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The Quiet Passing of Herb Thomas,
A NASCAR Champion.
By Michael Smith
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NASCAR recently lost one of its pioneers with the passing of
Herb Thomas on August 9, 2000. History shouldn’t be the study
of obituary notices, but there is no escaping the fact that
those who were great will eventually leave us one way or another.
Recent events have shown us that, occasionally, our racing heroes
depart this earth in a sudden, startling flash and we grieve
all the more because of the suddenness of the whole thing. Far
more frequent however is the mellow passing of years in retirement
or some other racing-related line of work. Thankfully, the fact
is, most of racing’s great drivers will age gracefully and leave
this world in ways that seem strangely ordinary. Certainly,
they are no less heroes than those who are taken quickly and
violently.
Herb Thomas, the man who was a farmer during the week and a
racecar driver on weekends, claimed NASCAR’s top driving championship
in 1951 and 1953, but many of today’s fans would be hard pressed
to pick this early champion out of a line up of NASCAR’s Top
50 and that may speak volumes about where the sport is heading.
Born on April 6, 1923, Herbert Watson Thomas was born into a
family that had no connection to automobile racing. Young Herb
spent his growing up years working the family farm and working
at a sawmill owned by his father in Barbecue Township, North
Carolina. During World War II, Thomas continued working at the
sawmill, married and started a family. In fact, Thomas was a
workingman, husband and father of two sons before he ever saw
his first auto race. But from the start, Thomas was hooked.
With his interest piqued, Thomas entered the field of stockcar
racing as something of a hobby, not to interfere with business
and farm operations. However, by the time Big Bill France came
around to begin organizing races and racecar drivers under the
banner of NASCAR sanctioning, Thomas was beginning to see the
lucrative side of weekends spend at the track.
There was something of the natural talent in Herb Thomas, something
that allowed him to slide behind the wheel of a stockcar and
gain success without the previous experience of running moonshine
or working as a mechanic in a local garage tuning engines for
more horsepower.
When NASCAR’s first Strictly Stock event rolled to the green
flag at Charlotte Speedway in June 1949, Herb Thomas was there,
piloting a 1947 Ford. Suspension failure relegated Thomas to
a non-paying twenty-ninth place finish but in the next race,
the first Daytona Beach race sanctioned by NASCAR, Thomas finished
12th and pocketed $50 in prize money.
It would be a little more than a year before Thomas would claim
his first victory, when, at Martinsville Speedway, he beat Lee
Petty to the checkered flag in October 1950. The following year,
having switched from Plymouths to Hudson Hornets at the urging
of fellow driver Marshall Teague, Herb Thomas set about writing
his name in the history books.
At the second annual running of the Southern 500, Thomas fairly
well ran away with the show, leading 310 of the 400 laps in
the event to claim the first of seven victories for the season
and the series championship. Thomas’s $21,050 winnings put him
at the head of the earnings chart and probably convinced any
reluctant family members that stockcar racing could indeed provide
a worthwhile living.
In 1952 things were not much different in the win category,
in fact Thomas improved his tally by notching eight victories,
but Tim Flock who also drove a Hornet to eight victories that
season edged him out for the championship.
True to form, Thomas improved further the following year to
amass an amazing 12 victories on his way to clinching the 1953
championship. The following season found Thomas driving for
legendary builder-owner Smokey Yunick. The combination proved
fruitful as Thomas again racked up 12 victories including a
second Southern 500 win. Despite his dominating performance,
Thomas was again edged out in the championship chase, this time
by Lee Petty.
By the time the 1955 season rolled around the once fabulous
Hudson Hornets were beginning to lose some of their luster.
The dirt tracks where the Hornet proved to be so dominant were
falling by the wayside as NASCAR continued to upgrade its facilities.
Additionally, the other manufacturers were bringing better and
better equipment to the tracks. Nevertheless, the Hornet still
had a sting and it was Herb Thomas who would bring the Hudson
Hornet to Victory Lane the final time, with a win at West Palm
Beach.
