The Thompsons: Father (and now Son) Bonneville Legends.

Mickey and his son Danny Thompson are now father and son in a very rare group of Bonneville legends: The 400 mph club. If you haven’t kept up with your Speed Week news this year, Danny just took his father’s 50 year old Challenger II and broke the current piston-powered land speed record (AA/FS class) at a two way average of 448.75 mph. A terminal speed that absolutely smashed George Poteet Speed Demon’s 439 mph record. This is epic stuff, people. Mickey Thompson was a pioneer on the salt with his Challenger and Challenger II cars, and it’s very cool to see his son take the family race car to the next level. You can bet that Mickey is smiling down from heaven, and that’s what the spirit of the salt is all about.

Did I mention that Danny had a ‘tank slapper’ at 430 mph, going lock-to-lock at one point? Watch the video below. Legend indeed…

And here’s a little bit from Mickey and Challenger I breaking past 400 mph back in 1960: