Editor’s note: This week we’re looking back at the 1987 Winston All-Star Race, one of the most historic races in NASCAR history.
RELATED: The 1987 Winston: Where Are They Now?
Nearly 30 years later NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott still says he has never been more frustrated in a race car than he was with the ending of the 1987 running of The Winston All-Star Race.
He led a dominating 121 of the 135 laps but came out on the wrong end of a hard-nosed door-to-door battle for the win with the “Intimidator” Dale Earnhardt in the final 10-lap segment.
The close-quarter, late-lap racing in The Winston between the season’s top two championship contenders famously resulted in Earnhardt’s “pass in the grass” — even though in reality it was much closer to a maintain-in-the-terrain, but it still became racing lore.
The race itself is a legitimately legendary story starring Elliott and Earnhardt with perhaps the most famous NASCAR driver lineups of all-time essentially playing supporting roles. Hall of Famers such as Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, Terry Labonte, Rusty Wallace and Darrell Waltrip raced that day, joining many of the sport’s all-time most popular racers such as Neil Bonnett, Geoffrey Bodine and Tim Richmond.
As NASCAR prepares for the modern-day version of this event, the Sprint All-Star Race this weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway, it’s a good stock-car history lesson to relive the 1987 event.
Many consider this the most famous All-Star running — a hard-nosed, win-at-all-costs race that raised the sport’s profile and its expectations.
In particular, the late-lap duel between Elliott and Earnhardt is considered required folklore for NASCAR fans, as it was the first instance of the All-Star Race having a 10-lap shootout to the finish.
Even today Elliott is still miffed about his missed opportunity, he told NASCAR.com
“That was probably the maddest I’ve ever been, but you just have to deal with it and go on,’’ said Elliott, who after being passed by Earnhardt had to pit in the waning laps to change out a flat tire, ultimately finishing 14th.
They smiled together later in the season at Michigan, but Bill Elliott never quite got over Dale Earnhardt’s late “pass in the grass.”
Earnhardt’s son and namesake Dale Earnhardt Jr. is also a huge fan of the event, remembering well his dad’s famous outing with sentimental appreciation. It was the first of three wins (also 1990 and 1993) for Earnhardt in the storied exhibition race.
“Those last 10 laps with Dad doing everything he could to hold off a faster Bill Elliott were exciting,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “It was a pretty basic format, but they had a lot of great cars, a lot of great drivers, and a lot of great racing going on.
“They only ran it for $200,000 back then, but that seemed like a lot of money at the time. It was really, really exciting. The cars moved around a lot — the way the cars raced really made the show.”
Elliott appreciates the 1987 event now for what it meant to the sport, how it grabbed fans’ attention and proved the intense level of NASCAR competition. But it is still a stolen opportunity to him.
Elliott unapologetically recalls driving his Ford over to Earnhardt’s Chevy after the checkered flag to show his anger over the way the race played out. He door-slammed Earnhardt’s car on the cool-down lap and kept it close even as Earnhardt pulled toward Victory Lane.
Considered one of the most mild-mannered gentlemen racers ever, Elliott was called to the NASCAR hauler after this race at the request of none other than Bill France Jr.
“We all sat and had a meeting with me, him (France), Earnhardt and (team owner Richard) Childress,” Elliott said. “I was still pissed. I’ll never forget. I hadn’t been so mad in … I can’t remember when.
“You have to remember, I worked on my race cars. My philosophy was to outrun someone fair and square rather than crash them up. It was just a turning point for me and Earnhardt. He had kinda been going at it with me here and there, but that was the end.”
When Earnhardt was interviewed from his car in Victory Lane after the race, he detailed in great frustration the direct run-ins with Elliott and declared of the race, “that was something else.”
And indeed it was.
A star-studded lineup, strong emotions, fast cars and a dramatic ending — the 1987 running of The Winston was a race for the ages and one that has stood up through time.
“It’s one of those deals when you look back and say, ‘if this or if that,’ ” Elliott said. “That race tops all of them.”