50 Years of nascar racing ~ J.D. Stacy (Post 36)
By Matt McLaughlin
Post 36
Editor's note:
This article is part of a special reprise of Matt McLaughlin's "50 Years
of NASCAR Racing", written and published in 1998 in commemoration of
NASCAR's 50th Anniversary celebration that year. Matt has kindly granted me
permission to run the entire series. Please, sit back and enjoy as you take a
journey back through the pages of history and perhaps relive a memory or two. Many thanks to Matt for his generosity in sharing. God bless
you, my friend.
In the history of NASCAR there
have been a great many heroes, noble men, and foresighted prophets but as in
any large venture there have also been a few bad apples. Among the rottenest
fruits ever to disgrace the annals of NASCAR's history is one Jim
"JD" Stacy, a mercurial megalomaniac millionaire, who had made his
fortune in coal mining, and visited various misfortunes on those naïve enough
to trust him, spoiling a good many drivers' careers along the way. Throughout
his business life there had been allegations of shady and occasionally
downright fraudulent transactions, strings of bad checks, and an enemy list
that grew to the size of the New York City phone book. But at the time that
Stacy's name darkened the pages of NASCAR's chronicles, many teams were
financially strapped and the sport was growing ever more expensive to compete
in. JD's promises of near limitless financial backing beckoned like a Siren's
call to the unwary.
Such was the case in 1977, when
Stacy first arrived on the scene in NASCAR. Norm Krauskopf's
once dominant team that had won the 1970 Grand National Championship with Bobby
Isaac, was on the ropes. The team, headed by the legendary Harry Hyde, had lost
their long time sponsor, K and K insurance, at the end of the 1976 campaign.
With the team's future uncertain, driver Dave Marcis
had set out for greener pastures. Journeyman driver Neil Bonnett signed on to
drive the team's Dodges with the understanding the alliance might not last out
the season, and the team relied on pick up sponsors whenever they could,
including the United States Army. Bonnett had a decent run at the World 600,
finishing seventh, but that same weekend Norm Krauskopf
announced after 11 years in the sport and 43 wins, he was throwing in the towel
and the team was for sale. JD Stacy announced he had bought the operation, lock
stock and barrel, shortly afterwards, and added he had intentions to acquire or
start a second team soon as well, as the first steps to starting a NASCAR
dynasty. The Stacy team's first run was at the Firecracker 400 in Daytona that
year, and Bonnett surprised a good many observers by taking the pole for the event. Mechanical difficulties kept him from
backing up that promising run, but Neil did wind up bringing the car home
eighth. The team scored their first victory, and
Bonnett his first win as well, at Richmond that September, with Harry Hyde
patiently coaching his driver to the checkers. Bonnett backed up that win with
another at the series finale in Ontario, California, edging out Richard Petty
by two tenths of a second at the stripe. As a historical footnote, that was the
last victory ever for a Chrysler product in Winston Cup racing. All in all, it
was an auspicious start for the new team with two wins in 12 races and Bonnett
and Hyde looked forward to the 1978 campaign with eager expectation.
Success proved harder to come by
in 1978, though Bonnett had a decent if unspectacular year, running all thirty
races, and while he went winless, compiling seven top five and twelve top ten
finishes to place twelfth in the final points run down. But all was not
sweetness and light. Throughout the season there had been rumors Stacy was in
financial trouble. A second team he had promised to start for Ferrel Harris in exchange for a loan, made only two starts.
Harris and Harry Hyde were forced to launch lawsuits to recover the money they
were owed from Stacy. In the closing weeks of the season Stacy went out to his
car in the parking lot and saw some suspicious wires hanging beneath it. When
Stacy discovered it was a bomb rigged to blow him to pieces, he somewhat wisely
decided to drop out of sight, and when he went, he took his checkbook with him.
The team was officially listed as making three starts in 1979, two with
Sterling Marlin and one with Joe Ruttman, before
folding.
In 1981 JD Stacy came out of
hiding and made yet another big splash into the world of NASCAR. Dale Earnhardt
had won Rookie of the Year honors in 1979 and the Winston Cup Championship in
1980, driving for a team owned by Rod Osterlund.
