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See You At The Races!!! |
| RACING
SCENE by Tim Kennedy |
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Dean Thompson |
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Los Angeles, CA- The death of Dean Thompson, a three-time CRA sprint
car champion, at age 53 from a heart ailment surprised all. He was a
legendary sprint car driver on dirt, especially at Gardena's Ascot
Park. He lost his parents, Bud and Marge, last year within weeks.
Dean operated the family glass business in Torrance. He loved
playing golf, racing and his cup of beer at races. He was cremated
and a memorial service is being planned for people who knew him.
Younger sister Barbara Thompson survives. Born 3/16/50, Dean raced
quarter-midgets and won numerous trophies. He next raced NMRA-TQ
Midgets at the small Trojan Speedway, next to the Long Beach Freeway
in South Gate. In 1971 Dean rode to a CRA race in my car along with
several CRA photographers. I mentioned that to Dean the last time I spoke to him in the pits at Perris. I said it was en-route to a race in Phoenix, and Dean said it was to a CRA race in Clovis, near Fresno. He was correct. Dean, from Torrance, helped the Bruce Bromme team and driver Paul Jones in the pits at Ascot as he tried to land a CRA sprint car ride. He had a special steering wheel made to accommodate his shorter from birth left arm. Dean landed the No. 23 Dee Sweeney Chevy ride for 1972 and won three heat races and two semi-mains. He finished 15th in final driver points with 170, earning CRA Rookie-of-the-Year honors at age 22. He beat Bob East and Skip Walls for the honor. Dean later won the Don Hawley Memorial Trophy at the 1977 CRA championship banquet. In 1973 Dean's team raced infrequently and he scored only 37 points for 43rd in final points. Dean's curly hair-style in those years reminded some of comedian Harpo Marx. His hard-driving and friendly demeanor made him a friend to all. Dean's CRA sprint car career took off in 1974 when he started the year in Bruce Bromme's No. 5 Ring-Free Oil Chevy. Dean won his first (of a record 103) feature on 4/27/74 at Ascot with 57 cars present. He won his second CRA main on 7/27/74 at Ascot with 46 cars on hand. He set his first fast qualifying time on 8/17/74 with 47 cars in Ascot's pits. He returned a week later and again set quick time at Ascot. At the end of 1974 Dean had 645 points and finished third in driver points, with Bromme second in car owner points. Dean continued with the Bromme team and placed tenth in points (with 443) in 1975. In 1976 Dean won his third CRA main on 2/28/76 at El Centro in the Bromme No. 8 with 62 cars present. He won six CRA features that year, including one on the paved 3/8-mile El Cajon track near San Diego. During 1977 Dean won six CRA trophy dashes and two main events, both at Ascot. In 1978 Dean won five trophy dashes and eight main events, all at Ascot. He collected eight more CRA feature victories during 1979. At age 30 Dean really hit his stride in 1980 when he won 18-times, including 16 CRA point mains and two open competition events, including Ascot's Pacific Coast Championship, a 50-lap prestigious triple-crown race. His three CRA driving championships from 1980-82 all came with Bromme. In 1981 and 1985 Dean won the most CRA trophy dashes (nine). He won four Ascot PCC 50-lap mains ('79, 80, 82 and 85). He won the October 1985 PCC two months before he retired at age 35 because he had accomplished everything he wanted. On 7/28/79 Dean became only the fourth driver to turn a 19-second lap at the Ascot half-mile when he ran a 19.666. Before Ascot closed at the end of 1990, 140 drivers had run 19-second laps in non-wing sprint cars. Dean was Ascot's one-lap track record holder (at 19.632) from 11/17/79 to 8/1/81, when Dean lowered his own mark to 19.427. That record stood to 11/20/82 when "Deano" dropped it to 19.316. Dean held the record for three years, eight months. Eddie Wirth broke Dean's one-lap Ascot record on 7/3/83 when Eddie ran a 19.231. The final Ascot mark was 17.958 by Billy Boat (later an IRL and Indy 500 driver) on 11/17/90-the final night of sprint car racing at Ascot (1957-90). Boat drove the "Little Red Sucker" Bromme car and beat his own 18.305 Ascot one-lap mark that he set on 10/26/90. During his 14-year CRA sprint car career, Dean set some impressive records. They were -- Most Fast Qualifying Times--21 (including seven in a row) in 1980, 17-'81, 15-'82 and 15-'83. … Most Heat race Wins--13 in 1979, 12 to tie Jimmy Oskie-'80, 22-'81 (for a single-season record never broken). … Most Main Event Wins-seven to tie Rick Goudy in 1978, 16-'80, 16-'81 and 15-'85 and a record-tying five consecutive mains in his final season before quitting at age 35. He also set one-lap track records at Speedway 117 in Chula Vista and at Santa Maria Speedway. Remarkably, Dean flipped only nine-times in a sprint car from his rookie season in 1972 to 1983 and nearly all were roll-overs. His only injury occurred in his ninth flip during Ascot's first heat on 6/25/83. He hit the wall and rolled once. The car was repaired and he raced it in the semi and main events. However, an X-ray during the week revealed a broken left kneecap that kept Dean out of racing to 7/19/83. Although he retired in 1986 Dean was a constant spectator in the pits and in grandstands at open-wheel races. Ten years after his premature retirement Dean un-retired at age 46 and raced a Danny Pivovaroff sprint car with SCRA. He led one main event and won a trophy dash. Dean had a bad crash at Santa Maria and retired again, this time for good. Dean then tutored young Long Beach Midget and sprint car driver Jason Leffler, who went on to capture three USAC National Midget Championships, a USAC Silver Crown, and then raced in one IRL Indianapolis 500 and in the NASCAR Busch Series and Winston Cup Series, including the Daytona 500. Dean clearly had much to offer the racing world in his retirement years before the heart ailment took him from us much too early. The SCRAfan.com website had a topic "Favorite Memories of Deano" following his death. Fondest memories of Dean included the way he was "on the gas immediately after he pushed off to qualify". As the engine roared to life Dean did not lift until he reached turn three. He went farther into turns before pitching his car into a broad-slide to negotiate turns. He always wanted to be the fastest qualifier, win the trophy dash, his heat race and the main event. He relished winning features from outside row four in the eight-car inverted starts. Dean seldom crashed and he seemed to see things in slow-motion or use a sixth-sense to avoid contact. Fans and fellow drivers recalled Dean as a classy, smooth and clean driver. He was patient in traffic and could get within inches of fellow competitors and never touch them. His car control was remarkable. Fans remembered Dean walking the track, head down inspecting the clay track before mains to gain an advantage over fellow drivers. Deano always made time for fans, young and old, even after he retired with his friendly greeting, "How ya doin?" Many fans fondly recalled Dean's epic races during the early 1980s with friendly rival Bubby Jones. One racer recalled Dean giving him his racing philosophy as follows, "Remember all the little things you learn every night, put them together and then you will be a good race-car driver." Dean will be missed for sure, but his "back em in" driving style and legendary dirt track exploits, especially at Ascot, will live on in the memories of everyone who watched him race a sprinter. Dean was voted several years ago into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame as a nationally famous, talented and deserving sprint car driver. His car owner Bromme also is a NSCHofF elected car owner member of that prestigious, coveted, exclusive "club" housed at the NSCHofF Museum in Knoxville, Iowa. RIP Deano. |
