From the years 1977-1985, two men spent more money and exuded more influence in NASCAR than any others.
They were not team owners with extensive racing knowledge. Nor were they expert mechanics with lifelong experience nor former drivers with wealth who wanted to enrich themselves by investing in NASCAR.
Instead, they were successful businessmen who believed they could invest heavily in stock car racing and thus treat their egos to a status of unequaled attention and gain power.
In the end, they did not succeed. Well, to be honest, they attracted a lot of attention. But it wasn’t all positive. Many in NASCAR thought they were shady operators or worse.
But some of them took their money, anyway.
The first to come to light was James D. Stacy, or better known as J.D. Stacy. He arrived without fanfare, but with plenty of cash that he spent freely.
Supposedly, he made his fortune in the coal mining industry, where, it was said, he aligned himself with a Dutch company that produced a successful mining machine used at multiple locations. He likely acquired funds from other sources.
In 1977, reports were that Stacy had financially associated himself with Harry Hyde, the veteran crew chief who helped orchestrate Stacy’s purchase of the K&K Insurance team formerly owned by Nord Krauskopf.
Stacy reportedly paid $200,000 for the team, which retained driver Neil Bonnett.
It didn’t take long before everything went south. Through 1978, the Stacy team made only a couple of starts with Bonnett and Ferrel Harris.
Then Harris and Hyde filed suit against Stacy for non-payment of funds. The situation was unpleasant from the start and then grew into downright hostility.
The Stacy team was located in Hyde’s shops in Charlotte, and it was Hyde’s contention that Stacy had not paid rent, among other things. Harris said Stacy had not paid a nickel on an $80,000 loan.
There were other contentions, and even a report that a bomb had been located under Stacy’s car, before the matter was settled late in 1978 when the court ruled in favor of Hyde.
Stacy’s image was tarnished, but he didn’t go away. He continued to throw dollars around. First just one, then two, then in time as many as seven cars in a single race carried J.D. Stacy sponsorship.
Admittedly, most were second-tier organizations willing to accept any amount of financial backing, but for Stacy to provide it to as many as seven teams wasn’t cheap.
Nor was the outright purchase of a team, which Stacy did in 1981 when he gained ownership of Rod Osterlund’s organization, one of the most successful at the time.
Osterlund was behind the meteoric rise of Dale Earnhardt, who won Rookie of the Year honors in 1979 and the NASCAR Cup Series championship in 1980.
Well aware of his shady past, Earnhardt wanted no part of Stacy, who, it’s said, declared he didn’t care if Earnhardt remained his driver or not.
As racing history records, Earnhardt left Stacy with 11 races remaining in the ’81 season to join an entity formed by his sponsor Wrangler and independent driver/owner Richard Childress, who vacated his car.
And, as they say, the rest is history.
Stacy remained a team owner for two more seasons (his team sponsorships shrank), with notable drivers Tim Richmond, Joe Ruttman and Morgan Shepherd, before his NASCAR participation ended at the end of 1983.
Stacy never endeared himself to competitors, fans and media. He was aloof and silent – even reticent. He was always seen with a large cigar in his mouth and in the company of lackeys who, so it appeared, spoke for him.
He never developed trust, largely due to his legal battles with Hyde that, fairly or not, painted him as a shady character.
That certainly can’t be said for Warner W. Hodgdon. A Californian, he was outgoing and well-spoken. He wasn’t considered shady in the least. A bit over the top, perhaps, but not shady.
By the time he broke into NASCAR with a splash in 1983, Hodgdon was well-versed in racing. A vastly successful real estate developer in the San Bernardino, Calif., area, Hodgdon started his own NTT IndyCar Series team in 1976 and ran it for eight years.
In 1978, Hodgdon sponsored the Bud Moore team through his Norris Industries ownership and Moore, with driver Bobby Allison, won the Daytona 500.
Hodgdon expanded from there. In October 1981, he purchased 50 percent of Richmond Raceway and 73 percent of Phoenix Raceway. In December, he acquired half of North Wilkesboro Speedway.
In 1982, both Cup events at Rockingham Speedway bore the Hodgdon name. In April of that year, Hodgdon bought half of Bristol Motor Speedway and Thunder Valley USA Dragway.
In 1983, Hodgdon became half-owner of Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
Hodgdon’s full charge into NASCAR was unprecedented. It clearly made him an influential figure.
And it didn’t end there. In 1984, he became co-owner of Junior Johnson and Associates, one of the most successful organizations in the history of NASCAR, which had just evolved into a two-car operation with drivers Darrell Waltrip, a two-time champion, and Bonnett.
Indeed, times then were different, and a dollar went further than it does today. So, just imagine what it would cost anyone now to buy heavy interest in five NASCAR tracks and a vastly successful team.
Although he did not give off vibes of distrust and suspicion, more than a few suspected that Hodgdon’s spending, and the influence it brought him, would not end well.
They were right.
All of Hodgdon’s purchases were heavily leveraged, which meant low down payments were made with considerably higher ones to follow down the road, to be provided by race profits.
At first, payments were made, if late. But then the project manager at two of Hodgdon’s California businesses became involved in a big-rigging scheme which led to a $33 million lawsuit.
Hodgdon fell behind in his track payments, which led to more lawsuits.
In January of 1985, Johnson foreclosed on Hodgdon and regained full control of his team.
Later that month, Hodgdon, facing lawsuits totaling $53 million, filed for bankruptcy, which he said was more than he could bear and could have been avoided had he incorporated his companies rather than entered into a partnership.
Hodgdon quickly faded from NASCAR, but he remained an active and productive member of the San Bernardino community until his death on March 20 at age 80.
Even Stacy didn’t lose his fondness for racing after his NASCAR adventure. He reportedly operated five dirt tracks in the Southeastern US before he died in 2016 at age 86.
Neither Stacy nor Hodgdon are indeed remembered with widespread fondness. Many consider their prolific spending to be ego-driven and ultimately harmful.
Perhaps, but consider what it meant for NASCAR history. Where would Earnhardt have gone without Stacy’s purchase of the Osterlund organization? How high would Richmond’s star have risen without the opportunity to replace Earnhardt?
Would Bonnett even have a chance to advance his ultimately successful career without an opportunity to race with Johnson?
Just food for thought, if you will.
Steve Waid has been in journalism since 1972, when he began his newspaper career at the Martinsville (Va.) Bulletin. He has spent over 40 years in motorsports journalism, first with the Roanoke Times-World News and later as publisher and vice president for NASCAR Scene and NASCAR Illustrated.
Steve has won numerous state sports writing awards and several more from the National Motorsports Press Association for his motorsports coverage, feature and column writing. For several years, Steve was a regular on “NASCAR This Morning” on FOX Sports Net and he is the co-author, with Tom Higgins, of the biography “Junior Johnson: Brave In Life.”
In January 2014, Steve was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame. And in 2019 he was presented the Squier-Hall Award by the NASCAR Hall of Fame for lifetime excellence in motorsports journalism. In addition to writing for Frontstretch, Steve is also the co-host of The Scene Vault Podcast.