Tom Boune's life was tragically cut short on April 5th, 1997.

Apparently the throttle stuck in the midget he was driving going into turn one at Madera Speedway, sending the Sacramento native slamming into the outside cement retaining wall. The car turned over and catapulted down the banking to the apron, where a fire erupted, but was quickly extinguished. The 33-year old heavy equipment operator was pronounced dead on arrival at Madera Community Hospital.

Boune comes from a family of racing drivers, including his father, Dick, who raced super modifieds at West Capital Raceway and before that, drove with BCRA in the pre-roll cage years of the late 50's and early 60's. Tom's uncle Art raced NARC sprint cars for many years, and his cousin Glenn is currently active in 360 sprint cars and has run with NARC. For a complete history of the racing Boune's, see Those Racing Boune's.

Boune started racing at age 13, running go-karts. He ran pavement for 4-5 years, then switched to speedway dirt for 3 years. In 1993, he and his dad went micro midget racing. Moving up to the mini-sprint or Midget Lite division that BCRA ran, Boune won the Watsonville Speedway feature event, and finished 5th in driver points for '94.

In 1995, Boune backed up the win at Watsonville with a solid year, finishing a close second in BCRA Midget Lite drivers points and winning the car owners championship by one point, claiming feature victories at Placerville and Marysville along the way. Boune also did double duty in the full midget ranks, running Gary Bulfinch's at selected BCRA shows.

1996 found Boune running Bulfinch's full-blown midget on a limited BCRA schedule, finishing a respectable 14th in final drivers points.

Boune is survived by his wife of ten years, Teresa, and a 15-year old son, James.

I remember Tom Boune as very upbeat and positive. He had a good sense of humor in the pits, and was easy going. We got along great, and I was shocked and saddened when I learned of his untimely death.

Here are more photos I have of Tom from the 1994 & 1995 BCRA Midget Lite and Midget seasons:

• The entire Bulfinch crew celebrate Tom's victory at Placerville on June 17, 1995.
• Tom poses for an "official BCRA mug-shot at Placerville on June 17, 1995.
• Hot-lapping the full midget at Placerville on June 17, 1995 on a heavy track. Tom did double duty this day, running both the full midget and the midget lite.
• Accepting the winners trophy at Watsonville Speedway on August 13, 1994.
• My first opportunity to photograph Tom came at Merced Speedway On April 10, 1994.
• Tom poses with a friend at Placerville Speedway on August 6, 1994.
• Tom straps in before the feature at Placerville on August 6, 1995.
• On his way to victory, Tom moved around John Riley, Jr. at Watsonville Speedway on August 13, 1994.
• Top three finishers at Watsonville Speedway on August 13, 1994: winner Tom Boune (C); second place Pete Stohrer (R); and third place Camerson Beard (L).
• Tom putting the hammer down at Merced Speedway in August of '94.
• Tom accepts the winners trophy after his convincing win at Placerville Speedway on June 17, 1995.
• Tom (R), collecting his second place BCRA Midget Lite hardware at the BCRA Banquet, along with first place winner Doug Williams (C) and third place John Riley, Jr. (L).

All photos © 1998 Tear-Off Heaven Fotos.

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