Herb Thomas

Herbert Watson "Herb" Thomas (born April 6, 1923 in Olivia , North Carolina ; † August 9, 2000 in Sanford , North Carolina) was an American NASCAR racing driver and one of the most successful drivers in the 1950s.

He died of a heart attack at the age of 77 . Thomas inspired the character "Doc Hudson" in the Pixar film "Cars" .

His younger brother Donald (1932-1977) was also a NASCAR racing driver and was the youngest race winner in the highest NASCAR division in 1952, before Kyle Busch (and later Joey Logano ) beat that record 53 years later.

background

Born in the small town of Olivia , North Carolina , Thomas worked as a farmer and sawmill in the 1940s before turning to automobiles.

NASCAR career

In 1949, Thomas took part in the first race of NASCAR in the Strictly Stock designated Cup series part and completed four starts in the first season. The following year he started in 13 races in the series. His first win was at Martinsville Speedway with a private Plymouth .

Herb Thomas' Fabulous Hudson Hornet

Thomas started the 1951 season with moderate success in his Plymouth and a win in an Oldsmobile , before switching to a Hudson Hornet on the recommendation of his driver colleague Marshall Teague . Thomas won the Southern 500 easily and simply, making the car known as the Fabulous Hudson Hornet . That win was only one of six in two months. With this late attack in the season, Thomas won the championship just ahead of Fonty Flock . With the help of his crew chief Smokey Yunick, he became the first driver and car owner in personal union to win the championship.

In the following season in 1952, Thomas and his Hornet (German "Hornisse") were again involved in a close race for the title in the fight with a Flock, namely with Fonty's younger brother Tim Flock . Both drivers were able to win eight times each season, but in the end Flock secured the championship with a small margin.

The answer to the narrow defeat in the title race was provided by Thomas in the 1953 season, which he dominated and in which he won a total of twelve times. At the end of the season he was the series' first two-time champions. Thomas achieved the same number of victories in the 1954 season, including in the Southern 500, but was defeated in the championship by the overall more reliable driving Lee Petty .

After four successful years with the Hudson, Thomas switched to Chevrolets and Buicks in the 1955 season . A serious accident at the wheel of a Buick during a race in Charlotte , North Carolina , forced him to take a six-month break. On his return he won the Southern 500 for the third time, this time in a Chevrolet. With two more victories in the season, he finished the championship in fifth.

In the 1956 season he briefly gave up his role as driver and team owner at the same time after he scored an early win of the season. For Yunick he was able to bring in one victory and three victories in consecutive races for Carl Kiekhaefer . Towards the end of the season he was his own team boss again and was defeated in the battle for the championship by Buck Baker when he was seriously injured while racing in Shelby , North Carolina . This accident marked the end of his NASCAR career, although he started for two races in 1957 and one in 1962, but was unsuccessful.

Web links

Driver statistics on racing-reference.info