Johnny Thomson
John "Johnny" Thomson ( born April 9, 1922 in Lowell, Massachusetts, † September 24, 1960 in Allentown, Pennsylvania) was an American race car driver.
Career
Johnny Thomson, whose nickname " Flying Scotsman ", was won in 1948 the Midget UCOA - New England Championship with 32 wins this season. This title win he was able to repeat 1950. In 1952, he won overall in the AAA Eastern Midget Championship.
Thomson denied 1953-1960 69 AAA National Series races, of which he won seven. 43 times he finished a race in the top ten. 1955, 1958 and 1959, he came third in the championship.
In the 500 miles of Indianapolis, he was seven times at the start, plus he took over once the car of another driver. His best result was the third place in 1959 in a Lesovsky - Offenhauser, after he had held the pole position in 1955, he was fourth on a Kuzma - Offenhauser. Since the 500 miles of Indianapolis counted from 1950 to 1960 the world championship of Formula 1, Thomson also participated in eight World Championship races. Overall, Thomson scored ten points for the drivers' world championship.
With his victory at the Langhorne 100 1957 was Thomson was the first rider to finish a 100 - mile race in under an hour. His career was crowned in 1958 with the overall victory in the USAC Sprint Car Series.
On September 24, 1960 he was killed in a sprint car racing in Allentown in the first round.