Dean K. Thompson (born August 30, 2001) is an American professional

stock car racing Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...

driver. He competes full-time in the

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of thr ...

, driving the No. 5

Toyota Tundra The Toyota Tundra is a pickup truck manufactured in the United States by the Japanese manufacturer Toyota since May 1999. The Tundra was the second full-size pickup to be built by a Japanese manufacturer (the first was the Toyota T100), but the ...

for

TRICON Garage TRICON Garage, formally known as David Gilliland Racing and Team DGR, is an American professional stock car racing team that competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, the ARCA Menards Series, the ARCA Menards Series East, the ARCA Menards ...

and part-time in the

ARCA Menards Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three national ...

, driving the No. 15

Toyota Camry The Toyota Camry (; Japanese: トヨタ・カムリ ''Toyota Kamuri'') is an automobile sold internationally by the Japanese auto manufacturer Toyota since 1982, spanning multiple generations. Originally compact in size (narrow-body), the Camry ...

for

Venturini Motorsports Venturini Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East, and ARCA Menards Series West. Founded in 1982 by Bill Venturini Sr., Venturini Motorsports is t ...

. He has previously competed in the

ARCA Menards Series West The ARCA Menards Series West, formerly the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, NASCAR AutoZone West Series, NASCAR Winston West Series and NASCAR Camping World West Series, is a regional stock car racing series owned and operated by the Automobile Raci ...

Racing career

Thompson began racing at the age of 5, racing quarter midgets at

Orange Show Speedway Orange Show Speedway is a race track in San Bernardino, California. It is a quarter mile in length. Opened in 1947, it is said to be the longest continually running racetrack in the west coast of United States of America. The track hosts variou ...

. After taking a break from racing, he returned in 2018 to race

late models A late model car is a car which has been recently designed or manufactured, often the latest model. (An early model car or classic car is a car old enough to be of historical interest; there is no usual intermediate term.) The precise definition ...

at the age of 16. In 2019, he ran full-time in late models and got a win at

Irwindale Speedway Irwindale is a city in the San Gabriel Valley, in Los Angeles County, California. The population was 1,422 at the 2010 census, down from 1,446 at the 2000 census. The ZIP Codes serving the area are 91010, which is shared with Duarte, 91702 ...

. In 2020 and 2021, he won the Irwindale Speedway LKQ Pick Your Part Late Model Championship with 6 wins and 14 top 5 finishes in 2020, and one win and 13 top fives in 2021. He also won rookie of the year in the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series. In 2021, Thompson moved up to the

, driving full-time for High Point Racing, the team he drove for in the Spears Southwest Tour in 2020. HPR also formed an alliance with

Sunrise Ford Racing Sunrise Ford Racing (SFR), sometimes referred to as Bob Bruncati Racing, was an American professional stock car racing team that last competed full-time in the ARCA Menards Series West. It was a subsidiary of the Sunrise Ford dealership network ...

to help their team as it was their first time fielding a car in the West Series. Thompson's best finish was 2nd at Irwindale Speedway, winning the pole and leading most of the race, only to get passed after a late restart. He finished the year with two poles, one top 5, and two top 10 finishes. On October 18, 2021, it was announced that Thompson would be driving for

Niece Motorsports Niece Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Owned by Al Niece, it currently fields No. 40 Chevrolet Silverado full-time for Dean Thompson, No. 42 Chevrolet Sil ...

in the season-finale for the main

Kansas Speedway Kansas Speedway is a tri-oval race track in the Village West area near Kansas City, Kansas, United States. It was built in 2001 and it currently hosts two annual NASCAR race weekends. The IndyCar Series also held races at the venue until 2011 ...

as well as the

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck based stock cars. The series is one of th ...

season-finale at

Phoenix Raceway Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona, near Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually including the final championship race since 2020. P ...

. On November 2, Niece announced that Thompson would drive full-time for the team in the Truck Series in 2022. Although the team did not announce his number in that announcement, it was expected that he would continue to drive the No. 44, but with

Kris Wright Kristofer Cole Wright (born July 17, 1994) is an American professional racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 68 Chevrolet Camaro for Brandonbilt Motorsports. He has also competed in sports car, ope ...

having been announced to drive the No. 44 full-time in 2022, Thompson would drive the No. 40 truck, replacing

Ryan Truex Ryan M. Truex (born March 18, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. Truex's older brother Martin was the 2017 ...

. On December 5, 2022,

announced that Thompson will drive their No. 5 truck full-time in the 2023 season.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Craftsman Truck Series

Season still in progress
Ineligible for series points

ARCA Menards Series

(

) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Menards Series West

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Dean Living people 2001 births People from Anaheim, California NASCAR drivers ARCA Menards Series drivers Racing drivers from California