Stu Thomsen

Cyclist infobox
ridername = Stu Thomsen


image_size =
image_caption =
fullname = Stuart Thomsen
nickname = "Stompin' Stu", "The Man"
dateofbirth = birth date and age |1958|5|20
height = 1.867 m (6'1.5" Imperial)
weight = 90.72 kg (200lbs. Imperial)
country = USA
currentteam = Retired (represents Redline)
discipline = Bicycle Motocross (BMX)
role = Racer
ridertype = Off Road
protourrank =
europetourrank =
amateuryears = 1974
1975
1975-1976
1976
1976-1977
1999-Present
amateurteams = Newport Design & Manufacturing, Inc.
Dirtmaster Racing Products
Webco Inc.
D.G. Performance Specialties
FMF
Redline (Reclassified Amateur)
proyears = 1976-1977
1977-1979
1980-1983
1984-1986
1986
1987-1992
1987-1992
1992
1993-
proteams = FMF
SE Racing
Redline Engineering
Huffy Corporation
Motobecane (MBK)
Stu Thomsen's Family Cycle Center
retired for six years
Southridge Cycles
SE Racing
majorwins =
updated = April 4, 2008

Stuart Thomsen (b. May 20 1958 in Santa Ana, California) was an American bicycle motocross (BMX) racer.

Stu Thomsen was one of the first of the "Old School" of famous professional BMX racers that gained fame in the early days of the sport beginning in 1974. His prime competitive years were from 1976-1985. Stu Thomsen can be rightly called the Babe Ruth of BMX ["American BMXer" January/February 1987 Vol.9 No.1 pg.46 (photo caption)] for his prolific and domination of BMX during its early days from the mid 1970's into the mid 1980's. Even today, many of the current sports superstars are compared to him as a standard of achievement.

His nicknames were "The Man" and "Stompin Stu", in part due to his size at 6 feet 1.5 inches and 200lbs.

Racing career

Note: In the early days of professional racing, 1977 and prior, many tracks offered small purse prize money to the older racers of an event, even before the official sanctioning bodies offered prize money in formal divisions themselves. Hence early professionals like Stu Thomsen turning "pro" in 1975 at 16 years old racing for small amounts of money at track events when offered even before the NBA, regarded as the first true national BMX sanctioning body, had a professional division. For the sake of consistency and standardization noted professional first are for the first pro races for prize money offered by official BMX sanctioning bodies and not independent track events. Professional first are also on the national level unless otherwise indicated.

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Retired from Senior pro (NBL-"A"/ABA-"AA"): July 1987 Aged 29. He couldn't find a factory sponsorship for the expensive national circuit which even with the resources of his bikeshop Stu Thomsen's Family Cycle Center. ["BMX Plus!" June 1987 Vol.10 No.6 pg.35] ["BMX Action" November 1987 Vol.12 No.11 pg.12 (Dear Gork, 3-B)] However, he did race in large races that was both close to his Yorba Linda home and had large purses. For example he did race at least once in 1988 at the ABA Winter Nationals at Chandler, Arizona with a 4th and 7th in Pro Cruiser at the two races over that weekend. This is in addition to him racing locally close to his home. He raced in the 1990 ABA Fall Nationals and made the Pro Open Main in the Sunday race, coming in sixth. He also raced the 1991 ABA Fall Nationals as well along with fellow "retired" pros Eric Rupe and Harry Leary but did not make any of the Mains. He raced the Fall nationals again a year later reclassifying to "A" pro (along with Heary Leary) coming in third in Pro Cruiser on Day 2 (October 24). ["American BMXer" December 1992 Vol.14 No.11 pg.61 & 68 (results)] In 1993 he resumed racing on a serious level in Pro Cruiser and in the then new ABA Veteran Pro class for a few years. Today he still races occasionally as an amateur in the ABA 45-50 cruiser and 36 & Over Expert 20" class sponsored by Redline. His last Senior Pro win in the 20" division before retiring from serious Senior pro competition appeared to had been at the NBL National in Sarasota, Florida on March 28, 1986. ["BMX Plus!" February 1987 Vol.10 No.2 pg.71]

*Classifications at the time were determined by size and weight and not age and proficiency, so his age in this case is irrelevant. The Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup was the first "National" to be held in BMX.
**At the time there was no separate pro class for pros due to the relatively small number of pros. They raced with the 16 Experts, making it a Pro/Am class essentially. This is why during the early years of the pro division the national number one racer of a sanctioning body could be either an amateur or professional. This practice continued until the NBA's 1979 season in which the pros earned separate pro points and a separate pro plate from the amateurs. The NBL and ABA followed suit a year later.

