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After Late-Season Illness, Thompson Recovering Nicely as Sportsmen Heads into 35-Lap Spectacular

By Chuck Corder

It happened overnight.

One day last fall perennial Five Flags Speedway favorite Randy Thompson was up, walking around, enjoying life.

The next morning, the 33 year old woke up, incapable of leaving his bed.

“I couldn’t sit up it hurt so bad,� Thompson said. “It lasted a month straight where I couldn’t even move.�

He’s thankful those days are long gone. After a scary few months in late 2011, Thompson’s steely eyes are focused back on driving.

The three-time West Florida Coatings Sportsman class track champion (2007-09), and 2010 Super Stocks champ, looks for his first checkered of the season with the 35-Lap Sportsman Spectacular on Friday at Five Flags.

It will be a busy night all around for the local divisions, as Super Stocks (25 laps), Modifieds (25 laps) and Bombers (20 laps) will climb atop the famed half-mile, asphalt oval.

Admission to the grandstands is as follows: $15 adults, $14 seniors, $12 military/students (ages 12 thru 17), $5 children ages 6 to 11 and free for kids under 6. Pit passes are $25.

“We want to get back to where we were, trying to dominate and win races here at Five Flags,� said Thompson, who currently sits sixth in points.

For a while, though, his mysterious illness had many wondering if Thompson would get behind a wheel again.

“My dad (Tim) thought I was allergic to racing,� he joked.

This debilitating disease seemed to confound doctors the way Thompson confuses rival drivers on any given Friday night at Pensacola’s high banks.

On nearly a last-ditch effort — “I was getting ready go somewhere else,� he admitted — one local physician finally diagnosed Thompson with rheumatoid arthritis.

Simply put, it’s a long-term disease that leads to inflammation of the joints and surrounding tissues.

“It was weird the way it hit me,� said Thompson, who had to take six pills daily as part of his recovery. “I guess that’s why doctors couldn’t figure it out. I was down for 2 months, without any work.�

It also put a screeching halt to any racing plans he had. He was able to compete in the Super Stocks feature at last year’s Snowball Derby despite a great amount of pain.

After that painstaking experience, Thompson thought better of competing in the Sportsman’s Derby a day later.

Perhaps his biggest bout of frustration, though, was not getting to play around with his 6-year-old son Jacob.

“It was hard for a 5 or 6 year old to understand,� Thompson said.

He’s still not 100 percent, but Thompson is feeling better these days. Fresh off a third-place finish at the April 27 race, he’s hoping to take his completely rebuilt and freshly wrapped Window World No. 42 to Victory Lane on Friday.

“(That last) Friday night was the best I’ve felt in a year or two years with the car,� Thompson said. “It’s amazing. You take stuff for granted, like just getting up off the couch, until something like this happens.�

He hopes a renewed appreciation for life’s little things will once again lead to big things at Five Flags

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