December 26, 1951 - November 11, 1984
Terry Schoonover
Born in Lima, Ohio, USA.
As a rookie competitor in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, he was killed in an accident in only his second race, at Atlanta International Raceway in 1984.
Schoonover's father was a well known powerboat racer, becoming one of the first people in history to pilot a pleasure craft at over one hundred miles per hour. Schoonover began racing at the age of sixteen in drag racing and later moved to racing on dirt tracks in West Palm Beach, Florida. 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 NASCAR Winston Cup Series 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 in 1984, driving his own #42 Chevrolet home to a 21st place finish. The next race, at Atlanta International Raceway, 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 rate of speed. The safety crew had to cut the roof of his car and roll it back in order to extricate Schoonover 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.
R.I.P.
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