Johnny Thomson

John Ashley Thomson<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> (April 9, 1922 – September 24, 1960)<ref name=mem>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> was an American racecar driver. Thomson was nicknamed "the Flying Scot."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He won several championships in midgets and sprint cars before competing in Championship Car (now IndyCar) racing. He won the pole position for the 1959 Indianapolis 500.

Background

Thomson was born on April 9, 1922, to William and Marion Ross Thomson.<ref name="NSCHoF">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He graduated from Lowell High School then the New England Aircraft School.<ref name="NSCHoF" />

He served in the United States Air Force as a crew chief during World War II in Corsica and Italy between 1942 and 1945 on a B-25 bomber.<ref name="NSCHoF" /> Thomson was awarded five service stars and the Distinguished Air Force Medal.<ref name="NSCHoF" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Thomson met his future wife Evelyn Peterson in 1951.<ref name="NSCHoF" /> He moved from the Springfield, Massachusetts, area to a five-acre ranch that he built near Boyertown, Pennsylvania, in the mid 1950s.<ref name="NSCHoF" />

Midget cars

Thomson began watching races at a track across the street from his home in 1937 and 1938 in Lowell.<ref name="NSCHoF"/> He began racing at the track in 1938 against his parents' wishes with a V8-engined car that he built himself.<ref name="NSCHoF"/> After returning from the war, he resumed racing midgets at the Bay State Racing Association.<ref name="NSCHoF"/> His first win happened at Seekonk Speedway in 1946 and he won seven times in 1947.<ref name="NSCHoF" />

Thomson won the 1948 United Car Owners Association (UCOA) New England title after winning 32 midget events.<ref name=NMARHoF/><ref name="NSCHoF" /> He won his second UCOA title in 1949; he also race in some American Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) events.<ref name="NSCHoF" /> He switched to the ARDC in 1950 to finish fifth in points and took second in points in 1951.<ref name="NSCHoF" />

He won the 1952 AAA Eastern division midget car championship after winning twice at Williams Grove Speedway.<ref name=NMARHoF />

Championship cars

He drove in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1953-1960 seasons with 69 starts, including the Indianapolis 500 races in each season. He finished in the top ten 43 times, with 7 victories. His best Indy finish was third in 1959 after starting the race on the pole position.<ref name="NMARHoF" /> Roy Sherman, the first National Midget Champion, was his chief mechanic for several Indy 500s.<ref name=NMARHoF>Biography Template:Webarchive at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame</ref>

He won his first champ car race at the Milwaukee Mile in 1955.<ref name="NSCHoF" /> He ended up finishing third in season points after having to sit out the middle part of the season while healing from a end over end flip at the Langhorne Speedway circle.<ref name="NSCHoF" /> He clipped Jerry Hoyt's car while in the lead; he broke five ribs, bruised his vertebrae, broke his shoulder in eight places.<ref name="NSCHoF" /> In 1957, Thomson won at Langhorne; he also earned two pole positions.<ref name="NSCHoF" /> In October, he crashed at the California State Fairgrounds Race Track suffering internal injuries.<ref name="NSCHoF" /> In 1958, he finished third with wins at the Springfield Mile, DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, California Fairgrounds, and Syracuse Mile.<ref name="NSCHoF" /> He earned two pole positions in 13 starts.<ref name="NSCHoF" /> In 1959, he raced primarily in champ cars and finished third in national points after a win at Milwaukee plus three fast times.<ref name="NSCHoF" /> He had a wreck in a sprint car race at Williams Grove in September and missed the rest of the season.<ref name="NSCHoF" />

He was the first driver to win a Template:Convert dirt track race in less than an hour at Langhorne Speedway.<ref name="NMARHoF" /> His champ car's average speed was 100.174 miles per hour.<ref name=NMARHoF />

