Herb Thomas

Herbert Watson Thomas (April 6, 1923 – August 9, 2000) was a stock car racer who was one of NASCAR's most successful drivers in the 1950s.

Background

Born in the small town of Olivia in the American state of North Carolina, Thomas originally worked as a farmer and also worked in a sawmill in the 1940s before his interest turned to auto racing.

Herb Thomas was the inspiration for the character "Doc Hudson" in the movie Cars.

NASCAR career

In 1949, Thomas took part in NASCAR's first Strictly Stock (the forerunner to the Grand National and ultimately the modern Sprint Cup) race, and made four starts in the series' first year. The following year, he made thirteen appearances in the series, now renamed the Grand National division. He scored his first career win at Martinsville Speedway in a privateer Plymouth.

He started the 1951 season with moderate success in his Plymouth (plus one win in an Oldsmobile) before switching to a Hudson Hornet, at the suggestion of fellow driver Marshall Teague. Thomas won the Southern 500 rather handily in what was famously dubbed "The Fabulous Hudson Hornet", which would be the first of six wins in a two-month span. His late charge helped him narrowly defeat Fonty Flock to win the Grand National championship. With help from crew chief Smokey Yunick, Thomas subsequently became the first owner/driver to take the championship in the process.

Herb Thomas (baseball)

Herbert Mark Thomas (May 26, 1902 in Sampson City, Florida – December 4, 1991 in Starke, Florida) was a right-handed minor and major league baseball player and minor league manager. Although his major league career lasted only three seasons, 1924, 1925 and 1927, for two different teams, the Boston Braves and New York Giants, his minor league career spanned 17 seasons. He played professionally in three different decades.

Features

Thomas threw and batted right-handed. He was only 5 ft 4.5 in (1.64 m) tall and he weighed only 157 pounds.

Before professional baseball

Prior to playing professionally, Thomas served in World War I.

Professional baseball career

Thomas' minor league career began in 1922 at the age of 20 with the Jacksonville Indians. He played in 112 games with them, hitting .298 with 19 doubles, 14 triples and four home runs in 426 at-bats. The following season, Thomas played for the Daytona Beach Islanders, hitting .387 with 13 doubles, five triples and no home runs in only 297 at-bats. He played for the Islanders in 1924, who became the Clearwater Pelicans partway that season, hitting .345 with 32 doubles, eight triples and three home runs in 94 games. His minor league performance that season was so impressive that he was purchased by the Braves from Daytona Beach on August 9, and on August 18 he made his major league debut. In 32 major league games in 1924, he hit .220 with only six extra-base hits in 127 at-bats.