Career factory and major bicycle shop sponsors

Note: This listing only denotes the racer's primary sponsors. At any given time a racer could have numerous co-sponsors. Primary sponsorships can be verified by BMX press coverage and sponsor's advertisements at the time in question. When possible exact dates are given.

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Amateur

*Newport Design & Manufacturing, Inc.: ?-July 1974
*Dirtmaster Racing Products: July 1974-August 1975.

*Webco Inc.: August 1975-Late March 1976. Webco disbanded its team in March 1976. ["Bicycle Motocross News" May 1976 Vol.3 No.5 pg.9]

*D.G. Performance Specialties (The initials stood for "D"an Hangsleben, "G"ary Harlow ["BMX Plus!" July 1988 Vol.11 No.7 pg.26 ] ): Late April 1976-October 1976. Stu was kicked off the DG Team for bad mouthing and abusing his DG issue bicycle after a poor showing after a race. Chuck Robinson, DG team manager, heard Thomsen's out burst. Apparently according to Jeff Bottema, Thomsen's teammate at the time, it was not the first time and Mr. Robinson acted punitively at this at least second alleged occasion ["Bicycle Motocross Action " June, 1977 Vol.2 No.2 pg.13] In a June 1978 interview in "Bicycle Motocross Action", Stu said about the incident:

"....I stayed with them (DG) for another year and then got ejected from the team somehow...I don't even understand that." ["Bicycle Motocross Action" June 1978 Vol.3 No.3 pg.9]

He reiterated this point five years later in an interview that appeared in the September 1983 issue of "Bicycles And Dirt" magazine:

"...for some unknown reason I was dropped from the team. I never really found out why." ["Bicycles And Dirt" September 1983 Vol.1 No.12 pg.57]

*Flying Machine Factory (FMF): October 1976-Mid 1977. He joined FMF after leaving D.G. a week and a half later. ["Bicycles And Dirt" September 1983 Vol.1 No.12 pg.57] Stu would turn pro with this sponsor.

Professional

*Flying Machine Factory (FMF): October 1976-Mid 1977. FMF was created in part by Scot Breithaupt, a pioneer of the sport. He will later split from FMF and start Scot Enterprises Racing (SER). Stu Thomsen would leave FMF with Breithaupt. ["Bicycles And Dirt" September 1983 Vol.1 No.12 pg.57]

*SE (Scot Enterprises) Racing: Mid 1977-December 31, 1979.

*Redline Engineering: January 1, 1980-December 31, 1983. After sometime on SE Racing he would move on to Redline. Financial reasons was the prime motivation as he explained in "Bicycles And Dirt Magazine":

BAD: "Why Redline when you had been with S.E. for so long?"
Stu: "At the time, pro racing had been going on for a few years, but the prize money wasn't all that big yet. Redline was a much bigger company than S.E. Racing. The dollar signs were what attracted me more than just wanting to chang. I needed to get more out of racing if I was to stay in it any longer. The opportunity to earn money by riding someone's product, other than just going out and winning it, was a big push. I decided racing was what I wanted and I had to get the best I could out of it." ["Bicycles And Dirt" September 1983 Vol.1 No.12 pg.57] "

*Huffy Corporation (Huffman Manufacturing Company): January 1, 1984-Early November 1986.
*Motobecane (MBK): November 22-23, 1986. This was a one weekend sponsorship in France for the Bicross/Yop King of Bercy championship race in Bercy, France. It was not a permanent position nor was it meant to be. ["BMX Action" April 1987 Vol.12 No.4 pg.13]
*Stu Thomsen's Family Cycle Center: Early November 1986-1992 This is a Bicycle shop was started and has been owned by Stu Thomsen since November 1984.
*Largely retired for six years 1987-1992. Raced once or twice in the pro cruiser and 20" classes a couple of times a year for fun.
*Southridge Cycles: 1992 He resumed racing on a serious level starting in 1992 in Pro Cruiser and Veteran Pro.
*SE (Sports Engineering) Racing: January 1993-

Amateur

*Redline Bicycles: 1999-Present He has reclassified himself as an amateur and represents Redline bicycles on the occasions he races.

