VERMILLION COUNTY SPEEDWAY
DANVILLE, ILLINOIS
MAY 2, 2009

Al Thomas is 74 years old.... yes ...... that is right....74 years old.... He even showed me his drivers licenses to prove it... in August he will be 75..... He has been racing for 38 years......he is a very young 74 I might add...

Al lives in Ludlow, Illinois with his wife Janet... They had three children..Jeanne, Steve and Jeff.... unfortunately they lost their son Jeff....

He runs the #72 sprint with a Dynamitte Chassi and a 410 FoxCo Engine....
Reason behind his number.........told me that his first sprint had the #27...he ran it for two years and then his son took the number and changed it around making it #72...

He claims Vermillion County as his hometrack... His favorite track to run however is the ACTION Track in Terre Haute, Indiana..

Al told me he started racing at age 35 in a sprint..
He told me that he had waited until age 35 to start racing because his priorities laid with his family... they came first.... He waited until he had his kids raised before considering racing...
I asked him what had inspired him to start racing .........he told me that he had been a fan of racing since highschool....

The driver that he most admires and has tried to copy is JIM MOYHAN "gentleman Jim"..
He told me he had watched Jim race when he was a teen and wanted to be like him.. He said that he even had the opportunity to race against him....

To be a good driver Al said you need to have a lot of common sense .....and patience.....

I asked Al if he had a goal in racing and added that he must have met all his expectations at age 74.... He told me that he never started out to have a goal...He said he just wanted to have fun and be competitive... He told me he has a lot of respect for his fellow drivers...

I asked Al who had been a tough competitor of his.... He told me BUBBIE JONES (who he said is in the Hall of Fame)..Bubbie has been retired for ten years...
He also added the son of Bubbie.... Tony Jones who has also retired... Said Tony was very tough but very fair..... ..
He also named Doug Wolfgang who raced with or does race with the World of Outlaws.....

I asked Al if there was anything in racing he felt needed changed.... He told me that he did not start racing to make money.... He said that he thinks Vermillion County is doing everything it can to help make it affordable ... He said it needs to get back to being a family orienated sport....

A Racing Highlight for him.......... he told me that anytime you win it stands out....
He told me that he had won the Sportsmanship Award three years in a row at the Springfield Speedway (track closed in 1987)..
He was in the very first World of Outlaw race in Texas...
He has raced with: Tony Stewart; Jeff Gordon; Ryan Newman; Dave Blaney; Kenny Schrader; John Andretti and Gary Bettenghouser...
......................wow.........................................what a career he has had....and still having !!!!!!

Al does not care whether he races the high groove or the low groove..he said he will be wherever the track dictates...
He does like to race a dry slick track....

His Crew Chief is Bill Wiedman who has been with him since 1986
Team Members are Jordan, his grandson; Mike Hook and all his friends that show up to help him out....

He wanted to give a special thanks to his wife for letting him do this !!!

Oh my Al.... I don't even know how to begin telling you what a joy it was talking with you.... You said that Jim Moyhan was someone you molded your career after... I sure think you are someone the younger generation can look up to as well...
I am so glad I got to meet you...thanks so much for the interview....

cj


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Click to view attachmentBill Wiedman