Dean Thompson (racing driver)

For persons of a similar name, see Dean Thompson (disambiguation).

Dean Kenneth Thompson (born August 30, 2001) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 5 Toyota Tundra for Tricon Garage, and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 26 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. He has previously competed in the ARCA Menards Series and ARCA Menards Series West.

Dean Thompson
Thompson at Daytona International Speedway in 2023
Born	Dean Kenneth Thompson (2001-08-30) August 30, 2001 (age 23) Anaheim, California, U.S.
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
2 races run over 1 year
Car no., team	No. 26 (Sam Hunt Racing)
First race	2024 BetMGM 300 (Charlotte)
Last race	2024 United Rentals 250 (Talladega)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
67 races run over 4 years
Truck no., team	No. 5 (Tricon Garage)
2023 position	20th
Best finish	16th (2024)
First race	2021 Lucas Oil 150 (Phoenix)
Last race	2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race (Phoenix)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 11 0
ARCA Menards Series career
12 races run over 3 years
ARCA no., team	Nos. 20/55 (Venturini Motorsports)
Best finish	24th (2023, 2024)
First race	2021 General Tire 150 (Phoenix)
Last race	2024 Bush's Beans 200 (Bristol)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 11 1
ARCA Menards Series East career
3 races run over 1 year
ARCA East no., team	No. 55 (Venturini Motorsports)
Best finish	21st (2024)
First race	2024 Circle City 200 (IRP)
Last race	2024 Bush's Beans 200 (Bristol)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 3 0
ARCA Menards Series West career
9 races run over 3 years
Best finish	13th (2021)
First race	2021 General Tire 150 (Phoenix)
Last race	2023 Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 100 (Phoenix)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 3 2
Statistics current as of October 8, 2024.

Racing career

Thompson's car at All American Speedway in 2021

Thompson's No. 40 truck at Sonoma Raceway in 2022

Thompson's No. 5 truck at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2024.

Thompson began racing at the age of 5, racing quarter midgets at Orange Show Speedway. After taking a break from racing, he returned in 2018 to race late models at the age of 16. In 2019, he ran full-time in late models and got a win at Irwindale Speedway. In 2020 and 2021, he won the Irwindale Speedway LKQ Pick Your Part Late Model Championship with 6 wins and 14 top 5 finishes in 2020, and one win and 13 top fives in 2021. He also won rookie of the year in the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series.^[1]

In 2021, Thompson moved up to the ARCA Menards Series West, driving full-time for High Point Racing, the team he drove for in the Spears Southwest Tour in 2020. HPR also formed an alliance with Sunrise Ford Racing to help their team as it was their first time fielding a car in the West Series.^[2] Thompson's best finish was 2nd at Irwindale Speedway, winning the pole and leading most of the race, only to get passed after a late restart. He finished the year with two poles, one top 5, and two top 10 finishes.

On October 18, 2021, it was announced that Thompson would be driving for Niece Motorsports in the season-finale for the main ARCA Menards Series at Kansas Speedway as well as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season-finale at Phoenix Raceway.^[3] On November 2, Niece announced that Thompson would drive full-time for the team in the Truck Series in 2022.^[1] Although the team did not announce his number in that announcement, it was expected that he would continue to drive the No. 44, but with Kris Wright having been announced to drive the No. 44 full-time in 2022, Thompson would drive the No. 40 truck, replacing Ryan Truex. On December 5, 2022, Tricon Garage announced that Thompson will drive their No. 5 truck full-time in the 2023 season.^[4] On April 1, 2023, Thompson was injured in a scary crash at Texas Motor Speedway during the SpeedyCash.com 250. It would result in him being transported by ambulance on a stretcher. On November 17, it was announced that Thompson will return to Tricon Garage for the 2024 season.^[5]

In 2024, Thompson would make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at Charlotte, driving the No. 26 for Sam Hunt Racing.^[6]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Xfinity Series

NASCAR Xfinity Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	NXSC	Pts	Ref
2024	Sam Hunt Racing	26	Toyota	DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	COA	RCH	MAR	TEX	TAL	DOV	DAR	CLT 34	PIR	SON	IOW	NHA	NSH	CSC	POC	IND	MCH	DAY	DAR	ATL	GLN	BRI	KAN	TAL 20	ROV	LVS	HOM	MAR	PHO	99th	01	[7]

