Originally published on Oct. 5, 2024
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.
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