Tommy Tompkins grew up with a fascination for anything that was mechanical. As a young boy he would watch his family's black and white T.V off of the reflection on a glass door. This allowed the picture to be viewed in color. Basically born with a mechanical ability, drag racing was a natural leap for Tommy.
One night, while out riding around his hometown in Shreveport, La, Tommy was introduced to the sport of drag racing by one of his Four brothers. As the two of them stood near the top end of the race track, they watched as a pair of cars raced past. From that point on Tommy knew that he wanted to be as involved in the sport of drag racing as possible.
Throughout the next few years, he had an assortment of street rods including a 68 Camaro, an Anglia Panel Truck and numerous Corvettes. As you would expect, Tommy wanted to race anything that he could get his hands on. But his first race car was not exactly what most would choose to start out with. Tommy made his first voyage down the quarter mile in his families station wagon and to this very day his Dad still does not know !
As the years progressed so did the need for speed. Tommy drove all sorts of drag cars from a front engine dragster to a pro stock style Vega. In 1981, he had to sell all of his racing equipment due to a lack of help. Over the next few years, he concentrated on his career as an engineer and would work with cars when time would allow.
In 1992 Tommy with the help of son Tom and brother Philip, fielded a 23-T Brogie roadster in super comp. The team had alot of fun with the car and wowed fans and starting line crews with half track burnouts. The car was powered by a big block Chevorlet built by Tommy and blue printed by Reher-Morrision. The car never made a completly straight pass but, did run an early shut off 8.72sec at 157mph.
For the past few years Tommy has been working hard to get his job placemnet agency, Pro/Tech off the ground. His hard work and dedication to business has payed off. He now has his sights set on running a very competitive rear engine dragster that will be completely modern unlike the roadster that he last drove.
Email: ttompki@bellsouth.net
