A racing mind: Thompson Racing Fabrication welds Empire Hill Climb
From staff reports
At the Empire Hill Climb on Saturday, Sept. 14, look for cars sporting the blue Thompson Racing Fabrication (TRF) logo as they zoom up Wilco Road. This is the sixth annual race in downtown Empire (it took place from 1964 until 1980 before taking a 34-year hiatus). Runs begin at 10 a.m. and conclude at 5:30 p.m.
TRF is known globally in race car repair circles for specializing in welding roll cages and chassis and automobile support. The 12-year-old company is owned by Ann Arbor native Ryan Thompson who moved his trade and his young family to Leelanau County six years ago “because we could,” he said. “I have the virtue that customers will come to me. People travel great distances for this.” He has customers as far away as Taiwan; on a day in early September he was working on a car from Montana.
“Some customers never even touch their race cars unless they’re driving in a race. Their car is in our care 365 days a year, and we bring it to the race.”
Thompson Racing Fabrication is based in downtown Cedar, where Thompson also owns Leelanau Automotive (formerly Dave’s Repair & Collision), the auto repair shop on Kasson St. He employs four people between the two businesses. Thompson, who is 40, launched TRF in 2007 in Milan, Mich. Racing vehicles had long been in his blood. “I started fooling around with fast bikes when I was 10 years old,” he said. “Then I started racing on my own as a hobby.”
Thompson and his wife Genevieve, who had vacationed up north as young adults, now have four children between ages 10 and 3—two born downstate and two born here—enrolled at Glen Lake. “We’ve got mini bikes and four wheelers at our home in Maple City. The kids like going to races.”
The idea to revive the Empire Hill Climb was just getting going when Thompson planted roots in Leelanau. He contacted them and has been on the committee ever since. Some years he races, some years he offers support. Thompson won’t attend this year’s event, though. He will be traveling to a race in Pennsylvania.
Motorized toys are a big part of how the Thompson family enjoys life in the County. “We spend a tremendous amount of time outside,” he said. “We have a 30-foot cruiser we take out to the Manitou Islands to fish. I’m usually the first one in Leland Harbor and the last one to come out every year.”
