Throwback: Dynamite Bomb Found Under Dale Earnhardt’s Controversial Ex-Boss’ Car Shocks NASCAR World

NASCAR has been around for a very long time, 75 years to be precise. During the early years of the sport, NASCAR was no stranger to controversy and strange moments. This was a sport that could trace its roots to moonshine runs to evade the authorities. Soon, stock car racing became an official sport, and has been going strong ever since. However, the 1970 and 1980s were a particularly crazy time for NASCAR. One such incident involved NASCAR team owner, Jim 'JD' Stacy, whom Dale Earnhardt raced under.

Back in 1978, the team owner got a massive scare, when a bomb was discovered under his car. The car in question was a Cadillac limousine, and the explosive was a homemade dynamite bomb. As per reports , the bomb contained eight sticks of dynamite and it was eventually safely defused. Apparently, the ones responsible for the incendiary device's discovery were two deputies, who were admiring the car.

What happened to lead to this frightening situation? The incident starts with a lawsuit against Stacy. After his team expanded in 1978, they went winless through the season. As a result, Stacy faced numerous financial difficulties, losing a lot of money invested in his second team that debuted in the same year. Among the accusations Stacy faced, his crew chief Harry Hyde, and Cup Series driver Ferrel Harris reported him for not paying his dues.

Consequently, Stacy faced a loan lawsuit in Concord, where the bomb incident unfolded. The NASCAR team owner's car was parked outside a motel where he was staying. The Cadillac limousine captivated the eyes of most people nearby. This was why saved Stacy in the end. The parked limousine caught the eye of two Cabarrus County Deputies, who took a moment to admire the car.

As they admired the car, one of the Deputies saw something hanging on the bottom of the car. It was only upon further inspection that they realized that the car was laden with dynamite sticks. Deputy Bobby Canupp revealed that each stick was eight inches long and two inches in diameter. Additionally, there were wires connecting it to the battery and exhaust pipes. To this day, there has been no indication of the identity of the culprit, but the motivation was crystal clear. It was rigged in such a way that, if Stacy had put the car in reverse, it would blow up.

In a swift response, authorities immediately evacuated the entire wing of the hotel where Stacy was staying. They took the dynamite to a nearby field to detonate it.

Stacy was actually fairly wealthy, as he bought and sponsored several NASCAR teams during his tenure. Among them, he had many prominent NASCAR drivers on his payroll. This included Neil Bonnett, Ferrel Harris, Sterling Marlin, Joe Ruttman, Tim Richmond, and Dale Earnhardt . JD Stacy primarily operated between 1977 and 1983, but in an expensive sport like NASCAR, financial issues were inevitable.

How did the controversial NASCAR owner respond to the threat? When media personnel reached out to Stacy, he was surprisingly calm about the matter. All that the controversial team owner said was that he was okay and the threat was not going to scare him away from cars. Around that time, he was expected to appear in court for a lawsuit concerning a loan. This lawsuit was nothing new and just added to a long list of lawsuits.

As it turned out, Hyde was one of the suspects in planting the bomb. It didn't help his case that, even though they used to be friends, Harry Hyde was not happy about not being paid. Eventually, Hyde was cleared, and so was Ferrell Harris. Turned out that JD Stacy borrowed money from Harris and had not repaid the loan, so Ferrell sued him.

While any other person might have been afraid of stepping back into the car, JD Stacy was fearless. Once the authorities disposed off the discovered dynamite, Stacy didn't waste any time going behind the wheel of his formerly rigged limousine. According to him, "I feel fine because it didn't work."