Mickey Thompson at Indy

revjimk · 4/9/20, 3:51 PM

OK, most of us have time on our hands now, right? Time to discuss some racing history. Just finished reading a Mickey Thompson biography & thought it would be a great topic
Most of the folks here seem to be nostalgic for the Offy powered front engine roadsters, hate rear engine cars & the "Eurotrashing" of the 500. Haven't followed Indy in Years, but in the 1960s, I was the exact opposite, hotrod & drag racing fan. Mickey was the most innovative guy in racing at the time, invented the slingshot dragster, first guy to go over 400 mph at Bonneville in a piston engine car, etc. I thought it was really cool when he tried something different, first guy to qualify a stock block production engine at Indy in many years. Not the "same ole same ole"....
Mickey's words: "My plan was to build a rear engined car using a chassis of my own design and a hot rod engine. What I mean by that is a relief from the standard Offy engine used at Indy-an American passenger car engine"
"To say that the officials in charge of technical inspection gave us a bad time would be the understatement of the century. They had become dreary in the monotony of their job. All of the cars, for years, had remained virtually unchanged in design"
"What was to prove so ironic & still annoying is that all of the innovations- wings; dive planes; low profile cars;wide, soft, low profile tires-are exactly the type of equipment being used at Indy today. Many of the new Formula cars express the very shape that my cars had 10 years ago. What was laughed at then is now an accepted fact"
These words were spoken in 1970, well before Mickey was murdered in 1988.
Your thoughts?

ISF · 4/9/20, 7:06 PM

Smokey Yunick goes into extensive detail concerning Mickey Thompson. Smoke said Mickey "had the balls of a dinosaur and the persistence of a hungry tiger". "He had a temper 'bout like A.J. and he was a live hand grenade with the pin pulled".

Mickey and a partner founded SEMA. Smoke said he once knocked Charlie Manson on his ass for messin' with his daughter.

By all accounts Mickey Thompson was a racer's racer. His kind no longer exists and there probably are as many reasons that is a good thing as there are reasons it's a bad thing.

According to Smokey Mickey showed up at Indy with an aluminum Oldsmobile V-8, a four wheel steer car, front wheel drive and a small block Chevy based engine with titanium pistons, rods, valves, crankshaft and rocker arms. Some of it was genius, some not so much.

PJ Wright · 4/10/20, 6:18 AM

Didn't he build the car that Dave McDonald (Indy 1964) was killed in?

davidm · 4/10/20, 7:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PJ Wright

Didn't he build the car that Dave McDonald (Indy 1964) was killed in?

Yes he did.

Dougherty20 · 4/10/20, 8:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ISF

Smokey Yunick goes into extensive detail concerning Mickey Thompson. Smoke said Mickey "had the balls of a dinosaur and the persistence of a hungry tiger". "He had a temper 'bout like A.J. and he was a live hand grenade with the pin pulled".

Mickey and a partner founded SEMA. Smoke said he once knocked Charlie Manson on his ass for messin' with his daughter.

By all accounts Mickey Thompson was a racer's racer. His kind no longer exists and there probably are as many reasons that is a good thing as there are reasons it's a bad thing.

According to Smokey Mickey showed up at Indy with an aluminum Oldsmobile V-8, a four wheel steer car, front wheel drive and a small block Chevy based engine with titanium pistons, rods, valves, crankshaft and rocker arms. Some of it was genius, some not so much.

Great article here about Dave McDonald.

https://sports.usatoday.com/2016/05/...you-cry-right/

PJ Wright · 4/10/20, 9:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dougherty20

Great article here about Dave McDonald.

https://sports.usatoday.com/2016/05/...you-cry-right/

Great article! Thanks for sharing.

revjimk · 4/10/20, 1:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PJ Wright

Didn't he build the car that Dave McDonald (Indy 1964) was killed in?

Yep, but I don't think it was Mickey's fault at all. A car slowed up in front of him, & he gt t-boned from behind. Sadly, too many guys have been killed racing, & you can't blame the builders unless it was an equipment failure (not that you're trying to blame Mickey)

revjimk · 4/10/20, 2:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dougherty20

Great article here about Dave McDonald.

https://sports.usatoday.com/2016/05/...you-cry-right/

That article makes it sound like the car was unsafe, but if USAC hadn't banned Mickey's wings & 12 inch tires, it probably would been safer. Thats how the car was designed, for a reason
I'm not qualified to judge on that. Just trying to start a discussion on the evolution of Indy cars

revjimk · 4/10/20, 2:04 PM

Driving over 160 mph with 32 other cars is intrinsically unsafe

revjimk · 4/10/20, 2:13 PM

From Mickey: "My wings were banned, and the 12 inch wheels & tires were banned. By removing the wings & small wheels (& tires), the geometry of the car's design was altered......McDonald overcame the difficulties enough to run very close to the track record and scare me senseless on several occasions. He would come charging down the front straightaway with one of the front tires completely off the ground". So if USAC banned enough to make the car unsafe, should Mickey have withdrawn? Maybe... not for me to judge. He was hardheaded

4/10/20, 6:18 AM	#3
PJ Wright Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 3,831	Didn't he build the car that Dave McDonald (Indy 1964) was killed in? __________________ You laugh because I'm different. I laugh because you're all the same. Copied from the back of the #16 supermodified.

4/10/20, 2:13 PM	#10 Re: Mickey Thompson at Indy
revjimk Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Posts: 1,893	From Mickey: "My wings were banned, and the 12 inch wheels & tires were banned. By removing the wings & small wheels (& tires), the geometry of the car's design was altered......McDonald overcame the difficulties enough to run very close to the track record and scare me senseless on several occasions. He would come charging down the front straightaway with one of the front tires completely off the ground". So if USAC banned enough to make the car unsafe, should Mickey have withdrawn? Maybe... not for me to judge. He was hardheaded