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| Ennis Thomas |
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| Ennis Thomas " the HEARTBEAT of AMERICA" |
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Ennis is one of mud racings living legends who is still active in the sport. He was born in Augusta, GA in 1945. Ennis and wife Nancy live just outside Augusta in Grovetown and together they own and operate their own businesses. They have a son Mike and two daughters, Angie and Laura.
They are no strangers to motorsport racing. Ennis started racing in the late 70’s and by 1980 was heavily into drag racing. He started competing in sand drags in 1982. By 1984, Ennis, Nancy, and Mike had mastered the sport of sand drags by winning the famed Cincinnati, OH sand drags at Gravelramma. The Thomas’s work as a well oiled team. Wife Nancy is not only Ennis’ best friend, but she provides him much help and encouragement. She helps drive the rigs used to haul the race cars and equipment and from changing oil to changing plugs or changing tires, Nancy is not afraid of getting dirty.
In 1986, with Mike at the wheel, ET Racing won the biggest race in mud racing in Phenix City, AL with their new Heartbeat of America I, and after that ET Racing had a dry spell for a couple of years, including Ennis’ bad crash at the World Championships in 1987 at Phenix City, totally destroying the War Wagon. It took a few months for Ennis to recover from his injuries, but then ET Racing was back at it hot and heavy. Ennis said that it is not easy staying on the top end of any competitive sport; you have to work hard at it.
Hard work and determination finally paid off as Ennis started off the 1989 NMRO All-Stars series opener with a 160 ft Track Record and the win. In July, he won the Open Class at Phenix City on Friday night and set the 200 ft. Record. He then went on to become the NMRO National Points Champion in the Open Class and the only member of the NMRO 2 Second Club.
Over the years, Ennis has had many competitive cars under the banner names of War Wagon, War Wagon II, Heartbeat of America I, Heartbeat of America II, Murphy’s Law and Mad Max.
There is not enough room on this page to list all of Ennis’ accomplishments. He has been a National Champion in the last three decades – 80’s, 90’s and 2000’s and is a driving force in mud racing today. Ennis’ competitive driving skills continue to be sharp, and as the years go by, he wisely doesn’t take the same risks with himself or his equipment that he did in his younger years.
In 2009, Ennis placed 7th in the BADD National points and is building a new Open Class car, which he hopes will win him some National Events and a National Points Championship in his fourth decade of racing.
EnnisThomas@ProBadd.com
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