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Johnny Thomson was born April 9, 1922.
Known as "the Flying Scot", drove his first feature at Seekonk
Speedway in 1947. A truly versatile racer, Thomson quickly moved to
"Champ Cars" and Sprinters. Racing in the Bay State Racing
Association, the United Car Owners Association, ARDC and AAA, he won
the New England championship in 1948, with 32 wins, then repeated as
champion in 1949. In 1952 Thomson won the AAA Eastern Midget
Championship, and he captured the Eastern Sprint Car Championship in
1954.
By 1953, Johnny was racing at
Indianapolis, and would soon establish himself as a top competitor
at that level. In 1955, he raced from last place at the "Brickyard",
to an impressive fourth place finish. His top Indianapolis run came
in 1959, when he set a record time to take the Indy 500 pole. He
finished the race in third, and it looked like the best was yet to
come. Thomson won seven Indy Car type events and finished third in
the points race three times.
Thomson enjoyed a longtime
sponsorship with DA Lubricants. As a tribute to this company that
was so important to his racing career, the names of each of Johnny's
four sons, Dale, David, Darrell, and Dana, start with the letters
DA. Sadly, Johnny Thomson lost his life in a crash at Allentown, PA
in 1960, ending an illustrious career. Today, we welcome Johnny
Thomson into the New England Auto Racer's Hall of Fame. |
