It All Began in 1940 at Thompson …
In May of 1940, Louis J. D’Amore of
D’Amore had been watching races on dirt and board tracks since he was a kid in the early 1930s, but this May 26th opening of the Thompson Speedway was to be something new and exciting. Property owner John Hoenig had constructed the largest race track in the northeast and had bucked conventional wisdom by making the racing surface out of macadam instead of the traditional dirt, clay or wood that topped most tracks of the day. Hoenig had built the first ‘asphalt’ race track in the
“Nobody had a dime, said D’Amore. We had been racing on dirt with our home built Sprint Car. But, in spite of the asphalt and the track’s size, we decided to head for Thompson anyway,” he said. The D’Amore # 10 Sprint Car was built on a home made chassis and was powered by an Ambler Engine. David “Dizzy” Vance, a former motorcycle racer from
The procedure of the day was to run each racecar in time trials and then line them up in qualifying heats to determine starting positions in the main event. For those not making the field in their heat race, there was one final chance. A consolation race was the final opportunity to start the feature race. But, only the winner of the ‘consi’ would get that last starting spot. There was also a match race featuring the day’s three fastest cars.
Opening day had brought virtually every big name in the sport. The grandstands, made from trees that had been blown down in the hurricane, were full and when the time trial session was complete, it was the D’Amore #10 that had set the fast time of the day at 26.4 seconds. “Dizzy” Vance then drove the D’Amore #10 to a win in the very first qualifying race at Thompson.
Once the qualifying heats and the consolation race were completed, the race teams worked feverishly to improve the performance of their dirt track racecars. After all, none had ever competed on a hard and fast surface like they encountered on that day in May of 1940.
The feature event cars were then lined up and the green flag dropped on the field of twelve cars. Excitement filled the air and the cars roared down the long straight-a-ways and slid sideways through the turns just as if they were on a dirt track. The competition was fierce, but when the final flag flew on this historic opening day, it was the D’Amore #10 that had done it all. Yes, “Dizzy” Vance had set fast time, won his qualifying heat and then went on to claim victory in the very first feature race ever run at the Thompson Speedway.
Today at age 90, Louis J. D’Amore is an encyclopedia of racing knowledge and is as spry as a man 30 years his junior. He recalls that first race day at Thompson Speedway like it was yesterday. He guides friends and visitors through album after album of photos taken over the years and will relate the story behind every picture. He was at Thompson on
Sources: Russ Dowd/Thompson