Within weeks, however, the Smokey Yunick team switched to Chevrolets
and as September rolled around Herb Thomas vowed to notch his
third Southern 500 victory, despite having suffered a broken
leg earlier in the season. Few took the promise to heart. The
consensus of opinion sided with the Flock brothers, Tim and
Fonty in their speedy Chrysler 300s. Other teams to beat were
fielding Oldsmobile Rocket 88s. Against the Chrysler 300s and
the Oldsmobile 88s, the smaller, lower horse powered Chevy’s
weren’t seen as much of a threat. Folks who counted out Herb
Thomas and his Chevrolet, forgot to consider the genius of wily
car owner Smokey Yunick.
Yunick used the Chevrolet’s lightweight design to its best advantage.
Mounting a set of specially designed Firestone SuperSport racing
tires on the car, Yunick instructed Thomas to set an even pace
to conserve the tires while other teams were forced to pit for
fresh rubber. Thomas started the race in 8th place and did not
fully assert himself until lap 279 of 366 laps, when he pulled
into the lead. When Joe Weatherly, the only real competition
in the race, was sidelined by a collapsed wheel and the ensuing
wreck, Thomas’s way was clear to roll to Victory Circle for
his third Southern 500 triumph. Yunick’s strategy had paid off
– Thomas had run the entire race on a single set of tires.
Herb Thomas finished 5th in the championship standings in 1955
and the 1956 season saw him return to the track in cars owned
and prepared by Smokey Yunick. However, for whatever reason,
the two would not finish out the season together. Ten races
into the 1956 season Thomas opted to join the powerhouse Karl
Kiekhaefer team to drive a Chrysler 300. Thomas joined a stellar
group at the Kiekhaefer stable, driving beside teammates Tim
and Fonty Flock, Buck Baker and Speedy Thompson.
Thomas signed on with the team at the oddly circular Langhorne
speedway in April of 1956 and notched three of the teams thirty
victories for the season before deciding to pilot his own Chevy
three months later. Again, the reasons are unclear, however
it is very likely that the strictly regimented lifestyle of
a Kiekhaefer team member grated on Thomas’ nerves.
With consistent finishes as an owner-driver, coupled with his
five victories with the Yunick and Kiekhaefer teams, Thomas
seemed poised to capture another championship when a terrifying
wreck left him partially paralyzed and fighting to survive.
Despite being sidelined late in the season, Thomas managed to
finish third in championship points.
There are greater endeavors in life than piloting a stockcar
around the track at breakneck speed; this is a fact with which
even hardcore fans will agree. Herb Thomas, having proven his
skill in the life or death pursuit of driving a racecar next
set about regaining his life, struggling back from the horrific
effects of his injuries to regain the full use of his right
arm. Perhaps it is this off track success that truly marks the
man that was Herbert Watson Thomas.
Following his recovery, Thomas did attempt a number of comebacks
as a driver and as an owner, but as is so often the case, success
was out of reach. Herb Thomas ran his last race on the track
in April of 1962 and retired from racing at the age of forty.
Thomas was named to the National Motorsports Press Association’s
Hall of Fame in 1965 and the International Motorsports Hall
of Fame in 1994. During NASCAR’s 50th anniversary celebration
in 1998, Thomas was named one of the all-time top-fifty drivers.
Smokey Yunick, a man not prone to giving empty praise, said
of Thomas: “Herb Thomas could really drive. He was smart in
a race. He knew how to pace himself. He was as good as they
came and they have never given him enough credit for his ability.”
Herb Thomas’ true race of life ended peacefully at the age of
77 in Sanford, North Carolina on August 9, 2000. In a year that
has seen so much tragedy and death on the racetrack, we would
do well to remember that most drivers simply fade into the brightly
colored background as the seasons tick off one by one. Those
who burn out in a flash blind us in their passing while the
likes of Herb Thomas seem to move along seemingly unnoticed.
Perhaps that is what old-timers mean when they talk about “what’s
wrong with NASCAR these days.”
copyright 2000. Michael Smith
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NASCAR
RACING DEPARTMENTS
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NASCAR
AUCTIONS
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NASCAR
RACING WEB SITES
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