By Zane Miller
First round
(8) #21 Kyle Petty v. (1) #3 Dale Earnhardt
(7) #15 Ricky Rudd v. (2) #9 Bill Elliott
(6) #17 Darrell Waltrip v. (3) #11 Terry Labonte
(5) #75 Neil Bonnett v. (4) #27 Rusty Wallace
For the Southern 500 at Darlington to commence the playoffs, Mother Nature decided to interfere with the proceedings as the race ended after just 202 of 367 laps on account of rain. Dale Earnhardt picked up the race win with opponent Kyle Petty ending up in 14th, while Ricky Rudd’s seventh-place run edged out Bill Elliott in eighth. Terry Labonte grabbed the fifth spot with Darrell Waltrip coming home 10th, while Neil Bonnett sustained major damage in a multi-car crash to give Rusty Wallace the opening win in the series.
Moving on to Richmond, Earnhardt wasted no time in disposing of Petty, earning yet another race win to advance to the semifinal round. Also advancing to the semifinals would be Ricky Rudd, who posted an excellent third-place finish while Elliott got fourth, but the fourth-place run would not be enough to avoid the sweep. Waltrip nabbed the runner-up spot with Labonte in eighth to keep his shot at a fifth title going and Wallace crashed out just 28 laps short of the finish, letting Bonnett stay in the fight with a 10th-place result.
Dover is known as a track which unsympathetically chews up and spits out racecars and this race was no exception, as Labonte found out after crashing on the backstretch just past the midway point of the event. Waltrip managed a 10th-place run to move on to the semifinal. Wallace fared relatively alright in 12th, but it wouldn’t be enough to unseat Bonnett, who took his third-place finish on to the semifinal round as well.
Semifinal
(7) #15 Ricky Rudd v. (1) #3 Dale Earnhardt
(6) #17 Darrell Waltrip v. (5) #75 Neil Bonnett
With the semifinal round getting underway at Martinsville, Waltrip took the opportunity to make his presence known early, winning the race on an exciting last lap pass of Earnhardt and Labonte after the two made contact in turn three. The skirmish did not impact Earnhardt’s battle with Rudd, however, as he still managed to come in second while Rudd ended up 21st after succumbing to overheating issues. Earnhardt took care of business at North Wilkesboro, taking another runner-up finish as he was now set to fight for his first career Cup Series title. The decider between Waltrip and Bonnett, however, would have to wait another week as Waltrip was unable to close the deal, finishing 12th while Bonnett just squeaked by in 11th.
With the drivers returning to their symbolic home base of Charlotte Motor Speedway, the much-anticipated Bonnett-Waltrip bout would be over before it even had a chance to really get started. Bonnett, already struggling with the car’s performance as evidenced by a 28th-place starting spot, brought out the race’s second caution with a single-car crash on lap 58. The crew was unable to repair the damage enough to get back out on track, and Waltrip advanced to face Earnhardt in mundane fashion after finishing ninth.
Final
(6) #17 Darrell Waltrip v. (1) #3 Dale Earnhardt
The championship battle between the two veteran competitors and longtime rivals began, fittingly enough, at Rockingham, where both Waltrip and Earnhardt looked strong throughout the 492-lap slugfest. At the checkered flag, however, Earnhardt came out on top with a second-place finish after leading 122 laps, though Waltrip was right in his tire tracks in third. Waltrip got the better of Earnhardt at Riverside, getting a solid sixth place while Earnhardt blew an engine and was credited with 30th.
The trophy would be handed out at Atlanta, though the two championship hopefuls would be starting very far away from each other on the grid. Earnhardt started an impressive second, while Waltrip would be mired in traffic in 21st. As it turned out, this would be a premonition of how the race itself would go. Waltrip was never a significant factor at any point in the race, as he finished 11 laps down in 18th. Meanwhile, Earnhardt put together another spectacular showing, leading 133 of the 328 laps and finishing in the runner-up spot, as the Kannapolis, North Carolina legend was finally a Cup Series champion.
Dale Earnhardt’s stats for 1987 were an eye-popping 11 wins, 21 top-fives and 24 top-10s, winning the real-life title as well.
1987 Cup Series standings in real life: https://scorum.com/en-us/nascar/@zmiller82/1987-nascar-cup-series-season-recap
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