Larry Thomas (April 13, 1936 – January 25, 1965) was a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Grand National Series The name NASCAR Grand National Series refers to former names of the following NASCAR series: *National-level stock car series: **NASCAR Cup Series (known as NASCAR Grand National Series between 1950 to 1970, then the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand Nation ...

driver from

Thomasville, North Carolina Thomasville is a city in Davidson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 27,183 at the 2020 census. The city was once notable for its furniture industry, as were its neighbors High Point and Lexington. This Piedmont Triad comm ...

. Thomas died in a non-racing related car crash during the start of the 1965 NASCAR season.

Driving career

Larry Thomas began his racing career in 1956 driving hobby stocks and

modifieds Modified stock car racing, also known as modified racing and modified, is a type of auto racing that involves purpose-built cars simultaneously racing against each other on oval tracks. First established in the United States after World War II, ...

at Bowman-Gray Stadium. He began his NASCAR career in 1961 driving for Wade Younts. His best finish was seventh at

South Boston Speedway South Boston Speedway, or "SoBo", is a short track located just outside South Boston, Virginia. SoBo is located approximately east of another area familiar to most NASCAR fans, Martinsville. It is owned by Mattco, Inc., the Mattioli family tr ...

. During the 1962 season, Thomas encountered a significant number of mechanical failures which marred him in seventeenth place in the standings. His 1963 campaign did not fare much better as he ended up twenty-second in the point standings. 1964 was Thomas' breakout season. Though he still suffered quite a few mechanical failures throughout the season, he finished eighth in the final point standings and earned a career-best second-place finish at

Hickory Speedway Hickory Motor Speedway is a short track located in Hickory, North Carolina. It is one of stock car racing's most storied venues, and is often referred to as the "World's Most Famous Short Track" and the "Birthplace of the NASCAR Stars". The tr ...

. Also in 1964, Thomas was involved in a significant wreck at Jacksonville Speedway when he flipped over the Younts' owned Dodge. Thomas escaped without serious injury.

Death

Getting ready for the 1965 season, Thomas was driving to a tire test when he drove off

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and landed in a thirty-five foot embankment killing him instantly.Another race driver dies
/ref>

References

External links

Career Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Larry 1936 births 1965 deaths NASCAR drivers People from Thomasville, North Carolina Racing drivers from North Carolina Road incident deaths in Georgia (U.S. state)