Some men are born to set land speed records. Others feel their calling is creating ever more technologically advanced machines for the Indianapolis 500. Still others succumb to the siren song of long-distance desert racing. And some prefer to work behind the scenes, where they can transform the world of racing via promotion.
But Mickey Thompson was no normal man, because Mickey Thompson attacked all of those goals with gusto.
Yet for all of his accomplishments across various forms of motorsport, Thompson's legacy has since been defined by his death. In 1988, he and his wife Trudy were gunned down in the driveway of their own home. The killers have never been caught, and it took almost two decades to put the mastermind of the plot in jail.
This month on “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” we'll be talking about that murder, yes. But more than that, I want to focus on the ways Mickey Thompson transformed the world of American motorsport while he was alive, because that is the truly unbelievable part of this story.
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Bibliography
Mickey Thompson: The Fast Life and Tragic Death of a Racing Legend by Erik Arneson
Mickey Thompson: The Lost Story of the Original Speed King in His Own Words by Tom Madigan
Black Noon: The Year They Stopped the Indy 500 by Art Garner
City of Speed: Los Angeles and the Rise of American Racing by Joe Scalzo
