James D. Stacy (March 27, 1930October 12, 2016), frequently referred to as Jim Stacy or J.D. Stacy, was an American entrepreneur and former

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...

race car owner whose career spanned

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

. His first race as an owner was the 1977 Firecracker 400 while his final race as an owner was at the 1983 Winston Western 500. As a team owner, Stacy employed veteran NASCAR drivers such as Neil Bonnett, Ferrel Harris,

Sterling Marlin Sterling Burton Marlin (born June 30, 1957) is an American semi-retired, professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes part-time JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour, driving the No. 114 for Sterling Marlin Racing. He formerly competed in the N ...

Joe Ruttman Joe Ruttman (born October 28, 1944) is a retired American stock car racing driver who competed in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series, and Camping World Truck Series. With 13 career wins in the Truck Series he is currently tied for 13t ...

Tim Richmond Timothy Lee Richmond (June 7, 1955 – August 13, 1989) was an American race car driver from Ashland, Ohio. He competed in IndyCar racing before transferring to NASCAR's Winston Cup Series. Richmond was one of the first drivers to change from ...

, and Dale Earnhardt. Stacy's vehicles participated in 126 races with four wins, 21 finishes in the top five, and 53 finishes in the top ten. His cars have managed to lead 1,097 laps out of 30,307 – for a grand total of .

Summary

Stacy was a native of

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. He dropped out of school in the eighth grade. He founded a construction company in 1951. Stacy made his fortune in the coal mining industry. Among Stacy's interests included business in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

with the

Rijn-Schelde-Verolme The shipbuilding company Rijn-Schelde-Verolme Machinefabrieken en Scheepswerven NV (RSV) was a combination of shipbuilding companies and machine factories founded in 1971. In 1983 the company went broke with a staggering loss of public money. It l ...

shipbuilding company, manufacturing thin-seam coal mining machines. Stacy also produced ''Stacy-Pak'' multivitamins. In May 1977, Stacy purchased the former

K&K Insurance K&K Insurance is an Indiana-based insurance company noted for its coverage of motor sports. It was started in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1952 by Nord Krauskopf and his wife Theodora (Teddi) Murdock to manage and market a benevolent fund for injured ...

team from

Nord Krauskopf Nord Krauskopf (January 26, 1922 – August 3, 1986) was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series race car owner whose career spanned from 1966 to 1977. He was the owner of K&K Insurance and a part of the business since its foundation in 1952. This was ...

. He was convinced to purchase the team by its crew chief

Harry Hyde Harry Hyde (January 17, 1925 – May 13, 1996) was a leading crew chief in NASCAR stock car racing in the 1960s through the 1980s, winning 56 races and 88 pole positions. He was the 1970 championship crew chief for Bobby Isaac. He inspired t ...

, a friend and former Stacy employee. Stacy inherited the team's driver Neil Bonnett, with the team changing numbers from 71 to 5. Bonnett would score the first two victories of his career that year. The second of those victories, at Ontario Motor Speedway, would be the last NASCAR Cup victory for a Chrysler vehicle until Dodge reentered the series in 2001. The team expanded to a second team in 1978, but went winless and was dissolved by the beginning of the 1979 season. Stacy would later be sued by Hyde and Ferrel Harris, one of the drivers of the second team car. In July

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

, Stacy purchased

Rod Osterlund Rod Osterlund was a NASCAR Winston Cup Series car owner spanning from 1977–1981, and then again from 1989–1991. He earned his money off rental property in California. Osterlund's first race as a car owner was at the 1977 Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 whi ...

's No. 2 team, which fielded Dale Earnhardt. Stacy proceeded to hire

as a second driver, and planned to expand the team to five entries by 1982, calling the operation "The 5 Racers". Earnhardt would have a falling out with Jim Stacy after four races, and would leave for Richard Childress Racing. Stacy made headlines in early 1982, when he sponsored a total of seven entries in the

1982 Daytona 500 The 1982 Daytona 500, the 24th running of the event, was the first race of the 1982 NASCAR Winston Cup season. It was the first time that the Daytona 500 was the first race of the season. Bobby Allison would take the win in the #88 Gatorade-sp ...

, including his two team cars driven by

and

Jim Sauter Jim Sauter (June 1, 1943 – October 31, 2014) was an American stock car racing driver from Necedah, Wisconsin. He formerly raced in all three of NASCAR's national series, and is best known for having been a test driver for the International Ra ...

. After five races, Ruttman was replaced in the No. 2 by

. Richmond scored two wins for the team, but left at the end of the season. For 1983, the team scaled back to one team, hiring

Mark Martin Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series s ...

to drive the No. 2 car. Martin was replaced by

Morgan Shepherd Clay Morgan Shepherd (born October 12, 1941) is an American retired professional stock car racing driver and current team owner. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 89 Chevrolet Camaro for Shepherd Racing Ven ...

after seven races. The team ended operations at the end of the season. With an average start of 14th place and an average finish of 17th place, Stacy's cars finished near the middle of the pack. His career winnings as a NASCAR owner were $927,815 ($ when adjusted for inflation); putting him below the

millionaire A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire. In countries that use the short scal ...

status of most NASCAR drivers and owners. Following the end of his NASCAR career, Stacy purchased several dirt tracks in the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stacy, Jim NASCAR team owners 1930 births 2016 deaths Defunct NASCAR teams