Career bicycle motocross titles

Note: Listed are District, State/Provincial/Department, Regional, National, and International titles in "italics". "Defunct" refers to the fact of that sanctioning body in question no longer existing at the start of the racer's career or at that stage of his/her career. Depending on point totals of individual racers, winners of Grand Nationals do not necessarily win National titles. Series and one off Championships are also listed in block.

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Amateur

Independent Associations
*1974 Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup California State Expert Champion
*1975 Western Sports Arena (WSA) No.1 Expert

National Bicycle Association (NBA)
*"1977 Western States Champion"
*"1977 15-Up South Pacific BMX Championships Champion."
*1977 16 Expert Grand National Champion.*

*In the early days of professional competition professionals still could race in the amateur 16 Expert class and win amateur titles. Therefore Thomsen was both the Professional and 16 & Over Expert Grandnational Champion for 1977.

National Bicycle League (NBL)
*None'National Pedal Sport Association (NPSA)

United Bicycle Racers (UBR)
*NoneAmerican Bicycle Association (ABA)
*1977 16 Expert Gold Cup Winner.

Professional

National Bicycle Association (NBA)
*1977 Open Pro-Am Grand National Champion
*"1977, 1978 National No. 1 Pro"
*"1978 Jag Pro World Champion" (NBA/NBL sanctioned)National Bicycle League (NBL)
*1981 "A" Pro Grandnational Champion
*"1981, 1982 National No. 1 Pro"

*1981 Knott's Berry Farm Pro Grand Champion (NBL, United Bicycle Racers (UBR) & World Wide Bicycle Motocross Association (WWBMXA) sanctioned.)United Bicycle Racers (UBR)
*1980 Pro Grandnational ChampionNational Pedal Sport Association (NPSA)
*1982 20" Pro Grandnational ChampionAmerican Bicycle Association (ABA)
*1977 Open Pro* Gold Cup Champion.
*1978 Pro Class Grandnational Champion
*1979 Pro Money, Pro Trophy and 15 & Over Trophy Dash Grandnational Champion (triple)
*"1979 National No.1 Pro." As a prize the ABA awarded him a white 1979 Chevolete Van with large side panel tinted windows.
*"1982 Pro Northwest Gold Cup Champion"
*1983 Pro Cruiser Grandnational Champion
*"1984 Pro Cruiser U.S. Gold Cup Champion"

*He also won the 16 Expert Gold Cup. At this time the professional and the older amateur classes were not separate classes earning separate points. Professionals could still win amateur titles. The 1979 season was the first in the ABA for the professionals to have a separate points classification (measured in purse winnings), making them a separate class from the amateurs.

International Bicycle Motocross Federation (IBMXF)
*"1986 Pro Cruiser North American Continental Champion"Other Titles
*"1981 Jag Pro World Champion" (No official BMX sanction). Sanctioned by the United States Cycling Federation, now know as USA Cycling. Various ABA and NBL track officials and scores aided. [ "Bicycle Motocross Action" April 1982 Vol.7 No.4 pg.49.] )

*"1983 Jag Pro Cruiser World Champion" (Non-sanctioned)

Pro Series Championships and Invitationals
*"1981 First Venezuelan National Championship Champion" (American Class)

This was an exhibition invitational that Stu Thomsen and several other American professionals including (but not only) Greg Esser, Eric Rupe and Tim Judge went to at the request of the Venezuela BMX officials to promote and celebrate the Venezuelan Bicicross Association's first national Championship.

