Clint Thompson Finishes Second in Division, Eleventh Nationally

Clint Thompson Finishes Second in Division, Eleventh Nationally

Pomona - The Thompson Racing Team ended the year in pretty good shape, finishing second in the Northwest Division 6 Top Alcohol Funny Car standings and just missed the top ten nationally by finishing eleventh. To have made the top ten, Clint Thompson needed to win the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals.

Unfortunately, Thompson was unable to reach that benchmark. The team began fighting gremlins on and off beginning at the Reynolds, Georgia division race “We had ignition problems. The car was shutting down as it was going down the track then it would start up again. We came home to Oregon and serviced the car before the Las Vegas races and I thought I had the problem fixed. On the second round of qualifying at the national event in Las Vegas, the car shut itself off so it didn’t get it fixed” Thompson said.

The team got the ignition problem fixed Friday night at the nationals but then another problem popped up as the team began burning pistons the following week at the Las Vegas divisional race in both the semis and the final rounds.

The problem continued into Pomona as the team burned a piston in the opening round of qualifying. The problem happened again in the second stanza but banged the blower too putting the team on the bubble. After a short turn around time the team made a good lap qualifying the Thompson entry 10th with a 5.66 at 252 MPH. “The crew did a fantastic job getting the car turned around in such a short time. My wife Danette, Bob Miner, Ronn Boehlke, and Will Stone really worked hard” Thompson said.

In round one, Thompson met up with John Lombardo, whom he saw plenty of in Vegas. Lombardo got off the line first and held on to take the win even though Thompson had a better ET. Lombardo recorded a 5.68 at 259 MPH to Thompson’s quicker 5.65 at 253 MPH. “ I feel bad for my crew that I lost on a hole shot. After I had that 0.15 light against him in Vegas, I knew he would be on his game and he was” Thompson explained. Summing up his Pomona outing, Thompson added, "probably the best thing all weekend was the surprise visit from my brother Tyler. It was great to see him and he jumped in and helped on Friday between rounds when we were thrashing."

In looking back at the season the team had a lot of success along with the mechanical pitfalls that are common in drag racing. The team had four final round appearances and traveled extensively this Fall as they were on the road 62 out of 68 days. Thompson was very appreciative of everyone’s help. “We had a musical crew this year with different guys helping at different events and I want to thank the cast of characters in the Team Thompson crew including:my wife Danette Thompson, Ronn Boehlke, Bob Miner, Vic Miller, Will Stone, Dan Hix, Hal Westerlund, Ross Davison, and Tyler Williams ”.