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	NCTC	Pts	Ref
2021	Niece Motorsports	44	Chevy	DAY	DRC	LVS	ATL	BRD	RCH	KAN	DAR	COA	CLT	TEX	NSH	POC	KNX	GLN	GTW	DAR	BRI	LVS	TAL	MAR	PHO 21		73rd	16	[8]
2022		40		DAY 36	LVS 11	ATL 34	COA 29	MAR 36	BRD 16	DAR 15	KAN 22	TEX 29	CLT 28	GTW 14	SON 24	KNX 23	NSH 14	MOH 27	POC 24	IRP 29	RCH 35	KAN 23	BRI 32	TAL 34	HOM 23	PHO 21	23rd	279	[9]
2023	Tricon Garage	5	Toyota	DAY 36	LVS 16	ATL 30	COA 35	TEX 28	BRD 12	MAR 21	KAN 32	DAR 9	NWS 35	CLT 3	GTW 34	NSH 33	MOH 33	POC 8	RCH 25	IRP 32	MLW 15	KAN 15	BRI 35	TAL 3	HOM 16	PHO 7	20th	370	[10]
2024				DAY 24	ATL 10	LVS 30	BRI 23	COA 9	MAR 33	TEX 16	KAN 8	DAR 29	NWS 27	CLT 9	GTW 14	NSH 28	POC 9	IRP 9	RCH 32	MLW 19	BRI 14	KAN 13	TAL 32	HOM 15	MAR 17	PHO 15	16th	469	[11]

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

ARCA Menards Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Menards Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	AMSC	Pts	Ref
2021	High Point Racing	51	Ford	DAY	PHO 15	TAL	KAN	TOL	CLT	MOH	POC	ELK	BLN	IOW	WIN	GLN	MCH	ISF	MLW	DSF	BRI	SLM		56th	65	[12]
	Niece Motorsports	40	Chevy																				KAN 8
2023	Venturini Motorsports	25	Toyota	DAY	PHO	TAL	KAN 2													KAN 8	BRI	SLM	TOL	24th	199	[13]
		15						CLT 2	BLN	ELK			POC 4	MCH	IRP	GLN	ISF	MLW	DSF
		55									MOH 10	IOW
2024				DAY	PHO	TAL	DOV	KAN 3					IRP 9	SLM	ELK	MCH	ISF	MLW 7	DSF	GLN	BRI 5	KAN	TOL	24th	183	[14]
		20							CLT 7	IOW	MOH	BLN

ARCA Menards Series East

ARCA Menards Series East results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	AMSEC	Pts	Ref
2024	Venturini Motorsports	55	Toyota	FIF	DOV	NSV	FRS	IOW	IRP 9	MLW 7	BRI 5	21st	111	[15]

ARCA Menards Series West

ARCA Menards Series West results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	AMSWC	Pts	Ref
2021	High Point Racing	51	Ford	PHO 15	SON 6	IRW 2*	CNS 11	IRW	PIR	LVS 14	AAS 17	PHO 22				13th	225	[16]
2022	Niece Motorsports	40	Chevy	PHO	IRW	KCR	PIR	SON 15	IRW	EVG	PIR	AAS	LVS	PHO		59th	29	[17]
2023	Venturini Motorsports	20	Toyota	PHO	IRW	KCR	PIR	SON	IRW	SHA	EVG	AAS	LVS	MAD	PHO 2	39th	42	[18]

References

1. "Dean Thompson Joins the Niece Motorsports Lineup for a Full Time Effort in 2022". jayski.com. November 2, 2021. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
2. Srigley, Joseph (February 2, 2021). "Dean Thompson and High Point Racing Competing for ARCA West Championship in 2021". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
3. "Dean Thompson to run Phoenix Truck race with Niece Motorsports". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. October 18, 2021. Retrieved November 6, 2021.
4. Utter, Jim (December 5, 2022). "Dean Thompson joins Tricon Toyota NASCAR Truck program". Motorsport.com. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
5. Srigley, Joseph (October 23, 2023). "Dean Thompson Returning for Second Season at TRICON Garage in 2024". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
6. Srigley, Joseph (May 20, 2024). "Dean Thompson to Make Xfinity Debut for Sam Hunt Racing at Charlotte". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved May 20, 2024.
7. "Dean Thompson – 2024 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 24, 2024.
8. "Dean Thompson – 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
9. "Dean Thompson – 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
10. "Dean Thompson – 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
11. "Dean Thompson – 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
12. "Dean Thompson – 2021 ARCA Menards Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
13. "Dean Thompson – 2023 ARCA Menards Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 9, 2023.
14. "Dean Thompson – 2024 ARCA Menards Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved May 4, 2024.
15. "Dean Thompson – 2024 ARCA Menards Series East Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 15, 2024.
16. "Dean Thompson – 2021 ARCA Menards Series West Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
17. "Dean Thompson – 2022 ARCA Menards Series West Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
18. "Dean Thompson – 2023 ARCA Menards Series West Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 4, 2023.

External links

• Official website
• Official profile at Tricon Garage
• Dean Thompson driver statistics at Racing-Reference