. Petty 154.525 24. R. Petty 154.467 25. Bouchard 154.292 26. Ellis 153.973 27. Sacks 153.651 28. Bierschwale 153.555 29. Combs 153.402 30. M. Waltrip 153.215 31. Means 152.607 32. Ulrich 152.314 33. Saylor 152.300 34. Kulwicki 152.262 35. Bailey 152.219 36. S. Johnson 151.670 37. Wawak 151.474 38. McDuffie 151.455 39. Christman 150.657 40. Edwards 150.353 41. Hylton 149.995 (provisional) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: