Johnny Thomson

Competitor
CLASS OF 2002

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 sprint cars and eventually midgets in the Bay State Midget Racing Association, ARDC and AAA circuits. Under the shor-lived United Car Owners Association banner, he won the New England championship in 1948, with 32 wins, and again in 1950. 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.