Corvette racing legend Dick Thompson: 1920-2014

Dick Thompson

Think of names in the great pantheon of those who made eternal reputations with the Corvette: Arkus-Duntov, naturally. Guildstrand. Mitchell. And in with that trio was inevitably The Flying Dentist out of Washington, D.C., Dr. Dick Thompson, arguably the greatest pure Corvette racer of them all.

He died last weekend at the age of 94. Not only was Thompson a legend among Corvette competitors, but he was also one of the dwindling number of surviving links to the great postwar rise of road racing in the United States. Thompson was one of the guys who put it on the map. He came to racing late at age 32, but his very first race was a memorable one, the inaugural 12 Hours of Sebring in 1952. Thompson and his friend, Bill Kinchloe, drove down from D.C. to Florida in Thompson’s MG TC, gridded the car, finished eighth overall, then drove home.

It wasn't long until Thompson was firmly established as a curve-cutting star, winning back-to-back SCCA F Production national titles with a Porsche Super and then more hardware with a Jaguar XK 120. That was when the late John Fitch recommended Thompson to Arkus-Duntov, the Corvette impresario, who was persuading General Motors to race the car. Thompson rewarded them quickly with successive Corvette-mounted titles in C Production and B Production through 1957, copping a GT class win at Sebring for good measure.

Later, designer Bill Mitchell arranged for Thompson to race the fabled Sting Ray Racer, in which he earned the C Modified national championship. At the same time, he was competing famously for Briggs Cunningham, and then won more national titles for Corvette driving for Gulf Oil and Roger Penske. In 1965, Thompson switched to Ford, winning the GT class at Le Mans aboard a Cobra and delivering an overall win at Spa in 1967 with a Mirage, teamed with Jacky Ickx. He retired briefly but emerged to race the Howmet Turbine car for Ray Heppenstall in 1968.

In retirement from racing, Thompson enjoyed raising thoroughbred horses, motocross and sailing on the Chesapeake Bay.