The race was held on Sunday, June 21, 1987, before an audience of 55,000 in Riverside, California, at the short layout of Riverside International Raceway, a 2.62 miles (4.22 km) permanent road course layout at the track.

By race's end, Hendrick Motorsports' Tim Richmond managed to dominate the late stages of the race, leading the last 31 of 39 laps to take his 13th and final career NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory and his second and final victory of the season.

[1][2] To fill out the top three, Bud Moore Engineering's Ricky Rudd and RahMoc Enterprises' Neil Bonnett finished second and third, respectively.

Riverside was noted for its hot, dusty environment and for being somewhat of a complicated and dangerous track for drivers.

Terry Labonte, driving for Junior Johnson & Associates, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 1:20.244 and an average speed of 117.541 miles per hour (189.164 km/h) in the first round.