While their racing success was unparalleled, Osterlund,
another millionaire dilettante who decided to dabble in stock car racing, was
facing financial problems of his own in his real estate empire, brought on by
the recession and high interest rates that had sent the price of real estate
into the hopper. Though he denied the team was for sale, on June 26th, Osterlund sold his team and all its assets for $1.7
million, to none other than JD Stacy. The transition was not a smooth one. Despite
initial assurances things would remain as they were, the team's manager was
fired shortly thereafter. Next, Joe Whitlock, legendary journalist and a close
personal friend of Earnhardt's, was released from his job of marketing manager
for the team. Earnhardt drove four races for Stacy before announcing he was
resigning, while still defending Winston Cup Champ, because he was dissatisfied
with the way things were being run. Dale took over driving chores for noted
independent, Richard Childress, an association that would only last until the
end of the year, but of course Dale and Richard ended up pairing up again a few
years later to form one of the most successful racing alliances ever. Stacy
replaced Earnhardt with Joe Ruttman. While Ruttman did not win a race, he did
post seven top-tens in his seventeen starts with
Stacy's team, including a second at the season finale in Riverside.
The team seemed to be showing
promise, and perhaps given a little time to gel, it could have succeeded; but Stacy had bigger
plans. He entered the 1982 season trying to build his dynasty, which he
constantly told folks would one day dominate the sport. In addition to Joe
Ruttman, Stacy started another team for driver Jim Sauter.
In addition to the two cars he owned, Stacy also provided what was rumored to
be seven figures worth of support to each of five other teams, in entries
driven by Terry Labonte, Dave Marcis,
Ron Bouchard, Benny Parsons, and Jody Ridley. It was an unparalleled amount of
teams running under one banner, especially in light of the fact the cars ran
Stacy's blighted name on their quarter panels, not a company that he owned or
had an interest in. He was apparently just delighted by seeing his name get
around in the fast circles and the access it gave him to the garage area, being
pursued by supplicants wishing to have money lavished on their teams as well.
This despite almost from the outset there were rumors Stacy was spending money
he didn't have.
While a Stacy-backed car did not
win the Daytona 500, four drivers carrying his name, Terry Labonte, Ron
Bouchard, Joe Ruttman and Jody Ridley, did place in the top ten. At the next
race, at Richmond, Dave Marcis gambled on the rain
ending, rather than delaying, the closing laps of the race and did not pit when
the caution flag flew for a light rain. The gamble paid off and JD Stacy went
to victory lane with Marcis. But from there, things
seemed to be falling apart. Ruttman lost confidence in the team and resigned at
the end of March. Stacy hired Tim Richmond to take over as the driver of the
primary car he owned. After finishing thirty-third at Darlington in April, Jim Sauter was fired, and replaced by a young (as in 18 years
of age) woman, Robin McCall, who had never even competed in a Winston Cup race.
Later that month Stacy started laying off shop employees, and others quit
citing concerns about Stacy's financial health. Harry Hyde and Ferrel Harris were finally able to recover some of the
money they were owed by Stacy late that spring. The sponsorship checks that
Stacy owed the five independent teams that carried his name began arriving late
when they arrived at all.
On paper at least, everything
looked fine. Tim Richmond, driving the primary car out of the Stacy stables had
been a pleasant surprise. Terry Labonte was leading the Winston Cup points
hunt, having assumed the lead after the fourth race of the season, carrying
Stacy's sponsorship. But that is when things started falling apart. The checks
Stacy was writing weren't worth the paper they were printed on. At the June 6th
race at Pocono, Tim Richmond and Bobby Allison were battling each other and the
weather for the win. When rain set in and the caution flag waved, Allison
decided to gamble and stay out on the track, thinking the event might end
prematurely. He lost that gamble and ran out of gas on Pocono's long back
straight. Dave Marcis, gentleman racer and a long
time friend of the Allison family, graciously used his car to push Bobby back
to the pits where Allison took on fuel without losing a lap. Once racing
resumed, Allison held off Richmond to take the victory. JD Stacy was furious.
Had Marcis left Allison sitting stranded on the back
straight, very likely Richmond would have won. Marcis
professed surprise at Stacy's irritation, pointing out he and Richmond were not
actually teammates, they just shared a sponsor, and no one had told him it was
part of his duties to help other Stacy-backed cars win. Shortly thereafter, Marcis received notification that despite being the only
driver who had won that year carrying Stacy's colors, JD was withdrawing from
sponsoring Dave's car. The reason cited was not Marcis
aiding Allison at Pocono, but his running "unauthorized associate
sponsorship decals" on the 71 car. Stacy needed to renege on some
contracts to keep his struggling empire afloat, and the decals provided a legal
excuse to do so.
