Folks Of Interest Jr Thompson passes

That is sad to hear as I saw he and Cook race each other one Sunday afternoon at the Beach in 60', and that race light my fire to build my 37' B/Gasser

R.I.P. Jr.

Sincerely Don Nowell

 

We are losing the Gassers at an alarming rate.

 

So sorry to hear the news about Junior. I always and will continue to proudly display a Junior Thompson Racing Engines decal on my coupe. He once told me he enjoyed racing against Jack Coonrod whilst match racing. Junior sent me his time card many years ago. I even have a Magneto for HEMI engine that Jr once used in his race cars. Vale Junior Thompson. You will be remembered as a Legend.

 

Rest in Peace Junior Thompson. As Marty Strode said, that Gasser Files interview was a real treat, as well as watching that coverage of the '87 Nationals in Fremont.

 

hello,
sorry for your loss. it was fun watching and learning from the early cars and racers. here are a couple of movie clips i took in 1960 of early jr thompson in a street roadster that won almost every weekend at lions.
thanks,
jnaki
early 1960

also his famous studebaker gasser at lions...against al hirshfield 1960

 

Treasure trove of mech. fuel injection knowledge is lost. RIP Junior..

 

Thank goodness his ole buddy Ted Radoumis (Energizer Willys P/U) is still with us for that very reason. Ted has set up "several" mechanical systems for the street, mostly on supercharged engines.
The phone still rings at Hilborn every day and Don Enriquez answers those same questions, but Junior will be missed.
I read in the latest Gasser Magazine that Ernest will be doing a tribute to him in an upcoming edition.

 

From what I heard Junior was very savvy at making Hilborn 4 holers work on the street. I remember when Teds PU was in PHR back in the seventies.

 

Condolences to the Thompson family and friends on the passing of JR. Pretty awesome bunch of go fast hotrods there. Definitely lived life in a fast way...x2 thanks for sharing those photos everyone...
Regards,
Stogy

 

We did one on Joe Russo's 40. Ted set it up and Junior was there for the initial fireup. Worked great. A little more involved than EFI, but that's not traditional.
Good memory.

 

Jr. built awesome engines. He also assembled very successfull baby Dodge and Desoto Hemis. R.I.P. Junior. I think the best thing he did was the street monsters he built.

 

Sorry to hear, another Legend passes.

 

Not sure how I missed this thread or his passing. One of all time heroes! GODS SPEED!

 

Hello, (bringing up an old thread, but something was not right)
In retrospect, Junior Thompson lives on in people's memories as to when they saw the myriad of cars throughout drag racing history. Our memory was in 1958-60 at Lions and Riverside. Sorry, but the movie clip of Jr. Thompson's black, Studebaker sedan that beat just about everyone, including Al Hirshfield does exist. Here it is in real color from Lions in 1960. Junior's cars were always fast and very loud.
Somehow the original clip got deleted from You Tube.
Thanks for all of your information and support Rhonda T...
Again, sorry for your loss...
Jnaki

 

Hello,
Here is another race with Jr. Thompson racing in a Lions "specialty," a 3 across race in the Gasser class. Watch his second gear shift... that is a power shift...
Jnaki