*"1984 Bicross International de Paris Bercy Champion" (King of Bercy 1)*

*The International BMX Race of Bercy Paris was an invitational race sponsored by the Association Francaise de Bi-Crossing (AFB), the French BMX sanctioning body and was held in Bercy an eastern area in the city of Paris, France north of the river Seine. It was sponsored by the Yoplait Yogurt company and "Bicross Magazine", a French BMX publication. As such it was also known as the Bicross de Paris Challenge Yop Champion (The Paris Yoplait BMX Challenge) in which American, English and German pros as well as French pros were brought together to compete in a single race. They were offered a 12-day all expensives paid holiday to compete in the race with a USD$5,000 purse. ["BMX Action Bike" February 1985 No.27 pg.36] As is typical in Europe, the public had greater enthusiasm for BMX than the American public, in part because bicycle racing of any type was and is much more popular in Europe (and in Asia and South America as well) than in the United States. Thirteen thousand spectators ventured into the Palais Omnisport de Paris Bercy (POPB) to watch a BMX race. [ [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://pageperso.aol.fr/jdcollombet/bmx01.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=1&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DAssociation%2BFrancaise%2Bde%2BBicrossing%26start%3D30%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN%26pwst%3D1 Google English translation of BMX "OLD SCHOOL"] ] [ [http://pageperso.aol.fr/jdcollombet/bmx01.html The original French language verson of BMX "OLD SCHOOL"] ] In America you would be fortunate to seat 2,000. In the 1984 addition 330 racers were invited to France including United States professionals like Pete Loncarevich, Harry Leary Rod Beckering, Mike Miranda and Greg Hill in addition to Stu Thomsen. As it would be with the 1985 addition, which Tommy Brackens won, it was a hit in France with tickets sold out three months in advance. ["BMX Action" March 1989 Vol.14 No.3 pg.12]

Amateur

Note: Thomsen reclassified himself as an amateur in the late 1990s.

----National Bicycle League (NBL)
*2008 50-54 Cruiser Grand National ChampionAmerican Bicycle Association (ABA)
*1999 41-45 Cruiser Grand National Champion

Notable accolades

*He is one of the winners of the first nationally recognized BMX Championship (albeit a state Championship); the Bicycle Motocross Championship of California State The Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup along with David Clinton (Junior Champion) and Bobby Watts (Novice Champion).
*He was named Rider of the Year by "Bicycle Motocross News" for 1977. Also named by BMX News as number one top rider of Southern California for 1977. ["Bicycle Motocross News" January/February 1978 Vol.4 No.l pg.12&13]
*He is a multiple winner of "Bicycle Motocross Action" magazine's Number One Racer Award (NORA) Cup:
**1979* with 1,040 votes or 25.13% of 4,140 votes cast. ["Bicycle Motocross Action" January 1980 Vol.5 No.1 pg.71.] .
**1981* with 1,208 votes or 32.7% of the votes cast. ["Bicycle Motocross Action" February 1982 Vol.7 No.2 pg.53.] . He received $500 as a cash prize and a personalized jacket. ["Bicycle Motocross Action" February 1982 Vol.7 No.2 pg.50.] .
*Thomsen is a winner of "Super BMX" Racer of the Year Award for 1982 via a reader ship survey in the October 1982 issue of "Super BMX". [ "Super BMX" March 1983 Vol.10 No.3 pg.5] No voter break down was given.
*He was the first pro to earn a National No.1 plate twice and to do so consecutively (1977,'78 NBA)
*He was the first pro to win the No.1 pro title with three different major sanctioning bodies (NBA, NBL, ABA).
*At least one book was published by him: "Stu Thomsen's Book of BMX" (1985)
*He was one of the founding members of the Professional Racing Organization (PRO). ["BMX Action" December 1986 Vol.11 No.12 pg.30]
*He is a 1986 inductee of the ABA BMX Hall of Fame.
*He is also a 1998 inductee of the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame, the first BMX racer to be so honored.
*He now a 2008 NBL BMX Hall of Fame inductee, making him the first BMXer to be inducted into the Hall of Fames of three major Cycling organizations.
*Thomsen is also credited with the first documented Aerial (180 degree turn in the air and returning in forward) in a skatepark in the late 1970s.
*Thomsen was featured in the BMX documentary "Joe Kid on a Stingray" in 2005. The title of the film was taken from a comment he made during an interview.

