Herbert Watson Thomas was born on the 6th April 1923 in the small town of Olivia, North Carolina. He worked on the family farm and at his fathers sawmill where they supplied the military with lumber during World War II. After the war ended Herb continued to work the farm and lumber business. Life continued as usual, he married and had two sons but in 1946 things were about to change. Herb went to his first Modified race at Greensboro and he was smitten. The following week Herb had his own car at the track. Over the next three years he ran a few races but didn’t win.

Herb Thomas

In 1949 Bill France Sr. organised the first NASCAR Strictly Stock race (later known as the Grand National and finally as the Sprint Cup Series) at Charlotte Speedway Herb was there! He built himself a late model car for competition, made four starts but again was winless. It was not for the want of trying, Herb was considered a hard charger and very competitive and when he didn’t win he either wrecked the car or blew the engine in his attempts to take the chequered flag. Herb reputedly said of himself, "It’s won or bust with me. Second place is never good enough." In 1950 Herb came through, he won taking the lead over Lee Petty at Martinsville Speedway. The win set Herb up for the 1951 season when he drove three different brands of cars - Plymouth, Hudson (the Fabulous Hudson Hornet) and Oldsmobile, taking them all to the victory lane. In thirty three starts he had seven victories in two months and a late charge enabled him to beat Fonty Flock giving him the Grand National Championship.

1951 saw him come in second in points for the Grand National Championship and in 1953 saw him triumph again, taking the Grand National Championship and becoming the first driver to have won the title twice. Herb won twelve races in 1954 including a second Southern 500 win, making him the first driver to have won twice at Darlington. Taking a bad spill at Charlotte Herb was out of the 1955 season for six months, having been hospitalised for several weeks but not to be beaten he said,"Don’t worry about me, I’ll be racing again by the time the Darlington500 comes up in September. And I’ll win it again too." And he was true to his word, driving his Motoramic Chevrolet to victory in the Southern 500 and despite missing twenty two of the forty five races he still managed to finish the season fifth in the points standings.

1956 saw what was to be in effect Herb’s last year in competition. Circumstances prevented him from winning the title for a third time. After winning a race in his own Chevrolet he joined the Yunick team and after securing a win for them he went to the Carl Kiekhaefer team gaining three consecutive NASCAR Grand National Series wins he returned to being an owner/driver. With only five races left in 1956 season Herb was on top of his game to win the championship and one of those races was a hundred mile race at the Cleveland County Fairground in Shelby, North Carolina. Starting in thirteenth position Herb charged for contention by the halfway point, taking second place from Thompson down the back stretch but Thompson tagged Herb’s rear bumper, spinning Herb into headfirst into the outside guard rail. His car pierced the steel plate of the guard rail, leaving Herb at the mercy of the oncoming cars. Herb’s car was hit by at least six cars, leaving him unconscious and with head injuries. He was critically injured and underwent brain surgery, miraculously recovering from his injuries. He made token appearances in 1957 and 1962 before finally retiring. "It's too much dog-eat-dog out there now," Thomas said at the time. "I used to pass everyone in the turns. Now they pass me in the turns. It's time to hang it up. There's no use in running if you can't be first." He had won the Grand National Championship twice (1951 and 1953), and came in second for that title three times (1952, 1954, and 1956). Thomas was the first driver to win three Southern 500's (1951, 1954 and 1955). He won 21% of his career starts, which ranks as the highest win percentage all-time among drivers with 100 career starts. His awards include: - Received the Buddy Schuman Award for loyalty and outstanding contributions to NASCAR auto racing in 1957, Inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame in 1965, Inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1992, Inducted in the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994 and Named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998. Sadly, on the 9th August 2000 Herb suffered a heart attached and died at the age of seventy seven in Sanford, North Carolina.

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