Norfolk State Grad a big item at recent Florida truck racing meet

by Hal Lamar

Well, patience for the Virginia native, now living in Atlanta has paid off.

Tompkins, co-owner of Atlanta's Wood and Tompkins Cores in the Cascade community of Atlanta, and a hopeless drag racing fan and driver put his specially designed Chevy S-10 pickup to the acid test at a recent meet in Gainesville Florida.

He missed qualifying for the finals by .03 of a second , but couldn't been happier! " There were 30 trucks in the race, " said Tompkins, in a cellphone call enroute back to Atlanta early the morning following the event. "We finished 19th. Keep in mind that some of the trucks we beat out were better financed, more experienced and with stronger sponsor backing than we had. To qualify for the semis and the finals, you had to post a time of 7.67 seconds. We posted a 7.70. But I'm happy with the way things turned out. And the truck can really perform."

Both Sam Tompkins (left) and Les Montgomery are attempting to make their marks in the lucrative sports of drag and auto racing.

Tompkins has invested close to $200,000 in his truck, employing the services of renowned builder Jerry Haas and Dave Aliosuo to construct his engine. "Both of them were pleased with the performance, " said Tompkins, a native of Dunaville, Virginia. "Naturally, we would have preferred to advance but right now, I am extremely happy with the results."

It also appears that Tompkins and his entourage stole all the attention at the Gainesville meet. They were talked about liberally by press box announcers and signed hundreds of autographs.

He now has four weeks left to prepare for the next event scheduled in Richmond Virginia. Tompkins is competing in the NHRA Pro Stock Truck category, the major leagues of auto drag racing.

Pro Stock Truck Drag Racing is a new facet to the incredibly lucrative NHRA drag racing circuit.

Please don't confuse this aspect of racing with back-road dirt events by amateurs or street corner trash talkers with souped-up old rides. The level that Tompkins will compete in is big money and big business.

NHRA drag racing has attracted millions via improved TV coverage (primarily on ESPN) and now enjoys crowds that cross the board socio-economically. It is no longer a sport which attracts only deep south rednecks who swig beers and shout obscenities between events. And more black faces are also showing up in the audience at these events.

This results in a sports which attracts $80 million annually in television rights alone. The dollar figure the sport brings in from merchandising, marketing ticket sales and concessions ... well, let's just say that it's more than the GNP of many developing nations.

Thompkins' truck nearly qualified for the finals at a recent event in Gainsville, FL. His next appearance is scheduled for Richmond, Virginia next month.

But racing of all sorts still is void of black faces as participants. Tompkins truck will become only the third owned by a black to compete at the motor racing penthouse level. The other two include Atlanta's Les Montgomery, a Florida A&M grad, who is trying hard to crack NASCAR and has picked up support of CNN-Headline News, and another brother who's attempting to break new ground in motorcycle racing.

The only man of color to win a NASCAR event was the late Wendell Scot, who did the trick over 30 years ago. Blacks like Willie T. Ribbs and others have attempted to crack the formula car market via Indianapolis and other popular venues but were stymied .. principally by money.

Sam Tompkins doesn't have a bottomless pit of funds, but he is in a position to get a better head start than most other "bloods" and ironically it was his yearn to race and compete that provided those funds.

Over 20 years ago, Tompkins and a friend, Richard Wood, wanted desperately to compete in the high echelons of auto racing. The flesh and spirit was willing but their collegtive pocketbooks were shallow and weak. Tompkins had freshly graduated from Norfolk State University, entered the Armed Forces and become an officer.

One morning, Wood stopped by his buddy's billet with an idea for making money. They would tour gas stations, garages and other places that serviced autos and, for pennies on the dollar, offer to take worn and torn engine parts off the hands of the owners. They, in turn, sold the "junk" parts to rebuilders for a sizable profit.

That started Wood and Tompkins Cores. Twenty years and some movements later, the company grosses over $5 million a year.

Despite his success, Tompkins still hungered for the track. So with his own resources, he sought out the best the sport had to offer and built his dream car. He refused to cut corners. Hass, considered the Hank Aaron of car manufacturers (his racers always hit home runs on the track) was hired to design the chassis and build the rig. Aloisio, who also serves as Tompkins' crew chief, build the engine.

Tompkins sought out and obtained the best for everything from engine to paint job. "I'm not overly concerned about finance although we are looking for sponsors," he said. "I just want to put a competitor on the track."

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