Dick Thompson was like many racers of yesteryear in that he raced for the pure love of racing. Thompson raced in a time before big corporate sponsors ruled the land and before racers were doing endless commercials and hawking everything from cereal to liquor.
No, Dr. Dick Thompson, like other racers of his time, held a full time job outside of racing so that he could pay his bills. Thompson was a dentist by trade and it was evident with his racing nickname, “The Flying Dentist.”
If there was one type of car that Thompson loved to race it was the Corvette. He got his first taste of racing a few years before the Corvette actually came out and in 1952 he co-drove an MG to an eight place overall finish at historic Sebring International Raceway. He would tool around from make to make for the next several years before fate would smile nicely upon him.
In 1956 while racing in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) series he caught the eye of Corvette legend Zora Arkus Duntov. Duntov couldn’t believe the speed and grace that Thompson showed on the track. To put an exclamation point on the subject, Thompson was the only driver that year to race a factory Corvette and he won the championship in it.
From there it was on and Thompson was no longer a privateer in the racing world but rather a full fledged Corvette racer with backing from GM. He followed up his 1956 championship with four more championships in 1957, 1960, 1961, and 1962.
Then in late 1962 he was selected to test drive the all new Corvette Grand Sport racer and the tests went so well that he was selected to race the new Grand Sport and in 1963 he drove the Vette to a win at Watkins Glen International. Later that year he took third at Daytona International Speedway and he would return there in 1970 to take the checkers and claim yet another historic win for the Corvette in the GT class.
Thompson used his vast knowledge of the Corvette to write a book titled, “The Corvette Guide” in 1958. Because he never made enough money with racing or with his book to do more than cover his expenses he semi-retired a little early so that he could focus on his dentistry practice full time.
In 2000 the rest of the world got to see what the Corvette Nation already knew; that Thompson was one of the greatest Corvette racers of all time. He was honored that year by being inducted into the Corvette Hall of Fame and in doing so he took his rightful seat among the Corvette greats.
While he may have never made a mint being a racer, nevertheless a racer he was. His love for speed and the Corvette helped to solidify the Corvette as a force to be reckoned with in the world of racing and had it not been for pioneers such as The Flying Dentist the Corvette racing history would not be as illustrious as it is today.
