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We’re back at Talladega and Ken Squier is back as well. He and Ned Jarrett should provide some of the best commentary we’ve heard all season.
Bill Elliott and Dale Earnhardt make up the front row. Squier and Jarrett use the pace laps (longer than any other in NASCAR) to give the folks at home an idea about just what they can expect in terms of speed and the heat of July in Alabama.
Oh hey, I almost forgot. This race took place one day at my 18th birthday!
In other news, Morgan Shepherd has food poisoning and will be out of the car at the first caution, and Joe Ruttman will take over.
The video on this particular race goes out during the latter part of the pace laps but returns in time to see the field come to green. Earnhardt gets caught up in the upper lane and falls back to fifth by the time they get through the first turn. Davey Allison, Darrell Waltrip and Shepherd are the rest of the Top 5.
While the commentators talk about the drivers staying hydrated, Bobby Hillen Jr. scrapes the wall and brings out the caution. Elliott retains the lead. While Shepherd remains in the car, there has been a driver changes, Jerry Holden is out and car owner James Hylton is in. Ironically Hylton, who drove the #48 before Jimmie Johnson did, won at Talladega in the 70s but was killed in a car accident after leaving the race a few years ago.
Davey Allison takes the lead with Elliott tucked in behind in a type of tandem drafting. After approximately ten laps, the whole debate about Shepherd and Ruttman driving the #26 car is out the window, as there is smoke coming from the car and he’s up the track and falling back with an obvious issue.
After checking out some of the big names further back in the field (A.J. Foyt, Richard Petty, Tim Richmond), they show that Davey Allison and Bill Elliott had put some distance between the rest of the field. However, with Elliott going for the lead, the next dozen or so cars catch up. Kyle Petty tries to take a position but falls out of line and all the way back to the tail end of the lead draft, putting Earnhardt into third.
Interesting fact: The only driver to win this race from the pole (at least until 1987) was Dave Marcis in 1976. I bring this up because Marcis ran until the 2002 Daytona 500.
Elliott continues to lead. Squier questions if Davey Allison has had a problem but he remained in second until Terry Labonte passed him a lap or so later.
Joe Ruttman may not have filled in for Morgan Shepherd but he might fill in for Richard Petty, who is heading to Australia (via San Francisco) after the race to check out a track there. This would be the Calder Park Thunderdome. Squier says NASCAR will run in Australia in November. It was actually the next February, when Neil Bonnett won the 1988 Goodyear NASCAR 500.
After the drivers talk about how the restrictor plates have affected the racing at the superspeedways and what fans can expect out of the racing at Talladega, there is a two-car wreck involving (ironically enough) Neil Bonnett and Brett Bodine.
I know there was a Geoff Bodine, a Brett Bodine and Todd Bodine, but how comes there was no Beau or Bo Bodine?
With the caution out, all the cars hit pit road and the story is the heat and how it’s affecting the drivers. Earnhardt threw one of his gloves out the window because it was making him too hot.
As the crews clean up the wreck, a featurette about the changes in transporting cars to the race track over the years is shown. Initially, drivers drove the race cars (often the same cars they ran moonshine with) to the track, but today (in 1987 but still true in 2025), teams use haulers to transport cars and equipment. Robin Leach (of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous) joins Ned Jarrett in narrating the segment, which includes coverage of how NASCAR used their haulers to haul hay to the Carolinas during a recent drought.
As they go back green, Earnhardt, Labonte and Davey Allison are the top three and have broken away from the field. Sterling Marlin has a tire issue and heads to pit road hoping to correct it. Meanwhile, Allison has gone from third to first. While Earnhardt takes a shot at regaining the lead, he falls back and battles with Labonte for second.
As he does so, it allows (a) Allison to stretch his lead a bit and (b) lets the rest of the field catch up to the leaders. Remember, this is the first race under the restrictor plate rules at Talladega. They were learning how plate racing would play out and this is something they would continue to learn for years to come.
Buddy Baker would make a charge to the front, moving up to third ahead of Earnhardt by lap 49. Elliott, who had been leading to start the race, fell back to about 15 after the last pit stop but is about 7th now.
Richard Petty’s #43 car has burned one of the pistons and he is done for the day. (Man, Joe Ruttman just can’t catch a break…or is a curse. Every car he’s being set up to drive in relief of has an issue.) Mike Joy talks with Neil Bonnett about his wreck with Brett Bodine.
Elliott is now up to third, eventually coming up to the back bumper of Labonte who is, in turn, on the back bumper of leader Davey Allison. On lap 60, Earnhardt and Richmond are in third and fourth but some dozen or so car lengths behind the three leaders.
The commentators talk about Tracy Read, a young driver and a member of Cale Yarborough’s crew, who was killed in the ARCA race the day before.
Elliott fades back to sixth and Earnhardt has moved up to take his place behind Allison, at least until pit stops begin. Earnhardt is among the first to hit pit road. As the field continues to drop into the pits, Allison stays out and Yarborough is up to second place. They believe Cale has lost radio contact with his crew and NASCAR is having to black flag him in order to come to pit road, the same lap as Allison.
A.J. Foyt leads a lap as he stays out under green. Meanwhile, when everything sorts itself out at Lap 84, Terry Labonte has about a two-second lead over Elliott and Earnhardt who are battling for second. Allison is back to fifth and a new name, Rusty Wallace, has popped into the Top 5 (fourth actually).
