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Jerry Thompson
Central California Racing Legend
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This is Kearney Bowl and this is where Jerry's racing career began. Jerry began racing at Kearney in the hard top class in 1965. He quickly started traveling the hard top circuit racing at Kearney, Clovis, and San Jose Speedways; many times all in the same weekend. Jerry had a great year in 1969. He won his first Main Event at Kearny Bowl in August and then backed it up with another the following weekend. Jerry ended the year in 2nd place in the Nascar California Points Championship! ( Notice that Jerry is leading this race )
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This picture is of Jerry and his famous circle 77 hard top at Kearney Bowl in 1969. Notice the Big name drivers in the background such as Al Pombo & Marshall Sargent.
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This is a color picture so you can see that Jerry always had not only one of the fastest cars but generally the prettiest car on the track.
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Jerry's favorite track was Clovis Speedway. Jerry won the track championship at Clovis the year that it was to be closed down in 1976. That year Jerry had a chance to win the points championships at 2 racetracks Clovis and Madera Speedways. However, the last race of the season was on the same night for both tracks, so he had to decide which track to take.
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As the Hard Tops evolved into the Super Modifieds of today, Jerry stuck it out in the sport he loved. This picture shows Jerry in his last car, a Super Modified Offset Roadster. As you can see this car looks very much like the supers they run today. Jerry retired from driving in 1986.
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Jerry was elected into the Kearney Bowl Hall of Fame in 1999!
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Jerry stayed involved in racing since the first of his two sons, Rick, began racing at Madera soon after Jerry's retirement. Kevin started a few years later. In 1997 Rick and Kevin became the first Brother team to win the Madera Speedway Track Championship the same year in two differant classes.
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My Racing Links
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