Thunder Roads Magazine of Oklahoma/Arkansas January 2016 | Page 33

FEATURES

and several kids jumped back off the bus to get
Tommy to autograph the poster. “Any chance me
and my brother could stop by and work for you,
clean your shop, sweep the floors – for free?”
asked one young man.
“Sure, just stop by sometime and you can start
out like I did, with a broom” replied Tommy. “But
you gotta stay in school and keep your grades up!”

As they listened to Tommy’s tales of growing
up and getting started in the racing business, the
kids began to loosen up, ask question, and take
copious notes. They could tell Tommy had an
upbringing not that different from their own, and
his easy laugh and tidbits of “street wisdom” rang
authentic. One of them asked Tommy to start one
of the bikes. He obliged by firing up “Baby Boy”,
his Hayabusa-based race bike that had recently
won races in California and Louisiana. Several of
the girls jumped and clutched their chest, while
big grins spread across the faces of the boys as
the throughty bark of a race-tuned turbocharge
Hayabusa mixed with the sweet smell of high
octane race gas. Tombo Racing bikes sound fast
just sitting at idle. A blip of the throttle made the
grins grow even wider.
After the auditory stimulation of the raw-bred
race engine, Tommy showed videos of his bikes at
the drag races. “It is all about results at the track
here at Tombo Racing” he explains. “Our bikes
have to go fast first, then look good second.”
Within 15 minutes the kids were excitedly asking
a multitude of questions and thoroughly engaged
in the visit, talking about their friend’s motorcycles,
which bikes were their favorite, asking how much
the bikes cost, and asking if they could sit on the
bikes. Tommy rolled out a pearl white chopper with
air ride suspension and custom sound system and
let everyone sit on the bike for a “selfie” they could
post to Facebook.
After a 45 minute tour of the shop the kids
loaded up onto the bright yellow school bus, off
to their next visit. Tommy passed out race posters
Thunder Roads Magazine of OK/AR

33