The next race on the circuit was
at Riverside, and Tim Richmond scored his first win,
and the first win for one of Stacy's team cars that season. Ironically, the win
came on the same day Marcis had received notification
Stacy was no longer backing him. That race was also the last ride for Benny
Parsons in a car flying Stacy's logos. Despite having post eight top-tens, and four fourth place finishes, Stacy claimed not to
be satisfied with how Benny was running and pressured team owner Harry Ranier
to release him. Buddy Baker assumed driving chores in the Ranier car in
Parsons' place. The real shock came that Wednesday, when Stacy announced he was
no longer going to sponsor Winston Cup points leader
Terry Labonte in Billy Hagan's car. Stacy cited the same bogus reasons he had
used to renege on Dave Marcis' contract, saying
Terry's driver uniform carried an unauthorized "Stratograph"
patch. Stratograph was a company related to oil exploration
owned by Hagan. While the team later found sponsorship (Texas Jeans), the
financial chaos and uncertainty caused by Stacy's sudden departure was one of
the reasons Labonte eventually backslid to third in the points.
Financial problems continued to
build, and that fall Ranier removed Stacy's logos from his cars and announced
he was suing JD for being months behind in his payments. Shortly thereafter,
Ron Bouchard's team did the same. Stacy was down to his team car driven by Tim
Richmond and sponsoring Junie Donlavey's, driven by Jody Ridley. Also about
that point, Stacy began moving his shop equipment under the cover of darkness,
fearing it would be reprocessed, or a judge would issue an order that the shop
be locked so the equipment would serve as collateral for moneys owed the other
teams, until the lawsuits were settled.
With the team's very future
uncertain, Tim Richmond announced he would not be returning to the team in
1983. Tim did leave the struggling operation in style, winning the season finale
at Riverside for JD and his cronies.
Almost unbelievably, despite the
mounting lawsuits, ill will, and financial problems, Stacy was back in 1983. As
a driver, Stacy selected a 24 year old Arkansas native by the name of Mark
Martin. Young and naïve, Mark Martin was delighted by the opportunity to
finally drive a top drawer Winston Cup entry; he sold his shop and all his
equipment, and laid off his few employees. The
official press release announcing Mark's joining the team was all the usual
blather for a team giving a young driver his big break, saying Stacy and his
people knew it would take a little time for Mark to get up to speed, but it was
a long term commitment between JD and Mark to grow the team to the
championship. (Don't read that press release to Kenny Irwin this year… it might
keep him up at night.) All things considered, for a young driver and a new
team, the pairing worked out fairly well. Mark showed a lot of early promise
with an eleventh at Rockingham, a seventh at Atlanta and a third at Darlington.
In the next two races Martin was sidelined by mechanical problems. Shortly
thereafter, the Stacy team announced they were firing Martin and putting Morgan
Shepherd in the car, leaving Mark out in the cold, with an uncertain future. It
would be five years before he found another full time Winston Cup ride with
Jack Roush. In 23 starts with JD Stacy's team, Morgan Shepherd posted no wins,
but 13 top ten finishes, including a second place at that year's Firecracker
400. At the end of the season, JD Stacy folded his team and disappeared back
into obscurity. Some of his drivers, notably Dale Earnhardt, Mark Martin and
Terry Labonte, were able to recover from the damage his broken promises did to
their careers. Others were not. JD Stacy entered the sport of NASCAR racing
with lots of money and little in the way of enemies. He left seven years later
with very little money and lots of enemies.
AFTERMATH: JD Stacy was not the
only millionaire to dabble in Winston Cup racing. Carl Kiekhaefer's
story in 1955 and 56 is a lot like Stacy's. He once even bought a race track so
a race could be added to the schedule to give Buck Baker an extra chance to
score points, and gave team orders to have one of his drivers purposely wreck
Herb Thomas to keep him from title contention. There was also M.C. Anderson who
fielded a team for Cale Yarborough starting in 1981, after Cale announced he
wanted to run a limited schedule rather than pursue titles. During their
two-year association, Cale won five races for Anderson. Anderson tried to lure
Yarborough into running the entire schedule in 1983 and quit in a huff when
Cale declined to do so, never to return to the sport. While Rick Hendrick
cannot be compared to Stacy or Anderson, it has yet to be seen what sort of
damage his financial problems could do to his teams or drivers. As of late, it
seems millionaires with plans of grandeur buy race tracks rather than race
teams.
At present, Matt is not taking email correspondence at Race Fans Forever. If you have comments, please leave them below and he will read them at his leisure.