Terrance Lynn Schoonover (December 26, 1951November 11, 1984) was an American

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

driver. A competitor in the

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 hi ...

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, 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. ...

, he was killed in an accident in a race of 1984 at

Atlanta International Raceway Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly known Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a 1.54-mile entertainment facility in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series s ...

Career

Schoonover began racing at the age of sixteen in

drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most c ...

and later moved to racing on dirt tracks in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

. After graduating from the Buck Baker Driving School, he served as a driving instructor at the school for a year. He would soon reach an agreement with Restore Auto Care Products to sponsor a limited

campaign in 1984 and a full-time campaign in 1985, driving a car he co-owned with his girlfriend Barbara Pike. He made his Winston Cup debut at

Rockingham Speedway Rockingham Speedway, formerly North Carolina Motor Speedway and later North Carolina Speedway is a racetrack located near Rockingham, North Carolina. It is also known as The Rock and previously hosted NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, ...

in 1984, driving his own No. 42

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

home to a 21st-place finish.Terry Schoonover
''Racing-Reference''. USA Today Sports Media Group. Accessed 2014-04-03. The next race, at

, on lap 129, Schoonover was involved in an accident where he hit the outside wall, then slid into the infield and struck a dirt embankment head on at a fairly high speed. The safety crew had to cut the roof of his car and roll it back in order to extricate him from the car, and he was eventually airlifted from the speedway to a local hospital where he died of massive head and internal injuries. His death was the first fatality at the Atlanta track.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

References

External links

* 1951 births 1984 deaths Sportspeople from West Palm Beach, Florida Racing drivers from Florida NASCAR drivers Racing drivers who died while racing Sports deaths in Georgia (U.S. state) Filmed deaths in motorsport Sportspeople from Lima, Ohio People from Montgomery County, Ohio {{NASCAR-bio-stub