|| *Comments on the 1987 Miller American 400:* View the most recent comment <#29> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Steve posted: 07.04.2006 - 12:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) By far Dale's best performance at MIS. 2. Steve posted: 08.01.2006 - 11:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rusty Wallace's first Winston Cup pole in his 110th start. 3. SK posted: 12.28.2007 - 6:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 1988 Rookie of the Year Ken Bouchard makes his Winston Cup debut. 4. myself posted: 02.21.2008 - 2:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Watched this one from the floor of the Hawaiian Inn, Daytona Beach, FL. 5. spotty posted: 04.30.2008 - 9:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last top 5 of the late Tim Richmond's career. 6. nascarman posted: 06.05.2008 - 6:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Derrick Cope accually started second for this race but broke a camshaft before the green flag. 7. nascarman posted: 06.05.2008 - 6:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Derrick Cope was in the 19 Alugard Ford. 8. Ryan posted: 12.11.2008 - 4:31 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) Dale holds off and beats Davey. You can see Davey pounding his fists against the steering wheel as they cross the finish line. 9. Zeppelin posted: 01.21.2009 - 6:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wow, what horrible luck for Derrike Cope. 10. Walleyewhacker posted: 05.26.2011 - 9:43 am Rate this comment: (2) (2) I was at this race sitting half way up the grandstand on the start/finish line. Davey Allison would have passed Earnhardt if the race was one lap longer, as he was closing that fast on him during the last green flag segment. 11. myself posted: 01.25.2012 - 3:04 pm Rate this comment: (3) (6) Nah, Walley. Earnhardt would've wrecked him. 12. Rob McKeever posted: 06.15.2012 - 12:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Looks like the entire outside lane on the start moved up when Cope couldn't go, such that 2 is 4, 4 is 6, etc. In other races a car moving to the back would not adjust the starting position - but this one does. Suggest Cope's car should be listed in the results as a DNS - did not start - as he doesn't appear anywhere yet had the 2nd fastest qualifying lap. Race is today's MRN Friday Flashback (6-15-12) 13. Walleyewhacker posted: 02.15.2014 - 3:49 pm Rate this comment: (3) (3) >Nah, Walley. Earnhardt would've wrecked him. That would have been typical Earnhardt in 1987. There were hardly any cheers for Earnhardt and mostly boos in victory lane. The crowd was behind Davey to win after Earnhards cheap wins early in the year at Bristol and Charlotte. 14. b4il3y posted: 02.28.2014 - 2:35 am Rate this comment: (3) (1) Both of the above posters forget about real racing. 15. Walleyewhacker posted: 03.06.2014 - 10:58 pm Rate this comment: (3) (2) Real racing is passing on talent without having to resort to use the bumper. Earnhardt was not popular with a whole host of NASCAR fans and even some of his competitors in the 1980's and 1990's because of his dirty driving tactics and at times onery personality. If you choose to wear the "black hat" and play edgey or race edgey, you will have detractors. The Detroit Pistons "Bad Boys" teams, Oakland Raiders of the 1970's, Earnhardt, all had the same thing in common. They all wore the "black hat" by taking it too far at times and were not universaly loved or admired. 16. Evan posted: 04.17.2014 - 5:51 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) The final race before I was born, Dale Earnhardt wins it, and one man who would become a favorite driver of mine, along with Jeff Gordon who would believe it or not would eventually become business partners. I dug his hard-driving ornery style. Of course, Earnhardt became one driver who fans loved or loved to hate when he was alive. Michigan was never one of Dale's tracks he ran well on, from what I have read Childress never had the equipment built for these type of tracks, Dale more than made up for it. When NASCAR transitioned to more of these types of tracks, cookie-cutters like California and Vegas, and went away from the short tracks that were on the schedule hurt Earnhardt's win totals and title chances as well as Atlanta's reconfiguration that had a lot of veterans like Earnhardt perplexed. 17. Walleyewhacker posted: 05.03.2014 - 8:31 am Rate this comment: (2) (4) I don't think it's a matter of Earnhardt not having the equipment to run on MIS, I think it was his driving style. You can't attack MIS and expect to win, you need to be a smooth driver or adapt your driving style to fit the track. Earnhardt was too stubborn to adapt and struggled at MIS. He would overdrive the corners and fry his tires. Same thing at Dover and Rockingham. Cale wasn't the smoothest driver around, but he adapted his style to the track and became one of the most successful drivers at MIS along with David Pearson and Bill Elliott. 