The 1986 Budweiser 500 was the 10th stock car race of the 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series and the 18th iteration of the event.

In a race of attrition, Hendrick Motorsports' Geoff Bodine was able to take advantage of an engine failure suffered by leader Harry Gant with less than 50 laps left in the race, gaining his fourth career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season.

Dover Downs International Speedway is an oval race track in Dover, Delaware, United States that has held at least two NASCAR races since it opened in 1969.

In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosted USAC and the NTT IndyCar Series.

Ricky Rudd, driving for Bud Moore Engineering, won the pole, setting a time of 26.046 and an average speed of 138.217 miles per hour (222.439 km/h) in the first round.