Jimmy “Pup” Thomas: When a Tire Guy is More Than a Tire Guy

The late Jimmy Thomas, the man affectionately known as “Pup,” worked for years as a Hoosier tire guy. However, he wasn’t just a tire guy. For many, in the racing community and beyond, they also called Pup a “friend.” Not a Facebook friend, but a true friend. The one that’d be there for you when you needed it.

First Taste of Racing for Jimmy Thomas

This time of year, Pup would be busy finding lap sponsors for the Buddy Rogers Memorial. The annual event at Tennessee’s Tazewell Speedway remembers a longtime late model driver who lost his fight against cancer. The race, sanctioned by the Southern All Stars Series and held this Sunday, September 1, raises funds for the American Cancer Society via $44 lap sponsors*, with all the money going to the charity. Pup didn’t keep a cent.

He got his start in the sport with the race’s namesake by doing what Pup did best — helping people.

“He worked for Jim Smith’s Truck Parts … and it was Buddy Rogers’ sponsor,” said Chris Corum, a longtime friend of Pup’s who had worked with him at Hoosier. “Pup started going to the races with Buddy’s sponsor … and he started helping Buddy. Through that, he met Doug [Sopha] at Hoosier and took a position with Doug.”

Hoosier Tire South launched Pup into the middle of the racing community, a spot he loved being in. In that role, he became a trusted confidant. After all, if one could keep secrets about which tires a racer was using, especially back in the days of open tire rules, he should be able to keep other secrets about other things as well.

* To sponsor a lap for this year’s Buddy Rogers Memorial, call/text Brady Cupp at 423-218-6167.

Making Friends, With Almost Anybody

In that role, he got to know many of the greats. Bloomquist. McDowell. Owens. Purvis. However, Pup didn’t only pay attention to the heavy hitters. For example, he got to know Cindy Knowles. Knowles, whose husband Wade and and son Jake race, also organizes the Cruise with the Champions. Pup never missed a good time, such as a cruise, and certainly left an impression on all.

“He would go out of our group of 150 to 200 people and meet other people on the cruise,” Knowles said. “We had a private cocktail party for our group. Pup had met this special-needs teenager, and his mom and dad. He had asked me if they could come to our party. I was like, sure. He would always come with Hoosier apparel, and with this kid, he gave him a little care package [of Hoosier swag]. He just had a heart of gold.”

Knowles added that Pup often made friends with others on the cruise, often going on side excursions with them and getting invited to their parties. He made friends with just about everybody. Well, almost everybody.

“Pup once went down to boat jail,” said Knowles, who visited him there along with late model driver Dale McDowell. “There used to be a topless deck, so he went up there, with his camera, and it would’ve been perfectly fine. Donald Trump’s son, Donald Jr., the college he was going to, a lot of them were on this cruise, and all of them were on the topless deck, not being topless, but being away from everybody. Pup knowing who he was wanted a picture of him. They were going to keep Pup’s camera, but he had other pictures from the cruise on there. So, we had to let the boat police go through his camera and delete those pictures so he could keep his camera.”

Side Excursions

Many remember Pup for his interests beyond racing. He knew the best places to eat near a racetrack and readily recommended them. Pup talked about Grainger tomatoes, Florida strawberries, and often shared them with those who came to visit him at the Hoosier trailer.

He even traveled to New England, bringing late model driver Pierce McCarter with him, in the quest to find the biggest pumpkins. Pup loved Halloween. He decked out his house in Halloween decorations, which both gave him and his neighbors great joy.

“The National 100 [at East Alabama Motor Speedway] used to fall on Halloween,” said Knowles. “Pup would bring one of his big pumpkins, and during the day he’d get kids around there and they would carve the pumpkin. He would have this inflatable costume, and he’d put it on.”

Pup loved people, and seemingly never met a stranger. His enthusiasm for life drew people in. That applied to other communities he was a part of.

“A lot people who knew Pup, who were at his funeral service, didn’t realize how connected he was to his church and the community around the church,” Brady Cupp, Tazewell Speedway track announcer, said. “He was an usher. Pup was one of the first ones there. He rang the bell every Sunday and he did so enthusiastically … [The pastor of the funeral service] said, ‘If you look at the bell, you’ll see marks on the bell. That’s how hard he hit it.’”

His Secret: He Really Knew Tires

Pup loved talking about things other than racing at the track. However, at the races Pup sold Hoosier tires, and he sold many of them when racers could have bought rubber from other sources. There’s a good reason for that.

“His knowledge of tires, he didn’t get the credit for that,” said Knowles.

Those who knew, knew, but sometimes they didn’t see it through his personality.

“With how jovial and goofy he acted sometimes, Pup had a lot of technical knowledge,” Corum said. “Pup came up in the days where you’d have 10 different compound and tire constructions to choose from. There were no tire rules.”

Pup spoke a lot with the top names of dirt late model racing, such as Bloomquist and also Jeff Purvis.

“I talked with Jeff,” said Corum. “He told me that he wanted people to know he relied on Pup’s suggestions on many nights and won many races [because of it].”

Pup didn’t limit that advice to the top racers, either.

“The lower division classes, like the hobbies or street stocks, nine times out of 10, they were just starting out,” Knowles said. “Pup would take up so much time with them to explain tires.”

His Racing Family Meant the World to Him — And Vice Versa

“Pup had no racing background,” said Corum. “He just got involved and made a name for himself in racing.”

Involvement meant just helping out wherever he could.

“Whenever somebody passes, he would do these memorial races,” Knowles said. “If somebody was sick, he would go and help. He was just a helper.”

The helping often went beyond the track. When Knowles was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent the grueling treatment for it, Pup kept in contact. With that encouragement, Knowles beat the cancer.

“He checked on me probably every single day,” said Knowles. “Pup was on my list to call after [sons] Wade and Jake. He was way more than a friend. He was family.”

Unconditional love is often the underpinning of what constitutes family. Pup certainly delivered that in spades to his racing family. When his house burned down a few years ago, the racing community reciprocated that love.

“When word got around that his house burned down, one of the very first phone calls he had was with Jimmy Owens and Mike Marlar,” Cupp said. “They said, ‘Come live with us. You can stay as long as you want to.’ Pup said that with a bit pride, because ‘Those are my friends. That’s how good these guys are.’”

Jimmy Thomas, aka, Pup, loved his racing family. His racing family loved him, too. His unexpected passing on April 12, at age 66, certainly left a void.

“All the people at the racetrack were his family,” said Corum. “Auto racing was his entire world and life, as far as we know.”

When looking back at a life, what defines success? Money? Fame? No, maybe it’s something far more intangible, but those who knew Pup, knew he was a huge success.

“My dad [late model racer Lil’ Bill Corum] told me before he died if he had tried as hard at anything as he did with racing cars, he’d been a millionaire,” Corum said. “But he said he wouldn’t trade all the friendships and people he knew and met and loved for a million dollars. That was Pup. He wasn’t a millionaire, but in the end, you know all the people you met and admire and like are important people in your life. I think that’s how Pup felt. He felt successful, maybe not from a financial standpoint, but he felt successful that he had made his mark.”

Outside Groove Note of Transparency: Corrected the relationship between Wade Knowles and Cindy Knowles (2024-08-30).