Shelby Thompson gets back on the track, takes Northwest racing by storm with Montana 200 victory
Shelby Thompson has built quite the racing resume over the years. Starting out driving the family’s late model as a teenager, Thompson raced against the best the Northwest has to offer. He’s even gone door to door with Kyle Busch at a late model race in Las Vegas and beat the NASCAR driver.
Since 2006, his skills have caught the attention of many in the industry as Thompson has established himself among the best in the Northwest.
When Thompson went looking for a ride to keep his career going once the family team shut down, he continued to showcase his talent with several regional teams. It was during his stint with the Killer “B” Racing team, owned by Todd Havens, that Thompson, alongside Braeden Havens, took the Inland Northwest by storm. Each driver nabbed multiple wins in big events, including Havens winning Stateline’s Idaho 200 and the Park Model Homes 125 at Spokane County Raceway while Thompson added Yakima’s Apple Cup and Wenatchee’s Neal Newberry 125 and Leonard Evans 150.
Beginning in 2018, Thompson made occasional starts while focusing on his family. Being a father to son Maverick meant stepping away from the season-long grind of driving.
In the world of racing anything is possible when it comes to driving opportunities. Never closing a door or hanging up the helmet means the phone could ring with a chance to run for a team.
Such was the case for Thompson, who on the afternoon of July 14 was mowing his lawn when the phone rang.
On the other end, his former car owner, Havens, offered the chance to race the Montana 200. One catch: Thompson needed to get to Polson, Montana, as soon as possible to run a qualifying race or the weekend could be over. The team was set to run Todd’s younger son, Jess, in the race but in the end plans changed.
“Todd lets me know that Jess wasn’t going to be able to race and offered me the ride. I get off the mower and head to Montana with my son and we make it just in time,” Thompson said.
During practice. Jess Havens was among the fastest in the 22-car field.
Still trying to get himself back into a racing groove after a spring practice incident, Havens was confident in the car’s ability, but his surgically repaired foot was giving him trouble.
“I tripped and caught myself with my foot and it swelled up bad,” Havens said. “I could walk on it but just overextended what the hardware in there would allow. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to run the whole race, so we decided to call up Shelby and I’m glad we did. Once a driver, always a driver. We were extremely happy with the weekend’s outcome after all that had happened.”
During the qualifying race, Thompson adapted to a car he’d never driven. At the end of the night, the stars began to align for a chance to win the Montana 200, he said.
“When I jumped in the car for the qualifying race, I just wanted to finish all the laps,” he said. “I got there 10 minutes before the race started, so I didn’t really have time to think about much. (Crew chief) Chuck (Carruthers) had the car rolling for me right out of the gate and from there we were off.”
In the following night’s main event, Thompson took the lead with 40 laps to go and cruised to victory. The win opened the door for him to team with Havens this weekend in the Idaho 200 at Stateline Speedway.
The last driver to win the Idaho 200 and Montana 200 in the same season was Gary Lewis (2009). Tom Sweatman and Lewis are the only drivers to win the Montana 200 and Idaho 200 in the same year. Thompson plans to keep the momentum going this weekend for a chance to add his name to the list.
“It’s a short list of drivers, so it would be cool to pull it off,” Thompson said. “Having Jess (who is set to run in a second Killer “B” car) out there will be awesome. We’re hoping for a good night. I know the team will have fast cars and great people ready to get after it.”