The 1987 Daytona 500 was the first stock car race of the 1987 NASCAR Winston Cup Series season and the 29th iteration of the event.

Nearing the race's end, Hendrick Motorsports' Geoff Bodine tried to forego a final pitstop but ran out of fuel with three laps to go.

The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.

The rest of the starting was set in the Twin 125 Qualifiers, held on Thursday, February 12, during two races.

Bill Elliott, driving for Melling Racing, managed to win the pole, setting a time of 42.783 and an average speed of 210.364 miles per hour (338.548 km/h) in Monday's session.