*In the early years of the NORA cup the year the balloting was done and tallied was the year it was considered awarded. In 1984 it was switched to when the winner of the cup was presented to the public in "BMX Action" magazine (usually in the February or March issue) the following year it was considered awarded and not during the closing months of the previous year when the voting and tally takes place. This was done to give the rider (and the winners of No.1 bicycle and No.1 Factory Team) maximum publicity and advantage financially. Therefore under the new system Stu Thomsen was awarded NORA in 1980 and 1982.

BMX Related Product Lines

*1977: The SE Racing "Stu Thomsen Racer-1" (STR-1). After Thomsen left SE Racing the frame was rechristened the Quadrangle. [ [http://www.sebmx.com/2007/history.asp sebmx.com site.] ] ["BMX Plus!" August 1984 Vol.7 No.8 pg.35 (photo caption)] :Product Evaluation:::"BMX Action" January 1983 Vol.8 No.1 pg.14 Model year 1983::"BMX Bi-Weekly" Vol.3 No.13 pg.12 (British Publication) Model Year 1983::"BMX Plus!" August 1984 Vol.7 No.8 pg.33 Model year 1984
*1982: Redline "Stu Thomsen Replica STR Series" "Stu Bars".
*1984: The Huffy "Stu Thomsen Model" signature line frame and fork and complete bicycles.:product evaluation:::"American BMXer" September 1984 Vol.7 No.8 pgs.19 & 21.::"BMX Plus!" December 1986 Vol.9 No.10 pg.28
*1986: ODI Inc. Collector's Signature Series Grips.

Notable injuries

*Bad ankle sprain prior to competing in the Yamaha Bicycle Gold cup in September 1974. Competed on it and won his expert class.

*Broken Collarbone resulting from a football related Physical Education class at his high school in early 1975. ["Bicycle Motocross News" June 1975 Vol.2 No.5 pg.14] He returned to competition at the Western Sport-A-Rama track in Orange, California but promptly re-injured himself at that race fittingly on Friday, June 13, 1975. ["Bicycle Motocross News" July 1975 Vol.2 No.6 pg.10]

*Broke leg in January 1976 during a practice session. ["Bicycle Motocross News" February 1976 Vol.3 No.2 pg.6]

*Leg injury approximately May 1976. ["Bicycle Motocross News" June 1976 Vol.3 No.6 No.19] Returned to racing on June 27, 1976 for the NBA Springnational.

*Ankle injury in April 1984. Tore two ligaments falling in practice at an Memphis, Tennessee NBL race. Laid up for approximately six weeks. Thomsen had a two national winning streak at the time and was showing signs of being dominant again after two off (for him) seasons. This injury hurt his 1984 season. [ "BMX Action" August 1984 Vol.9 No.8 pg.34]

*Shoulder injury and a broken collar bone during practice at a promotional mountain bike race in the Los Angeles Coliseum during half time at the Superbowl of Motocross motorcycle race on or around November 10, 1985. He was laid up for about six weeks. ["BMX Plus!" February 1986 Vol.9 No.2 pg.74]
*He reinjured his shoulder in a fall at an ABA national in Bakersfield, California on April 6th. Had surgery on April 22nd and laid up for a further two months until late June 1986. [ "Super BMX" August 1986 Vol.13 No.8 pg.20]

Post BMX career

*Beginning in 1988 Stu Thomsen competed in mountain bike racing on the National Off Road Bicycle Association (NORBA) circuit as other BMX racers had done and would later do including Tinker Juarez, Cheri Elliott, Pete Loncarevich and Toby Henderson.

*Stuart Thomsen is a Sheriff's Deputy in Orange County, California, making him literally "The Man". He still races BMX and mountain bikes every once and a while. According to former fellow racer Dennis Dain, nicknamed "The Red Baron", Thomsen became a Sheriff's deputy approximately in 1993 shortly after selling his bicycle shop. [ [http://www.vintagebmx.com/community/index.php?s=&showtopic=27015350&view=findpost&p=569853 July 12, 2008 Vintage BMX post by The Red Baron (Dennis Dain)] ]

*Thomsen still races for fun occasionally. Most recently he raced the amateur 41-45 cruiser at the November 2001 ABA Grand Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma and won. He also race in the 36 & Over Expert 20" class as well as the 45-50 Cruiser class at the ABA Winternationals in February 2007. He made the mains but didn't place in the top three of either class in the mains, but his competitive spirits remained undimmed:

"Stu said he’ll be training more and plans on racing again this year. 'I still hate losing,' he said. 'I guess I’ll always be that way.'" [ [http://www.bmxtra.com/07news/07news023.htm bmxtra.com article.] ]

As proof of that he won the 50-54 Cruiser main at the 2008 NBL Grand National, amazing on lookers by his jumping ability. [ [http://www.redlinebicycles.com/rlblog/archives/category/bmx-racing/ redlinebicycles.com September 2, 2008 report on Thomsen's efforts at the 2008 NBL Grand National.] ]

=

[http://www.redlinebicycles.com/rlblog/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/stompinstu-nblgrands.jpgImage of Thomsen racing at the 2008 NBL Grand National.]

Racing habits and traits

*Rumors of impending retirement would repeatably emerge going virtually back to the beginning of his career:

"Q: "What about rumors that you are getting ready to retire?"
A: "Just rumors. I may not race much anymore, but I will still like it very much." ["Bicycle Motocross News" August 1975 Vol.2 No.7 pg.20]
----"Bicycle Motocross News" August 1975

This was almost just two years after he began racing. The cause of this was probably because at 17 Stu Thomsen was one of the oldest racers in BMX at the time. During this era BMX racing was still regarded exclusively as a kid's sport and at best a training ground and stepping stone to racing standard Motorcycle Motocross when they reached adulthood. Of course as part of the first generation Stu Thomsen would remain one of the oldest riders through out his career. These persistent rumors-at times aided by his own statements-would regularly crop up as people wondered what is the outer age limit of a competitive racer in this new sport.

"BMX Plus!: "When you were interviewed by BMX PLUS! last year you said you were going to retire at the end of 1979. In fact you said you were going to retire every year since 1976. Are you going to tell us the same thing this year?"
Thomsen: (Laughing) "I always say that. You know me." ["BMX Plus!" January 1981 Vol.4 No.1 pg.26]
----"BMX Plus!" January 1981

The question of his retirement would repeatedly arise until he actually retired at the beginning of the 1987 racing season.

*According to the November 1984 issue of the ABA's publication "American BMXer" Stu had the penchant to "grandstand" and make a situation like someone colliding with him worse than it was. ["American BMXer" November 1984 Vol.7 No.10 pg.20]

Miscellaneous and Trivia

*He had a hand in designing several BMX tracks for major competitions including helping to redesign NBL's Ascot BMX track in Gardena, California in 1985. ["BMX Plus!" June 1985 Vol.8 No.6 pg.6]
*He shares the exact birthdate of May 20, 1958 with another legendary superstar, John George.
*He was married to Greg Hill's sister, Tanya, in 1979.
*He designed a few BMX tracks including the 1980 NBL Siverdome course in Pontiac's Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan held between March 6th & 7th, 1980. ["BMX Plus! July 1980 Vol.6 No.7 pg.69]
*His pants motto* was: "Still the One" in 1983. ["BMX Action" May 1983 Vol.8 No.5 pg. 66 & 98]

*Riders often put slogans on the seat of their pants instead of their surname as a small physiological ploy against their competitors behind them to read.

BMX Magazine covers

"Bicycle Motocross News:"
*August 1975 Vol.2 No.7 (artist rendering).
*April 1977 Vol.4 No.3
*October 1977 Vol.4 No.9
*December 1977 Vol.4 No.11 with Brent Patterson in fan fold cover.
*January/February 1978 Vol.5 No.1 "Minicycle/BMX Action" & "Super BMX:"
*July 1979 Vol.6 No.7 (M/BMXA)
*December 1982 Vol.9 No.12 (SBMX)
*April 1983 Vol.10 No.4 posing with celebrity actress Debbie Lytton also poses with same actress in centerfold for his Number One Racer Award.(SBMX)
*December 1984 Vol.11 No.12 (SBMX)"Bicycle Motocross Action" & "Go:"
*December 1980 Vol.5 No.12
*August 1981 Vol.6 No.8
*February 1982 Vol.7 No.2
*October 1982 Vol.7 No.10 with Andy Patterson and Jeff Ruminer.
*September 1983 Vol.8 No.9
*August 1985 Vol.10 No.8"BMX Plus!:"
*December 1979 Vol.2 No.11* far right in second place behind Clint Miller (103X) (front and center) and ahead of Jeff Kosmola in third place (obscured by Miller) and ahead of Jeff Bottema in fourth place (far left).
*January 1981 Vol.4 No.1
*August 1981 Vol.4 No.8
*April 1982 Vol.5 No.4
*December 1982 Vol.5 No.12 with Greg Hill.
*September 1983 Vol.6 No.8* tied with Brent Patterson and with Clint Miller following.
*December 1983 Vol.6 No.11** In inset with Greg Hill (to his right), Nelson Chanady (to the right and behind Hill), Tim Judge (to his left), Gary DeBacker (in extreme lower right corner) and others at beginning of national banner presentation at the start of the 1983 IBMXF BMX World Championships. Brian Patterson is the main image.
*June 1984 Vol.7 No.6 In insert. Main image Eric Rupe.
*July 1984 Vol.7 No.7 ahead of Pete Loncarevich with Brian Patterson in third. In insets Mercury Morgan (top "rip"), freestyler Mike Dominguez (circle).
*October 1984 Vol.7 No.10 in insert in third behind Ronnie Anderson and second place Mike Miranda. Main image freestyler Eddie Fiola.
*June 1987 Vol.10 No.6 in insert behind Pete Loncarevich. Main

*The publisher skipped an issue during 1979.
**Due to a change of ownership, "BMX Plus!" did not publish a May 1983 issue.

"Total BMX:"

"Bicycles and Dirt:"
*September 1983 Vol.1 No.12 with fellow racer 10 year old J.D. Finney (and dog)."Bicross Magazine" (French Publication):
*Juin (June) 1983 Numéro 10 (No.10) ahead of Tommy Brackens (9) in fourth place and Bob Woods (12) in fifth and two unidentifies in second and third.

"NBA World" & "NBmxA World" (The official NBA/NBmxA membership publication):

"Bicycle Today" & "BMX Today" (the official NBL membership publication with one name change):

"ABA Action, American BMXer, BMXer" (The official ABA membership publication under two name changes):
*"ABA Action" December 1983 Vol.6 No.12 with an unidentified Patterson Brother.
*"American BMXer" November 1984 Vol.7 No.10 (30) ahead of John Phillips (-71)."USBA Racer" (The official USBA membership publication):

BMX & General press magazine interviews & articles

*"BMX Tower of Power" "Bicycle Motocross News" August 1975 Vol.7 No. pg.20
*"Top Banana: Stompin Stu Thomsen" "Bicycle Motocross Action" June 1978 Vol.3 No.3 pg.9
*"Mr. BMX?"Action Now" December 1981 Vol.8 No.5 pg.30
*"Top Pros Speak Out" "BMX Action" April 1982 Vol.7 No.4 pg.62 Joint interview with Brent Patterson, Greg Hill, Kevin McNeal, Eric Rupe, Harry Leary, and Scott Clark, speaking about various issues facing the racing world.
*"Call Him Mr. BMX" "Super BMX" August 1982 Vol.9 No.8 pg.38
*"Stu Who?" "Bicycles And Dirt" September 1983 Vol.1 No.12 pg.54
*"Five Minutes with the Mighty One" Side Bar: "BMX Action" January 1984 Vol.9 No.1 pg.31
*"Stu Interview" "BMX Action" June 1984 Vol.9 No.6 pg.38
*"Stu: Still the one!" "BMX Plus!" June 1984 Vol.7 No.6 pg.39
*"Stompin' Stu" "Super BMX" December 1984 Vo1.11 No.12 pg.63
*"Gold Cup Controversy: Stu Vs. Ronnie" "BMX Plus!" February 1985 Vol.8 No.2 pg.45
*"Stu on Stu" "Super BMX & Freestyle" August 1986 Vol.13 No.8 pg.18
*"Stuart" "Super BMX & Freestyle" March 1987 Vol.14 No.3 pg.31

End Notes

External links

* [http://www.ababmx.com/ The American Bicycle Association (ABA) Website.]
* [http://www.nbl.org/ The National Bicycle League (NBL) Website.]