The 1987 Busch 500 was the 20th stock car race of the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 27th iteration of the event.

With the victory, Earnhardt was able to increase his driver's championship lead over Bill Elliott to 545 points.

To fill out the top three, Blue Max Racing's Rusty Wallace and Bud Moore Engineering's Ricky Rudd finished second and third, respectively.

Despite its short length, Bristol is among the most popular tracks on the NASCAR schedule because of its distinct features, which include extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads, and stadium-like seating.

Terry Labonte, driving for Junior Johnson & Associates, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 16.576 and an average speed of 115.758 miles per hour (186.294 km/h) in the first round.