|| *Comments on the 1987 Summer 500:* View the most recent comment <#25> | Post a comment <#post> Tweet 1. Jon posted: 11.17.2005 - 7:28 am Rate this comment: (3) (0) The first race I ever attended. Alan Kulwicki had this race won until Dale E. bumped him in the tunnel turn on the last lap. It would've been Alan's first win, and a true David vs. Goliath story. Alan was running a tiny operation and Dale was the reigning champ and repeated in 1987. Some fans booed Dale after that race. My parents always rooted for Alan after that race. 2. Steve posted: 04.11.2006 - 10:51 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Best career finish for unknown driver Charlie Rudolph. One DNF in four races, but with that exception, his worst finish was 22nd. 3. RaceFanX posted: 01.16.2008 - 2:18 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jocko Maggiacomo matches his career best finish of 24th for the third time 4. Clayton posted: 07.18.2008 - 10:21 pm Rate this comment: (4) (0) Earnhardt did what he did best in this race. Bumped someone out of the way for a win. Again, NASCAR should have taken the win away from Dale. 5. Ryan posted: 12.11.2008 - 4:33 pm Rate this comment: (2) (6) take the win away? bumping is part of racing... Clayton must be a female 6. Anonymous posted: 01.23.2009 - 9:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tim Richmond's last pole, and it came at what was his best track. 7. Anonymous posted: 02.17.2009 - 6:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Buddy Baker`s last top 5. 8. Bryan Blanton posted: 11.11.2009 - 1:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) I thought dale didn't bump alan until he was passed him i'll have to i seen video of the pass i'll have to go back and see this again i know some people have made this event sound like it was really controversial so i'll have to go look at this pass earnhardt made to win that race and see if it is as controversial as some people say it is. From what i've seen of it i don't think it is but i could be wrong. 9. Matthew Sullivan posted: 02.01.2010 - 1:44 pm Rate this comment: (1) (3) I never heard Kulwicki say anything about Earnhardt roughing him up. In any case, that's why these cars have bumpers. Earnhardt's not the only one who has applied the front bumper to someone on the final lap. 10. Matthew Sullivan posted: 02.01.2010 - 2:20 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) Just watching the final laps right now, Kulwicki used the bumper twice, once in turn three coming to the white, and once going into turn one on the final lap. If anything, Kulwicki drove into turn two too deep and Earnhardt was smart enough to back off early and move under Kulwicki coming off two. Regardless, it was a fantastic finish. 11. fannie davis posted: 03.04.2010 - 8:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) sorry ryan there is a lot of female dale earnhardt fans i've seen quite a few and as u can see by my name i am a very proud dale fan too sr and jr thanks ryan 12. Ryan posted: 06.06.2010 - 12:18 pm Rate this comment: (1) (3) sorry for the stereotype fannie, I guess I should have used better taste by saying Clayton should quit being a softy 13. Walleyewhacker posted: 05.26.2011 - 10:07 am Rate this comment: (4) (1) Bumping someone in the tunnel turn at Pocono (maybe the most dangerous turn in NASCAR) is something only a dirty driver would do. Earnhardt was at his worst in 1987. 14. Chris posted: 10.16.2012 - 7:31 am Rate this comment: (2) (4) Ryan, they're probably all Elliott fans. They never could figure out how their driver could only manage 1 championship nor could they figure out how he could win 11 races in a season (85) and still not win the championship. They were always jealous of Earnhardt's success. In the 1987 season, Earnhardt gave Elliott a lesson in driving race cars, winning races, and winning championships and because of that, Elliott fans hated him and were jealous. 15. b4il3y posted: 02.28.2014 - 2:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (3) My cousin has mental health issues.. and I don't find this a bit funny. Please mods, take this post off. 16. Walleyewhacker posted: 03.01.2014 - 3:22 pm Rate this comment: (3) (2) Elliott had a lot of engine failures durring the first 2/3's of 1987 that contributed to Earnhardt's flukey 11 wins and laps lead. Once those problems were solved, he kicked Earnhardt's butt starting with the second race at Talladega. Also Tim Richmond wasn't around except for a handfull of races, and he won two of those. Anytime Earnhardt won at MIS, Rockinghan or Pocono it was flukey, and he won at all three in 1987. I will give Earnhardt huge amounts of credit for a 5.9 finishing average in 1987, something he would never come close to duplicating winning his other Cups. 17. wrongwaywillie posted: 07.08.2014 - 7:03 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) Who cares if Earnhardt didn't match 5.9 average finish when he won his other cups. It isn't his fault that everyone else sucked those years. And a win is a win no matter how flukey it is, as you like to say. If Tim Richmond wouldn't have gotten sick, Bill Elliott would have never won a championship. 