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Thompson was born on April 22, 1922 in Louisville, KY. Thompson entered his first NASCAR race at the Daytona Beach course in 1950, driving his #91 San Juan Motors Chrysler. He started fifth, but finished 26th after he crashed. Harold Kite won the race, the only one of his career. He made two additional starts with the series finishing 11th at Dayton Speedway in Ohio, and was 62nd in the Southern 500, when he fell out after completing 238 laps. The race saw 75 cars start the race. Thompson returned to Cup competition in 1951 for five events. He finished 12th on the beach course at Daytona. He then qualified fifth in a field of 59 cars, for the Motor City 250 on the one-mile dirt oval, at the Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit, commemorating the city's 250th anniversary. Marshall Teague started on the pole and led the first lap, before Fonty Flock took the lead for the next 23 circuits. Thompson would take the lead for the first time in lap 25. Flock and Thompson would battle for the lead over the next 90 laps. Teague and Flock would both have their issues as Fonty crashed out after 130 laps, and Teague fell out from over heating problems six laps later. The race finally came down to Thompson battling with Curtis Turner. With 25 laps left in the event, Turner attempted a slide

job, and the two collided spinning into the track's wooden retaining wall. Joe Eubanks grabbed the lead, while the two struggled to recover from the crash. Eubanks however, appeared to be unaware that he was leading and continued driving at a very conservative pace. Thompson recovered and ran down Eubanks. Turner's Oldsmobile retired from the race from over heating, with a damaged radiator. Thompson passed Eubanks for the lead with seven laps remaining. He established a 37 second lead in the remaining laps for his first win in the NASCAR Cup Division, and was awarded $5,000 prize money. Thompson qualified eighth for the following race at Fort Miami Speedway in Toledo, Ohio and finished sixth. He had back luck again in the Southern 500 as he started 74th in his 1951 Nash, but had a right front wheel hub fail after 148 laps and finished 74th. He finish 12th at Dayton OH in his only other start of the season. In 1952, Thompson qualified third for the season opener on the Daytona Beach course . In the final lap, Thompson was running seventh, and racing back to

the line when he lost control of the car and hit flagman Johnny Bruner. The contact sent Bruner flying thru the air, but fortunately was not seriously injured. Thompson managed to finish the event in seventh place. He participated in five Cup events during the year, but the seventh place finish on the sands at Daytona would prove to be his only top-10. His next best finish was a 17th at Playland Park Speedway in South Bend IN. Again, he had problems in the Southern 500. He started near the front in 13th spot, but smoke would roll out from the racecar, when a motor erupted after only37 laps, and he finished 60th. In 1953, Thompson returned to the Daytona Beach course driving a Lincoln, qualifying fourth and finishing third; - without any contact with the flagman. Fonty Flock started second, and led the first 38 laps. but Bill Blair would bypass him on lap 39, to get his final Cup win. Flock

finished second. He competed at Langhorne where he would finish 30th, and at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta where he finished 18th. Daytona Beach would be the only Cup event that Thompson would run in 1954. He qualified third, but a crash on the 15th lap relegated him to a 56th place finish, in the 62 car field. In 1955, he again made only one start. Thompson wheeled the #41 Ford of Julian Buesink in the Southern 500 at Darlington. A failed fuel pump on lap 41 dropped him from competition and left him with yet another poor finish, as he ended up with a 64th place finish. In 1956, Thompson drove Bob Fish's #M1 Fish Carburetor Buick, in the season opener, on the Daytona Beach course. He qualified 33rd in the 76 car field, and finished 58th, completing less than 17 laps in the 39 laps race. Thompson was absent from NASCAR

competition until 1959, when he returned to the series campaigning his own #13 Chevrolet in three events. He started 12th and finished 12th in the Music City 200, at the Nashville Fairground Speedway in Nashville, TN. He started 36th at Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta and finished in 20th, 33 laps behind. His final start came at the newly completed Daytona International Speedway in the Firecracker 250. He would start in 29th spot, and have a clean run finishing in 15th position. In eight years, Thompson made 22 starts in the NASCAR Cup Division, recording one win, two top-5s, and four top-10s. In the 1960s, Thompson constructed and began operating the Fairgrounds Motor Speedway in Louisville, Kentucky. Thompson regularly competed at the speedway with the assistance of crew chief Harry Hyde, who would become a legend in NASCAR. Thompson was responsible for introducing Figure-8 racing to the area where it is still quite active today. Tommy Thompson died August 4, 1986.

Fantasy NASCAR Racing

TOMMY THOMPSON - 4/22/1922 - 8/04/1986