Allison continues to make his way through the field, moving past Wallace and Elliott to take third. Back in the pits, a battered #75 of Neil Bonnett is getting ready to head out and earn some more points. While Earnhardt has a massive points lead, Bonnett was second in points and wants to get some more. He’ll be 56 laps down.
Labonte remains the leader moving through lap traffic. Earnhardt and Allison are several car lengths back and behind the lapped car of Alan Kulwicki. By the time they go to, and return from, commercials, Earnhardt has caught and passed Labonte, with Allison coming right with him. Allison will eventually pass the #3 for the lead.
Mike Joy catches up with A.J. Foyt who has issues with the heat and decided not to burn himself up to run 15th and headed to the garage area.
As the number of laps reach triple digits, Earnhardt takes the lead over Allison but only temporarily as he heads to the pits early. Tim Richmond had a tire issue and came in early. Speaking of Earnhardt, there’s talk that he’s got an issue with his car. The commentators believe the #3 car possibly only has fourth gear but Mike Joy talks to Richard Childress who believes the car might have a broken axle.
On track, Earnhardt eventually goes a lap down as Elliott, now the leader goes by him. Allison attempts to get by Earnhardt, who is very loose. Eventually Earnhardt signals for Allison to go by him.
With 116 laps done, Elliott leads Allison, with Geoff Bodine. Cale Yarborough and Lake Speed rounding out the Top 5. The Fords of Elliott and Allison (among others) head to pit road, with Allison getting out first. Elliott is definitely slower coming off pit road, giving Allison a substantial lead. (Ernie Elliott later says that another car got into Bill’s #9 Ford and that forced him to have to slow down.)
Allison is being challenged by Terry Labonte, with Rusty Wallace in third. Elliott is fourth and Earnhardt is back on the lead lap and in sixth. As the race continues, Labonte and Wallace close up on the leader, #28. Allison is on the top groove while Labonte takes the low groove and crosses the start-finish line barely a bumper behind Allison. Wallace is moving between the grooves and drafting with both leaders. Eventually Wallace will push Labonte past Allison and into the lead.
Even as the race for the lead continues, we go to a featurette, hosted by Chris Economaki, about how stock cars are made, focusing on Bud Moore’s operation. (Remember this the next time Fox goes to commercial and the fans on social media lose their $#!t.) This is a rather lengthy segment but apparently during the time it was airing a caution for debris came out.
Chris Economaki is back again, this time to talk about how the heat is making the asphalt soft which, in turn can cause cars to break an axle when they try to accelerate on pit road. Meanwhile Mike Joy is talking to both Benny and Phil Parsons, both out with issues almost simultaneously.
On the restart, Terry Labonte leads Wallace and Allison with Buddy Baker in contention. Allsion pushes Wallace past Labonte and to the lead. Wallace will lead the first lap but it’s Labonte, in turn, pushes Allison back to the front. As Wallace falls back, he meets up with a charging Bobby Allison. Squier talks about the possibility of the Allisons running first and second, foreshadowing future events.
Lake Speed is still in the Top 5. For a guy who is probably best known for being named Lake Speed, he’s having a good day here at ‘Dega. Just as Squier and Jarrett talk about any caution being a perfect time for the last pit stop, Bo and Luke Duke’s #01 spins. Oh wait, it is the #01 but it’s Dave Fletcher, not the Duke Boys.
Davey Allison makes it back to the start-finish line with the lead at the caution. After pit stops, Elliott has the lead. A tire got away from the Allison pit crew but it does not appear that the #28 will be penalized.
Elliott leads the field back to green. A couple of laps later, Bobby Allison heads to pit road but doesn’t actually need to stop in a puzzling move. Labonte and Yarborough are second and third, with Earnhardt up to third with 30 laps to go. Allison is leading the second pack of cars and eventually starts to close up on the leaders. By the time they come back from commercials, Allison is right behind Earnhardt and soon that pair are running 2nd-3rd behind Elliott.
The battle between the #3 and #28 allows Elliott to get away a bit and Yarborough to get into the picture. By lap 169 of 188, Elliott leads Earnhardt and Yarborough, with Allison slipping back. Darrell Waltrip has started to make a charge moving up to fourth, just behind Yarborough.
With ten laps to go, it’s mostly a single file “follow the leader” race with Elliott leading Earnhardt and now Waltrip into third, followed by Labonte and Allison moving into fifth place. You get the feeling that this is the calm before the storm.
Allison moves past Labonte and then with six laps to go, he passes Waltrip for third. With two to go, Allison moves around Earnhardt for second and leaves the crowd behind as he sets his sights on the #9. At least for a moment, as Earnhardt gets back to the #28 car.
As they come to the white flag, Squier declares that “this is for the whole banana!” Elliott was using the low groove and it appeared that Allison really closed up on the high groove so #9 heads back to the top. Allison does try to see if he can get by Elliott, but the #9 comes to the line to take the checkered flag.
As Squier mentions, the siren at Dawsonville Pool Hall is sounding with a Bill Elliott win. Chris Economaki (man, this guy’s like Mean Gene Okerlund, he’s everywhere) interviews “Awesome Bill from Dawsonville” who says it was a long day. He overcame a possible axle problem early in the race and came from the back to win.
Mike Joy interviews Davey Allison, who was pleased to get back to second and give Elliott a run, but as Ken Squier mentions, was looking for the win.
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