The fast life and tragic death of ‘world’s fastest man’ Mickey Thompson
WHEN a businessman and former racing driver was murdered in the driveway of his California home, it took more than a decade to bring his killer to justice.
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THIRTY years ago today, former racer and speed record holder turned racing promoter and businessman, M ickey Thompson lifted the garage door and walked toward his van, while his wife Trudy reversed out her car. It was March 16, 1988, and they were both on their way to work. But neither saw the two men who rod bicycles up the drive of their Bradbury, California, house until it was too late.
The hooded African-American men jumped from their bikes, brandishing guns. One man shot at Thompson, wounding but not killing him, while the other grabbed Trudy and pointed a gun at her head. Thompson yelled, “Don’t hurt my baby. Don’t hurt my wife”, before the hooded thug pulled the trigger, killing her instantly. Then it was Thompson’s turn to die.
For Thompson, a man who had been involved in some of the most dangerous forms of driving — he had been the first American to break 400m/h (about 600km/h) in a vehicle with a piston-driven engine — his life ended on a driveway.
Police took more than a decade to solve the crime and bring the man behind the murders to justice.
Marion Lee “Mickey” Thompson was born in Allambra, California on December 7, 1928. As a child his parents noticed he had a knack for tinkering and a love of cars. At nine his father took him to see John Cobbs break the land speed record on a salt flat in Utah.
As a child he built his own petrol-powered toy car and soapbox derby racer. At 14 he bought himself a 1927 Chevy and raced it around dry California lake beds.
At the time there was a growing culture of “hot rodding” where cars raced each other in a strait line on streets or dry lakes. In the early ’50s the sport was still mostly illegal, but there were moves to create legal drag race courses.
After leaving school Thompson got a job as a newspaper press operator. He used his money to pay for his racing habit, building cars from parts salvaged from junkyards.
In his 20s he competed in organised drag races and road races, and in 1955 built and managed one of the first legal drag-racing tracks at Long Beach. He is credited with creating the “Christmas tree” starting lights, replacing the starter who held a flag. He also built the first slingshot-style drag racing car with the seat behind the rear wheels.
Thompson then pursued a long-held dream to break the land speed record. He made several attempts in cars he built before his recording-breaking 406.6m/h at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in 1960. But his car broke down before a second run, so he never officially held the record. However, he was dubbed the “world’s fastest man”.
That spurred him on to a brief flirtation with speed boats, which ended with a crash that saw him hospitalised for six months. He refused to accept the doctor’s prognosis that he would never walk or race again and, within a year, he was jogging.
In 1962 he decided to tackle the Indianapolis 500; in doing so he revolutionised tyre design, primarily for racing cars. He later began a tyre manufacturing business that continues to this day under the name the Mickey Thompson Tyre Company.
In the late ’60s he first experienced off-road racing and, in 1973, founded SCORE International, a body governing the sport. In 1978 he had the idea to build an off-road style course in a stadium, to bring it to a bigger audience.
Since 1972 Michael Frank Goodwin had been running something similar involving motorbikes known as Supercross — coined from Superbowl of Motorcross. In the early ’80s Goodwin and Thompson joined forces.
But the partnership turned bad and in 1987 Thompson launched a lawsuit against Goodwin saying he had been stealing money. When Goodwin lost the case, it put him out of business and he was heard to say of Thompson “I’m going to take him out”.
Thompson and his family received death threats before and on March 16, 1988, Mickey and his wife were murdered. Police ruled out robbery as a motive, because Thompson still had $500 cash on him. They soon suspected Goodwin, but initially couldn’t find evidence to connect him to the killing.
Convinced Goodwin was behind the murder, Mickey’s sister Collene Campbell put pressure on the police to continue their search for evidence. She posted a reward of US$1 million and convinced TV producers to feature the case on shows like America’s Most Wanted, appealing for witnesses or information.
Goodwin was arrested in 2001 but the case collapsed and he was released. But he was later ordered to stand trial for Thompson’s murder. At the 2007 trial no evidence was presented to link Goodwin to the crime, but the jury found the testimony of more than a dozen witnesses about death threats compelling enough to put him behind bars for life. But the men who pulled the trigger have never been found.
Originally published as The fast life and tragic death of ‘world’s fastest man’ Mickey Thompson