Earnhardt Wins Fourth Race of Year

Dale Earnhardt outclassed the field Sunday at North Wilkesboro Speedway, winning the First Union 400 by 1.72 seconds for his fourth victory in six 1987 NASCAR races.

It was Earnhardt’s second win on the 5/8-mile track here and his 24th career win.

“This is the same car we won with at Richmond (Va.),” Earnhardt said. “The crew just did a super job in the pits all day.”

Earnhardt, driving a Chevrolet, led five times for 319 laps and averaged 94.103 m.p.h. in the 400-lap race, which was slowed by eight caution flags for 54 laps. He collected $44,675.

Kyle Petty, driving a Ford, finished second, and Neil Bonnett took third in a Pontiac. Fourth went to Alan Kulwicki, in a Ford. One lap down in fifth was Ricky Rudd, also in a Ford.

“We’ve just got a real good combination,” Richard Childress, Earnhardt’s car owner, said. “Dale is at his prime as a driver, and that Monte Carlo seems to get better every race.”