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“Mickey Thompson: The Fast Life and Tragic Death of a Racing Legend”
By Erik Arneson
Book Review by Gregg Leary
Category:Auto Racing
“Mickey Thompson: The Fast Life and Tragic Death of a Racing Legend” grabbed me from the second I saw the cover photograph. I would label the image “A couple of Mavericks.” The photo shows Mickey with a bandaged hand posing in front of a Ford Maverick dragster. How appropriate. Mickey was the ultimate “Maverick.” He did things one way-HIS way! I wonder if his bandaged fist was a result of Mickey’s legendary short fuse. As Don “The Snake” Prudhomme said, “Mickey could be quite intimidating. You never knew if you were going to get a left hook or a handshake.”
Marion Lee Thompson Junior was born December 7, 1928. He was nicknamed “Mickey” due to his flaming red hair and Irish ancestry. He reminds me of another Marion…Marion Morrison…better known as John Wayne. Neither used their real name of Marion, because as Mickey said, “a girl’s name would mean even more fighting.”
Erik Arneson writes:
From drag racing for pink slips in California orange groves as a teenager, to pulling pistons out of trash cans behind the local Ford dealership to recondition and reuse, Mickey Thompson would go on to influence more kinds of racing in a wider variety of ways than any other single person, making him the true center of the high-performance era in American history. From drag racing to off-road racing, land-speed records, sports cars, speedboats, and the Indianapolis 500, Mickey did it all.
Starting as a backyard garage mechanic with an I-barely-made-it-through-high-school diploma, Mickey built speed machines from junkyard scraps that outperformed multimillion-dollar national efforts, while at the same time running the country’s first commercial drag strip, racing his own distinctive vehicles, running a repair shop out of his home garage, and working nights as a pressman for the Los Angeles Times.
As Arneson notes, “Mickey didn’t waste much time sleeping.”
Erik’s book is a fine example of an oxymoron…”a riveting biography.” I have read very few that live up to their dustjacket hype. This one does. Mickey’s accomplishments are so astounding it almost reads like a work of fiction. Arneson’s research is impressive as are his interviews with the key people with whom Mickey crossed paths or locked horns. Enjoy some of the fascinating quotes and entertaining facts that are illuminated in the book.
“Mickey Thompson was a heavy dose of John Wayne, a chunk of Einstein, and a dash of P.T. Barnum.” Don Gillespie
“He went through life like a guy escaping a bank robbery.” Jim Murray
“Mickey was the most underestimated, underrated racer in every way. He set his goals and attained them and he didn’t do it at the expense of others.” Henry “Smokey” Yunick
Mickey was tough. At age 8 he broke his arm in 32 places. Doctors suggested amputation. He broke his back 4 times.
Mickey built his first soap box derby car at age 12. Gravity was fine for going downhill but Mickey added batteries so the car could climb back up the hill.
He took apart the family washing machine and used the motor on a go kart.
Mickey met his first wife, Judy when she drag raced him on the street.
She did his homework for him and they went dry lakes racing together.
The night Judy went into labor…she was doing a valve job on one of Mickey’s cars…she finished the job, cleaned the grease from under her nails…went to the hospital and had Danny.
In 1953 Mickey crashed in the Mexican Road Race, killing six spectators. Reports said Mickey was killed also. He ran again in 1954 and hit a stone wall at 90 MPH while leading his class.
Mickey became the second person to go 150 MPH when he ran a fuel dragster at San Fernando Raceway on 9-4-55. It was the first successful “slingshot” dragster. The “slingshot” would be the design standard for the next twenty years.
At Lions Dragstrip, Mickey introduced the “Christmas Tree” starting lights to replace the flagman in 1955. He managed the track until 1964.
In 1957 Mickey added lights to Lions and promoted Saturday Night “Date Night.” It was a huge success coupled with other Mickey promotions…quarter mile fan foot races on the dragstrip, and a quarter horse racing a hot rod. Mickey built a quarter midget track near the grandstands so the kids could race. Danny raced there but after another child was injured, Mickey told Danny he couldn’t race again.
After a one way run of 406 MPH at Bonneville in Challenger (9-9-60) Mickey became “the fastest man on earth.”
Later that year Mickey breaks his back in a drag boat at the snail’s speed of only 35 MPH. when crossing another boat’s wake. Mickey is put in a body cast and told he may never walk again. Mickey checks himself out of the hospital and designs his own rehab equipment.
Indianapolis 1962. Mickey designs a rear-mounted Buick V-8 with fully independent suspension. Rookie Dan Gurney qualifies 8th. A grease seal fails on Lap 92. Gurney says, “If Mickey and his team had had some development time with the engine, especially in the area of durability, I think we could have won the race. The car was that good.” Mickey was honored with the “D-A Lubricant Award” for mechanical achievement.
Mickey’s 1963 Indy car was only 20” tall. It was called “roller skate” and “skateboard.” Al Miller finished ninth.
1964: Mario Andretti declines an offer to drive Mickey’s car at Indy. Dave MacDonald was killed in a horrific gasoline fireball in Thompson’s car. Ironically Mickey wanted to run methanol in the car but Ford objected.
1968: Mickey sets 297 National and International speed and endurance records in Ford Mustangs. On 9-19-68 Mickey sets a 24 Hour record of 157.663 MPH and drove 16 of the 24 hours, including the last 1,300 miles at Bonneville.
1971: Mickey marries Trudy.
1973: Mickey founds SCORE. (Short Course Off-Road Enterprises)
1978: Mickey and Trudy form the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group to bring off- road racing to stadium venues around the country. Events would feature 18 races in 6 classes to be completed in 3 hours. He hired celebrities to run in Jeep races. Bruce Jenner, Lou Rawls and Ted Nugent competed.
1982: Mickey wins the Baja 1000.
In April of 1984, Thompson and Mike Goodwin, “The Father of Supercross” signed a trial merger to combine forces in stadium races. “The relationship lasted less than four months before turning into a clash of titans,” as Arneson puts it.
The fallout and falling out led to a series of events that could be the plot of a crime novel. Unfortunately for Mickey and his wife Trudy the nightmarish fiction became a “true crime” on March 16, 1988 when they were assassinated in cold blood. “Mickey Thompson: The Fast Life and Tragic Death of a Racing Legend” documents the triumphs and tragedy of this motorsports legend. The book rates four out of five lug nuts.