DONALD THOMAS - 7/10/1932 - 12/16/1977
The younger brother of Herb Thomas. Thomas' childhood was spent on the family tobacco farm. He was married and had two sons and two daughters. Thomas' NASCAR Cup Series career spanned from his season in 1950 with age of 17 to 1956 with age of 23, although the bulk of his starts came between 1951 and 1954. He made 79 Cup starts in his career. The first came at Martinsville in 1950. He would finish in seventh place, nine laps behind winner Curtis Turner. His only other start was at Charlotte, and once again finished seventh, again the race was won by Turner. 1951 he ran quite a few races, with the first being at Lakeview Speedway in Mobil AL. He started way back in 21st, but would have his first career top five finish, coming home in fifth. His next race, at North Wilkesboro he would again finish in fifth spot. He fell out early and finished last at Martinsville for his first poor finish. But was seventh his next race at Columbus Speedway in GA. The rest of the year he ran well most of the time posting many top ten results. His best run was at Charlotte when he would finish third, behind his brother Herb Thomas, who won the race. Shorty York was second. In 1952 Donald started driving for owner Doug Meeks. Up to this point, all of Donald's starts had come in cars owned by his
brother Herb. He ran 21 of 34 races in 1952, his first start coming on the shores of Daytona Beach. He started back in 34th spot, but made it up to 14th by the time winner Marshall Teague took the checkers. His next eight starts saw him perform well. He had six starts where he finished no worse than eighth. He was then 16th at Canfield Speedway in Ohio, and then run off a streak of four more top ten finishes. He raced five events for owner Elmer Pooler, before moving back to drive for brother Herb, and field one of those Fabulous Hudson Hornets the final four races of the season. Other than having a water pump fail at Martinsville, Donald had finishes inside the top three. Thomas won the season's penultimate contest in 1952,
Daytona Beach 1956
capturing the checkered flag at Lakewood Speedway. Donald started on the pole with Herb along side. Herb jumped to the lead and battled Fonty Flock the first 86 laps. Donald was right on their tail, and led laps 87 and 88, after Herb fell out with a broken axle. The final 12 laps was a fight between Donald and Lee Petty. Lee led laps 89 to 93, before Donald powered back by, to lead the final seven laps and claim the win. Petty was second and Joe Eubanks third. Herb ended up 13th. It was a sweet feeling to beat his brother Herb who was the reigning Cup Champion. In winning, Donald became NASCAR's youngest winner, a record that stood until Kyle Busch's 2005 triumph at Auto Club Speedway. Since that time the youngest Cup winner is now Joey Logano at 19 years of age. 1953 saw Donald split his time driving, between Herb's Hornet, and Doug Meeks Ford, as he made 17 starts. He started the year with a pair of top ten finishes with a ninth at West Palm Beach, and an eighth back on the beach at Daytona. He then drove Meeks car for three events; all of which he fell out of and finished poorly. At Richmond, he was back behind the wheel of that Hornet and finished seventh. Things took a turn for the worse after that, no matter which car Don drove. The next nine starts he would not finish better than 12th, and fall out of several races. His best finish the later part of the year came in the Southern 500, where he started fifth and finished eighth. Buck Baker beat Fonty Flock by three laps to take the victory. Don started off the season driving for owner John Ditz. His first three starts he finished no worse than sixth. He almost pulled out another win when the Cup series raced at the one mile dirt oval of Orange Speedway in Hillsborough NC. Donald started third, with Buck Baker on the point. Baker led the first 35 laps, before Donald would take the lead and hold it for 53 laps. Brother, Herb had been lying in wait as the two battled for the lead, but with 35 laps to go, Herb Thomas bypassed his brother Donald to forge into the lead. Donald was nipping at his heels the entire rest of the race; but could never manage to get past Herb. At the finish Herb held off Donald by a mere five car lengths to get the win. In his next three starts, Donald had mechanical issues and finished no better than 14th. He only made three more starts in 1954, with his best run coming at Corbin KY, where he finished fifth. 1955 saw Donald only make ten starts, all driving for Herb. He finished fourth at Weaverville NC, and was fourth again at Raleigh. 1956 was his final season to run in the Cup series, as he made just three starts, all came in his own equipment. At Daytona Beach he would start 35th and finish 18th. His next start would come at Wilson Speedway (NC) where he finished ninth, in a race won by his brother Herb. By Now Herb was a two time Cup Champion, and was also runner up for the championship twice. Donald's final Cup start came at Langhorne in April. Thomas would start 41st, but would have a motor expire after 62 of the 100 laps and finish in 29th spot. For his career, he made 79 NASCAR Cup Series starts, scoring one win and one pole position. He had 14 top five and 37 top ten finishes. He died in December 1977 and was buried near his home in Sanford, North Carolina
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