NASCAR crash deaths have always been the remembrance of how something exciting can be something daunting as well. While everyone remembers the last death NASCAR witnessed — Dale Earnhardt’s — there was another tragic event that unfolded in one of the races he won.
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During the 1984 Ambetter Health 400 race, then known as the Atlanta Journal 500, Dale Sr. won, but the triumph was overshadowed by the death of Terry Schoonover, who was making just his second Cup race appearance.
Unaware of the full extent of the catastrophe during the race, Earnhardt Sr. later revealed his limited acquaintance with Schoonover, stating, “I just met him down there (garage area). I didn’t see his wreck. I didn’t know he was dead until you just told me.”
Schoonover’s motorsport journey began at 16 with drag racing, subsequently transitioning to dirt track racing. He briefly served as a driving instructor before securing a sponsorship deal with Restore Auto Care Products.
The partnership enabled him to start his limited NASCAR Cup Series campaign in 1984, and he had planned to go for a full-time stint in 1985, piloting the #42 Chevy car he co-owned with his girlfriend, Barbara Pike.
Terry started on his Cup Series journey at Rockingham Speedway in 1984, driving his self-owned #42 car from a starting position of P39 to a commendable P21-place finish.
However, the very second race of his Cup career turned out to be his last one. On lap 129, Schoonover’s car collided with the outside wall after exiting turn 2, skidded across the track, and ultimately slammed head-on into a dirt embankment in turn 3 at a high speed.
Bill Gazaway, NASCAR’s vice president for competition, reported that ‘The safety crew had to cut the roof of his car and roll it back in order to extricate him from the car.’ Schoonover was subsequently airlifted from the speedway to Atlanta’s Georgia Baptist Hospital, where he was declared dead, succumbing to severe head and internal injuries.
His passing marked the first fatality at the 1-mile Atlanta International Raceway since its inauguration in 1960.
Questionably though, despite the chaos, as Schoonover’s Chevrolet careened and Bobby Hillin Jr.’s Chevrolet spun out in the backstretch, NASCAR officially recorded the episode as a solitary car accident.
