Mickey Thompson and the start of SCORE International

 

 

 Mickey Thompson and the start of SCORE International in Baja Mexico

NORRA first started the Mexican 1000, then they f'd-up and Mickey Thompson took the idea directly to the Mexicans to continue gringo Baja racing.

Mickey Thompson grabbed the desert racing situation by the ears and went at it full force in 1973. Thompson is obviously the most legendary hot rodder/high performance mover and shaker of the second half of the 20the century and his influence was felt in every form of organized racing this country has to offer.  Thompson formed SCORE, hired Sal Fish to run the thing and went racing in his own sanctioning body. One of the reasons he founded the thing (outside of the fact he was a shrewd business guy and saw the dollar signs) was to continue having racing in Mexico which he said was being "threatened".

The only real threat was Mickey might miss the profit bus. Parnelli Jones outraced Mickey and his son, as he did most other racers.

Mickey loved it and he certainly saved his bank accounts with his actions.  In the video above, Danny Thompson tells a fantastic story of he and his and his dad running hard against Parnelli Jones back in those glory days and if you read into the story it is the moment when the idea of short course off road racing was born in Thompson’s head. Jones had something spectacular happen to him that no one else saw but Thompson intrinsically knew that people would be entertained to no end watching these trucks smash, bash, and fly their way around a closed course much as they did in the open desert.  

When you combine the stories with the fantastic old still photos and stock video in this film you have yourself a little pocket masterpiece. Without Mickey Thompson there would be no SCORE International Baja 1000.

There are other forms of the sport, but few with as many deaths and destruction. There would be a lot less cool stuff without the hard nosed, hard driving, and unflappable force of nature known as Mickey Thompson. 

Maybe if Ed Pearlman was a better businessman, the Don Francisco family would be running real sporting rallies in Baja Mexico today!

Gary Newsome, Publisher, Ensenada BC, Mexico

BajaRacingNews.com