18. Walleyewhacker posted: 11.28.2014 - 8:52 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) Ah wrongwaywillie, I suggest you take a look at Bill's average finishing position in 1988 when he won his Cup. It's 6.6, which was better than any of Earnhardt's Cups except for 1987. Rusty Wallace was almost as good with a 7.1 average finish in 1988, which was way better than his 10.3 average finish in his Cup winning year of 1989. Rusty's average finish of 7.1 in 1988 was also better than any of Earnhardt's other Cups except for 1987. If you think Tim Richmond would have had a better season than Bill Elliott or Rusty Wallace did in 1988, more power to you. I don't think that it would have happened though that three drivers in one year would have had that high of an average finish, because it has never happened in NASCAR history. 19. The Great Dave posted: 02.11.2016 - 1:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 11th was the best run for Roger Hamby's team all season. 20. Ryan posted: 08.20.2018 - 11:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I will give Earnhardt huge amounts of credit for a 5.9 finishing average in 1987, something he would never come close to duplicating winning his other Cups." That's so awesome Walleye that you're giving Earnhardt credit for his 5.9 average finish. Considering that there has only been one driver since then in 31 years that actually did better that and that was Jeff Gordon's historical year of 1998 when he won 13 races and had an average finish of 5.7 that year. You act like it was terrible that Earnhardt didn't do that again WHEN only one driver has bested that average finish since. LOL Dale led over 3,000 laps in just 29 races that year. No one since then has lead over 3000 laps in a year. Rusty came close with 2,800+ in 1993, and Earnhardt led 2,700+ in 1989. Ironically, Rusty beat Dale in 1989 for the title when Dale led more laps, and in 1993 Dale beat Rusty for the title when Rusty led more laps. Gordon led 2600+ laps in 1995 and won seven races, while leading 1700+ laps in 1998 and winning 13 races. 21. Jimnsimforever posted: 12.02.2018 - 4:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #4 Clayton, did you even watch the race. Earnhardt's pass for the win there was no contact at all. Kulwicki was the one who was getting into Earnhardt a couple of obvious times. Nothing dirty, by either guy, just good clean racing. Eli Gold and Jerry Punch commentated, Gold says, "Kulwicki getting into the back of Earnhardt", Punch said, "BOOM! Kulwicki slams into the back of Earnhardt saying I'm here". The hate for Dale Earnhardt over the years even resorts into outright lies. 22. Jimnsimforever posted: 12.02.2018 - 5:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oh my goodness. Just watched the broadcast again and after the race ended they even showed a replay of the last lap and Eli Gold's exact words for Dale's winning pass was "nice clean pass by Earnhardt" as it was happening on replay. All the hate for Dale stems from the 86 wreck on the last lap between him and Darrell Waltrip at Richmond that gave Kyle Petty his 1st win. Earnhardt wrecked himself in that one and cost himself a 2nd place finish. The fans absolutely hated him from that point on and never forgave him for it. Any incident he was involved in from good hard racing from that point on in his career caused outcry and talk about dirty driving. Name all these races where Dale made the pass at the end that actually won him the race where he wrecked the guy on purpose. 23. JSPorts posted: 12.02.2018 - 6:12 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) To imply that Dale Earnhardt only wrecked one person on purpose in his career is a lie. However, it is also true that people tend to criticize him and scrutinize his moves a lot more (even the clean ones), but that's only because he was a dirty driver to begin with. 24. RaceFanX posted: 03.27.2019 - 3:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tim Richmond came into this race seeking his fourth win at Pocono in a row and it looked like he had a good shot at it, winning the pole and leading 14 laps early on before a blown motor sent him to the sidelines. This would be his final race at Pocono, the second-to-last time he ever led a Cup race, and the fourth-to-last race of his career. 25. Anonymous posted: 06.07.2020 - 12:13 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I never thought Earnhardt was dirty I thought he was recklessly aggressive My problem was never with Dale, it was nascar not assessing punishment equally and basically telling drivers (Bodine and Wallace) they couldn't hit back. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: