John Ashley Thomson (April 9, 1922 – September 24, 1960) was an American racecar driver. Thomson was nicknamed "the Flying Scot." He won several championships in midgets and sprint cars before competing in Championship Car (now IndyCar) racing. He won the pole position for the 1959 Indianapolis 500.
Background
Thomson was born on April 9, 1922, to William and Marion Ross Thomson. He graduated from Lowell High School then the New England Aircraft School.
Thomson met his future wife Evelyn Peterson in 1951.
Thomson won his first champ car race at the Milwaukee Mile in 1955.
Complete AAA/USAC Championship Car results
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"
! Year
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
! 6
! 7
! 8
! 9
! 10
! 11
! 12
! 13
! Pos
! Points
|-
! rowspan=1| 1953
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| INDY<br><small>32</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| MIL<br><small>13</small>
| SPR<br>
| DET<br>
| SPR<br>
| MIL<br>
| DUQ<br>
| PIK
| SYR<br>
| ISF<br>
| SAC<br>
| PHX<br>
|colspan=1|
! -
! 0
|-
! rowspan=1| 1954
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| INDY<br><small>24</small>
| MIL<br><small>DNS</small>
| LAN
|style="background:#FFCFCF;"| DAR<br><small>DNQ</small>
|SPR<br>
| MIL
| DUQ<br>
| PIK
|style="background:#CFEAFF;"| SYR<br><small>9</small>
|ISF<br>
|SAC<br>
| PHX<br>
| LVG<br>
!style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 43rd
!style="background:#CFCFFF;"| 40
|-
! rowspan=1| 1955
| style="background:#DFFFDF;"| INDY<br><small>4</small>
|style="background:#FFFFBF;"| MIL<br><small>1</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;"| LAN<br><small>15</small>
| SPR<br>
| MIL<br>
| DUQ<br>
| PIK
|style="background:#DFFFDF;"| SYR<br><small>5</small>
|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| ISF<br><small>2</small>
|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| SAC<br><small>2</small>
|style="background:#DFDFDF;"| PHX<br><small>2</small>
|colspan=2|
!style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 3rd
!style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 1.380
|-
! rowspan=1| 1956
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | INDY<br><small>32</small>
|style="background:#DFDFDF;" | MIL<br><small>2</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | LAN<br><small>18</small>
|style="background:#CFEAFF;" | DAR<br><small>9</small>
|style="background:#FFDF9F;" | ATL<br><small>3</small>
|style="background:#CFEAFF;" | SPR<br><small>10</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL<br><small>14</small>
|style="background:#DFDFDF;" | DUQ<br><small>2</small>
|style="background:#FFDF9F;" | SYR<br><small>3</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | ISF<br><small>16</small>
| SAC<br><small>DNP</small>
| PHX<br>
|colspan=1|
!style="background:#CFEAFF;"| 10th
!style="background:#CFEAFF;"| 710
|-
! rowspan=1| 1957
|style="background:#CFCFFF;" | INDY<br><small>12</small>
|style="background:#FFFFBF;" | LAN<br><small>1</small>
|style="background:#DFDFDF;" | MIL<br><small>2</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | DET<br><small>18</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | ATL<br><small>17</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | SPR<br><small>14</small>
|style="background:#DFFFDF;" | MIL<br><small>4</small>
|style="background:#DFDFDF;" | DUQ<br><small>2</small>
|style="background:#FFDF9F;" | SYR<br><small>3</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | ISF<br><small>17</small>
|style="background:#DFDFDF;" | TRE<br><small>2</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | SAC<br><small>14</small>
| PHX<br>
!style="background:#CFEAFF;"| 7th
!style="background:#CFEAFF;"| 1.110
|-
! rowspan=1| 1958
|style="background:#FFDF9F;"| TRE<br><small>3</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | INDY<br><small>23</small>
|style="background:#DFFFDF;" | MIL<br><small>4</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | LAN<br><small>18</small>
|style="background:#FFDF9F;" | ATL<br><small>3</small>
|style="background:#FFFFBF;" | SPR<br><small>1</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL<br><small>22</small>
|style="background:#FFFFBF;" | DUQ<br><small>1</small>
|style="background:#FFFFBF;" | SYR<br><small>1</small>
|style="background:#DFDFDF;" | ISF<br><small>2</small>
|style="background:#DFDFDF;" | TRE<br><small>2</small>
|style="background:#FFFFBF;" | SAC<br><small>1</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | PHX<br><small>14</small>
!style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 3rd
!style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 1.520
|-
! rowspan=1| 1959
| style="background:#cfeaff; | DAY<br><small>7</small>
| style="background:#efcfff; | TRE<br><small>20</small>
| style="background:#ffdf9f; | INDY<br><small>3</small>
| style="background:#ffffbf;| MIL<br><small>1</small>
| style="background:#ffcfcf; | LAN<br><small>DNQ</small>
| style="background:#dfffdf; | SPR<br><small>4</small>
| style="background:#dfdfdf; | MIL<br><small>2</small>
| style="background:#efcfff; | DUQ<br><small>16</small>
| style="background:#efcfff; | SYR<br><small>16</small>
| style="background:#dfc484; | ISF<br><small>Wth</small>
| TRE<br>
| SAC<br>
| PHX<br>
!style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 3rd
!style="background:#FFDF9F;"| 1.400
|-
! 1960
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | TRE<br><small>20</small>
|style="background:#DFFFDF;" | INDY<br><small>5</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL<br><small>18</small>
|style="background:#FFCFCF;" | LAN<br><small>DNQ</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | SPR<br><small>9</small>
|style="background:#EFCFFF;" | MIL<br><small>23</small>
|style="background:#CFEAFF;" | DUQ<br><small>9</small>
|style="background:#DFFFDF;" | SYR<br><small>4</small>
|style="background:#DFFFDF;" | ISF<br><small>5</small>
| TRE<br>
| SAC<br>
| PHX<br>
|colspan=1|
!style="background:#CFEAFF;"| 7th
!style="background:#CFEAFF;"| 800
|}
Reference:
Indianapolis 500 results
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Year
!Car
!Start
!Qual
!Rank
!Finish
!Laps
!Led
!Retired
|-
!1953
|56
|33
|135.262
|33
|32
|6
|0
|Ignition
|-
!1954
|43
|4
|138.787
|12
|24
|165
|0
|Stalled
|-
!1955
|44
|33
|134.113
|33
|4
|200
|0
|Running
|-
!1956
|88
|18
|145.549
|2
|32
|22
|0
|Spun FS
|-
!1957
|10
|11
|143.529
|4
|12
|199
|5
|Flagged
|-
!1958
|7
|22
|142.908
|20
|23
|52
|0
|Steering
|-
!1959
|3
|1
|145.908
|1
|style="background:#ffdf9f;"| 3rd
|200
|40
|Running
|-
!1960
|3
|17
|146.443
|3
|5
|200
|10
|Running
|-
|colspan=6|Totals
|1044
|55
|
|}
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|-
!Starts
|8
|-
!Poles
|1
|-
!Front Row
|1
|-
!Wins
|0
|-
!Top 5
|3
|-
!Top 10
|3
|-
!Retired
|4
|}
World Championship career summary
The Indianapolis 500 was part of the FIA World Championship from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indy during those years were credited with World Championship points and participation. Thomson participated in eight World Championship races. He started on the pole once, set one fastest lead lap, and finished on the podium once, accumulating a total of ten World Championship points.