Sprint cars

Thomson made his first "Big Car" (now sprint car) start in September 1952 at the Vermont State Fairgrounds.<ref name="NSCHoF" /> He primarily raced on the AAA Eastern circuit in 1953; he finished ninth after winning at Altamont, New York.<ref name="NSCHoF" /> Thomson won the Eastern AAA Big Car championship in 1954 after winning eight events.<ref name="NSCHoF" /> AAA ended sanctioning after the 1955 season and it was replaced by the United States Automobile Club (USAC) in 1956. He continued in the Eastern Division in 1956 and had wins at Williams Grove, Trenton Speedway, and Reading Fairgrounds Speedway; he finished second in points behind Tommy Hinnershitz.<ref name="NSCHoF" /> Thomson's sprint car races in 1957 were primarily in the USAC Eastern division; he won twice at Reading and once at the Allentown fairgrounds to finish third in points.<ref name="NSCHoF" /> Thomas returned from injury to win the first 1958 USAC Sprint Car Series Eastern race at Williams Grove; he followed up with two wins at Reading and one at Allentown to win the Eastern championship.<ref name="NSCHoF" />

Death

On September 24, 1960, Thomson was racing in a USAC Sprint Car at the Great Allentown Fair at the Allentown Fairgrounds.<ref name="NSCHoF" /> On a rutty and dry track, his car flipped and crashed through the backstretch fence and flipped into the infield.<ref name=NMARHoF /><ref name="NSCHoF" /> He was thrown out of the car and was pinned underneath the car after it stopped rolling.<ref name="NSCHoF" /> His leg was broken, and he died several hours later at Allentown General Hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania, at age 38.<ref name="NSCHoF" /> His friend Tommy Hinnershitz announced his retirement from racing shortly after Thomson's death.<ref name="NSCHoF" />

Thomson was survived by his wife and four sons (Dale, Dana, David and Darryl).<ref name="NSCHoF" />

Career awards

Thomson was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1996<ref name="NSCHoF" /> and the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1997.<ref name="NMARHoF" />

Television Appearance

Thomson was a contestant on Bud Collyer's "Beat The Clock".<ref name="TimesHerald">Template:Cite news</ref>

Complete AAA/USAC Championship Car results

Year	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Pos	Points
1953	INDY 32	MIL 13	SPR	DET	SPR	MIL	DUQ	PIK	SYR	ISF	SAC	PHX		-	0
1954	INDY 24	MIL DNS	LAN	DAR DNQ	SPR	MIL	DUQ	PIK	SYR 9	ISF	SAC	PHX	LVG	43rd	40
1955	INDY 4	MIL 1	LAN 15	SPR	MIL	DUQ	PIK	SYR 5	ISF 2	SAC 2	PHX 2			3rd	1.380
1956	INDY 32	MIL 2	LAN 18	DAR 9	ATL 3	SPR 10	MIL 14	DUQ 2	SYR 3	ISF 16	SAC DNP	PHX		10th	710
1957	INDY 12	LAN 1	MIL 2	DET 18	ATL 17	SPR 14	MIL 4	DUQ 2	SYR 3	ISF 17	TRE 2	SAC 14	PHX	7th	1.110
1958	TRE 3	INDY 23	MIL 4	LAN 18	ATL 3	SPR 1	MIL 22	DUQ 1	SYR 1	ISF 2	TRE 2	SAC 1	PHX 14	3rd	1.520
1959	DAY 7	TRE 20	INDY 3	MIL 1	LAN DNQ	SPR 4	MIL 2	DUQ 16	SYR 16	ISF Wth	TRE	SAC	PHX	3rd	1.400
1960	TRE 20	INDY 5	MIL 18	LAN DNQ	SPR 9	MIL 23	DUQ 9	SYR 4	ISF 5	TRE	SAC	PHX		7th	800

Reference:<ref name="RacingReferenceCareer">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Indianapolis 500 results

Year	Car	Start	Qual	Rank	Finish	Laps	Led	Retired
1953	56	33	135.262	33	32	6	0	Ignition
1954	43	4	138.787	12	24	165	0	Stalled
1955	44	33	134.113	33	4	200	0	Running
1956	88	18	145.549	2	32	22	0	Spun FS
1957	10	11	143.529	4	12	199	5	Flagged
1958	7	22	142.908	20	23	52	0	Steering
1959	3	1	145.908	1	3rd	200	40	Running
1960	3	17	146.443	3	5	200	10	Running
Totals						1044	55

Starts	8
Poles	1
Front Row	1
Wins	0
Top 5	3
Top 10	3
Retired	4

World Championship career summary

The Indianapolis 500 was part of the FIA World Championship from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indy during those years were credited with World Championship points and participation. Johnny Thomson participated in 8 World Championship races. He started on the pole once, set 1 fastest lead lap, and finished on the podium once, accumulating a total of 10 World Championship points.

External links

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