18. Kevin Nauta posted: 01.27.2015 - 9:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Some information on the DNQs for this race based on pictures posted over at the Historical Stock Car Racing Forum: Mike Potter--#81 Ford, no sponsor Jimmy Means--#52 Pontiac, no sponsor. Bobby Gerhart--#85 J. Omar Landis Enterprises Chevrolet. Rick Hood--#38 Solar Sources Ford. Bob Keselowski--#49 Arnold Jerome Enterprises Chevrolet. (not on your list, but apparently wrecked during practice and never got to attempt to qualify). Also photographed was the #68 Alta Dry Chevrolet owned by Jerry Holden, he's not on your list either. http://simracin40.proboards.com/thread/767/1987-winston-cup-photos?page=13 19. Ryan W posted: 09.11.2015 - 11:52 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) Dale Earnhardt had the August race won in 1999 if not for Tony Stewart and JBurton wrecking late... Dale lacked a lot of equipment places. Even Childress admitted to this. He made up for it more than just here. This race was really a route with Dale just toying with Davey at the end. Davey didn't have a prayer. 20. nascarman posted: 03.02.2016 - 9:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DNS: 19/ Derrike Cope / Alugard / Fred Stoke / Ford (Cope shockingly qualified 2nd but broke a camshaft before the start. The even numbered cars moved up one row. i.e. Schrader actually qualified 4th, Labonte qualified 6th and so on.) 21. saltsburgtrojanfan posted: 10.28.2017 - 7:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution 1: #36 accident turn 2 Caution 2: debris Caution 3: #7 engine Caution 4: #4 engine Caution 5: oil on track 22. Ryan posted: 05.04.2018 - 8:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) You tell 'em Evan! 23. Jimnsimforever posted: 12.02.2018 - 2:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale Earnhardt only ran Vegas 3 times and California 4 times. All well past his prime and in his late 40s. Despite that, he finished top 10 all 3 times he raced at Vegas and had a top 10 at California along with 11th 12th and 16th, not great but not struggling. He ran well at Michigan, 43 career starts, only won 2 times there but had mostly all top 5's and top 10's. His last year he ran there at 49 years old he finished 2nd and 6th. Dover and Rockingham, multiple wins and 50 million billion top 10s combined at those two. One of the greatest heel drivers of all time. For the people to cheer faces, there gotta be heels. They are the ones who put butts in seats. That's part of the reason there aren't butts in seats anymore. They won't let anyone have a personality anymore. Someone might get offended. Take that stuff away and you just have a bunch of boring guys driving cars in a circle. Who cares who gets there first if you can't bring yourself to love or hate any of them at a high level? It looks like only relatives and friends of all the drivers show up now with all those empty seats these days. 24. Wil posted: 12.02.2018 - 7:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Despite that, he finished top 10 all 3 times he raced at Vegas and had a top 10 at California along with 11th 12th and 16th, not great but not struggling." Yeah, the GOAT being unable to score a top 10 equals not struggling. Imagine Kyle busch running 16th in a race nowadays its inconceivable, of course that's struggling. I think Big E is the GOAT but the humor writes itself with these fanboy morons. 25. Anonymous posted: 12.02.2018 - 10:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #24 I agree 26. Ryan posted: 12.02.2018 - 12:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Kyle Busch hasn't run at 45-49 years old yet either. And although you were a baby at the time of Earnhardt's "struggles" from 1997-1999 (it's something that people refer to him as struggling and he finished 5th, 8th, and 7th in the standings during those years). The worst kept secret in the garage during that time period was RCR was way down on power, handling, and resources when he ran those few races at Vegas and California during that time period and still managed average finishes. Trust me, he got everything he could out of those cars and still somehow managed to win four races and still be competitive during those years. It's one thing just to make off the wall comments, it's another to get in the trenches of things... 27. MSportRev posted: 12.02.2018 - 2:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Car Number, Manufacturer, Ownership & Sponsorship updates: J.D. McDuffie - No. 70 Rumple Furniture Pontiac, Owner J.D. McDuffie, Crew Chief Jeff McDuffie Bobby Wawak - No. 74 Chevrolet, Owner Bobby Wawak 28. Tigerman posted: 05.20.2020 - 12:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Suggestions regarding DNQ's please correct me if I am wrong. Steve Christman, Tom Winkle-owned #62 Pontiac Gary Fedewa, Harold Burke-owned #80 Chevrolet Rick Jeffrey, #82 Daughtery Enterprises Chevrolet Charlie Rudolph, self-owned #04 Chevrolet 29. Rich posted: 09.26.2020 - 1:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ken Squier and Ned Jarrett were the commentators. Mike Joy and Dave Despain were the pit road reporters. Chris Economaki was the host. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: