Personalities of the Peninsula: Meet The Guy Down The Street In Cedar Building National Rally Circuit Racecars

Yes, the blue three-stall auto repair shop on Kasson Street in downtown Cedar is a traditional hometown mechanic facility — where the technicians have been servicing cars for decades and local students get tires for their vehicles at cost — but it’s also the place racecar dreams come true. Leelanau Auto’s owner Ryan Thompson is a former competitive racer, a formally trained welder, and founder of Thompson Racing Fabrication. 

He is passionate about motorsports and, together with his team, he fabricates complete racecars for customers all over the country. He can outfit a regular ride with a rally car roll cage, a turbo system, and a complete exhaust system. For those not versed in car talk, Thompson says it boils down to “building cool cars people like.”

And as a crew chief for hire, he helps bring racers home podium wins in professional racing series, including the American Rally Association. It only follows, he’s a sponsor of Leelanau’s own Empire Hill Climb Revival, the grassroots, family-friendly car racing event held on Wilco Road in September.

Thompson, his wife Genevieve and their four kids live in Cleveland Township, but we caught up with him on his way to a national championship car race, the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood, held today and tomorrow (March 19-20) in Salem, Missouri.

Leelanau Ticker: What can you tell us about the rally this weekend?
Thompson: We are supporting three cars [of the nearly 100 competing]. Rally in the 100 Acre Wood has some of the coolest — and fastest — gravel roads in the American Rally Association championship. We call them gravel highways; they are smooth and flowing and the faster cars top out at 115 or 120 MPH. That’s pretty quick on a dirt road.

Leelanau Ticker: At those speeds, how does a person “practice” rally racing?
Thompson: This will go racer by racer, but there are private properties we can rent, and there are rally training schools. Some people with farms or larger tracts of land can bop around at home, but, by in large, they stay current practicing a variety of other motorsports.

Leelanau Ticker: Are you a racer?
Thompson: I did drag racing, which is really a car builder’s race — the fastest car wins. I am a rally enthusiast and though it’s fun to be a part of it (and I do jump in a car now and then) I’m much more of a car builder and a crew chief for customers’ cars.

Leelanau Ticker: You’ve built several Subaru rally cars — a make you’ll see on the roads up north. Why Subaru?
Thompson: It is one of the few truly all-wheel drive production cars that remain.

Leelanau Ticker: What’s the scene like at a rally?
Thompson: Rally racing is the best adrenaline rush you can legally get in a car. You are blasting as fast as you can in the woods in a road-legal car. And it is a tremendous group, like a family reunion every month. You truly have the entire spectrum — from those racers eating ramen to be able to show up to those racing at the highest level.

Leelanau Ticker: What else might people not realize is going on behind the scenes?
Thompson: During the race, each car has a driver and a co-driver — with the co-driver reading the description of the roads to the driver as they go. There is lot of trust between the two.

Leelanau Ticker: Oh, wow. I am assuming they are not using a “Cliff’s Notes” version?
Thompson: If they can, they pre-race the course and make their own “recce” (racecourse reconnaissance) notes.

Leelanau Ticker: Who are your racing customers?
Thompson: Just by coincidence, it is three Michigan guys this time, but we have built cars and supported drivers from Connecticut, Arizona, North Carolina; the farthest was from China.

Leelanau Ticker: How did Thompson Racing Fabrication (TRF) make a name within the North American rally racing circuit?
Thompson: It snowballed over time, and I think it’s a combo of skillsets. My dad is a career mechanic in Ann Arbor, and I learned how to flip cars at 16. I was not a professional mechanic, but I functioned as one. I’m a formally trained welder and have a degree in construction management. That experience as a construction project manager helps with leading large crews at race events and in putting cars together.

Leelanau Ticker: Will the Empire Hill Climb Revival happen this year?
Thompson: We haven’t met as a committee, but I sure hope so. It’s likely, since it’s in September, and it’s all outdoors.

Leelanau Ticker: For those who haven’t been, what makes the Empire race so special?
Thompson: It’s not exceptionally competitive, and there is a tremendous variety of cars and enthusiasts coming together in a beautiful place to race cars and enjoy each other’s company. We race Wilco Road [which leads to the Empire Bluff Trailhead]. Imagine a day you can go on it as fast as you can. We all just wish it was longer!

Leelanau Ticker: Albeit not at racecar speeds, what is your favorite road to drive in the county?
Thompson: Easy! Pierce Stocking Drive would be my world’s favorite road to race, though I am pretty sure that’s never going to happen [laughs], nor will I advocate for it.

Leelanau Ticker: You run Leelanau Auto in addition to building custom racecars. How is business?
Thompson: I’m hesitant to say, because I know it’s not the case for all right now, but we are remarkably blessed to be adding employees this year, and TRF is booked for 2021. I’d be remiss if I didn’t add, this is very much due to my wife Genevieve. Like any small business it took 10 years until that snowball got going and we depended on the income of a teacher. And we are going to be starting a third company soon.

Leelanau Ticker: Also with vehicles?
Thompson: Picture every person who has a car that is their “baby,” whether it’s a Jeep, a vintage Jaguar, a Japanese exotic or a muscle car. They have a unique set of expectations when they take it in for service. We are launching Leelanau Performance, for enthusiast automotive care. And the thing is, growth happened organically in this high-exposure spot in Cedar. People see us working on high-level cars, and say, ‘could you help with the custom exhaust on my Jeep?’ Ask anyone who got through 2020, business can be fickle. So we are protecting ourselves with a little bit of diversity.

Leelanau Ticker: So life is good in Cedar?
Thompson: I am happy to say we have been pleasantly welcomed by Cedar…not everyone loves racecars! Up until recently we operated from a home garage; we were a modest operation doing very high-level motorsports work. Now that we are in Cedar…I think people drive by and they see the cars and are shocked: that’s not your average minivan break job.

And I’m proud we are a significant employer supporting families. We are thrilled that we’re here, and that we get to grow and continue to build. We worked really hard for our dream to come true, and now I am 42 years old playing with racecars for a living.

Photography by Turbo Tara Media