Tom Bigelow

Thomas Allan Bigelow (born October 31, 1939 in Whitewater, Wisconsin), USA, is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series.

Bigelow at a sprint car race

Racing career

Midget car racing

He began his racing career at the Badger Midget Racing Association at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.[1] His first attempt at the National Championship was in 1967, and he finished eighteenth. He had 1968 midget wins at Hales Corners Speedway in Hales Corners, Wisconsin and at the Sycamore, Illinois track. He won the first Astro Grand Prix in the Houston Astrodome in 1969.[1][2] His come back in Midgets started in 1981 driving for Sandy Racing. In 1984 he was National USAC Midget Champion, two years in a roll, 1982 and 1983 he was USAC Spreedrome Champ.

USAC/CART

He raced in USAC and CART in 17 seasons (1968–1983 and 1985), with 104 combined career starts, and started in the Indianapolis 500 every year during 1974-1982. He finished in the top ten 39 times, with his best finish in second position in 1978 at Texas World Speedway and Milwaukee.[2]

Bigelow started in nine straight Indianapolis 500 races between 1974 and 1982; his best finish was sixth in 1977.[2]

Sprint car

Bigelow was the 1978 USAC Sprint Car Series Champion.[2] He became the leader in USAC Sprint car single season wins with 14.[1] Bigelow won 52 USAC Sprint Car races in his career.[2]

Return to midget cars

He returned to his roots won the 1984 USAC National Midget Series Champion. He finished fourth, third, and ninth in the following three season. He also won the 1982 USAC Midwest Regional midget car title. His car (number 16) was owned by Carl Sandy, husband of Carol Sandy and father of Duane, Mathew, and Troy Sandy.

NASCAR

Bigelow made a single NASCAR start at the 1986 Atlanta Journal 500 at the Atlanta International Raceway, and he finished 40th with engine problems.[3]

Career awards

• He was a 2002 inductee in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame at his home track in Sun Prairie.
• Bigelow was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1996.

Retirement

Starting in 2009, Bigelow was a color announcer for Fox Sports Network for Must See Racing Xtreme Sprint Series television coverage.[2]

Motorsports career results

American open-wheel racing

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

USAC Championship Car

USAC Championship Car results
Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	Pos.	Pts
1968	Carl Gehlhausen	Kurtis 4000D	Offy 252 ci	HAN	LVS	PHX	TRE	INDY	MIL	MOS	MOS	LAN	PPR	CDR	NAZ	IRP	IRP	LAN	LAN	MTR	MTR	ISF	MIL	DSF 6	INF DNQ	TRE	SAC 14	MCH	HAN	PHX	RSD	43rd	80
1969	Carl Gehlhausen	Huffaker 66	Chevrolet 320 ci V8	PHX	HAN	INDY	MIL	LAN DNQ	PPR	CDR		TRE 18	IRP 21	IRP 17	MIL		DOV DNQ					TRE DNS	SAC	SIR	SIR	PHX	RSD					43rd	110
		Kurtis 4000D	Offy 252 ci								NAZ 7					ISF DNQ		DSF 8	INF DNQ	BRN	BRN
1970	Carl Gehlhausen	Huffaker 66	Chevrolet 320 ci V8	PHX	SON	TRE	INDY DNQ	MIL DNQ	LAN 17	CDR	MCH	IRP DNQ		MIL 13	ONT				TRE 17		PHX DNQ											36th	200
		Kurtis 4000D	Offy 252 ci										ISF 7			DSF 7	INF DNQ	SED 6		SAC 17
1971	Carl Gehlhausen	Huffaker 66	Chevrolet 320 ci V8	RAF 21	RAF 22	PHX	TRE	INDY	MIL	POC	MCH	MIL	ONT	TRE	PHX																	NC	0
1972	Ray W Smith	Eagle 68	Chevrolet 320 ci V8	PHX	TRE	INDY DNQ	MIL																									31st	120
	Carl Gehlhausen	Gerhardt	Offy 159 ci t					MCH 21	POC DNS	MIL 7	ONT	TRE 13	PHX
1973	Vollstedt Enterprises	Vollstedt 72	Offy 159 ci t	TWS	TRE	TRE	INDY DNQ		POC 32			ONT 7	ONT	ONT 11	MCH	MCH	TRE	TWS	PHX													25th	160
	Carl Gehlhausen	Kingfish 72						MIL 14
	Vollstedt Enterprises	Vollstedt 73								MCH 15	MIL
1974	Vollstedt Enterprises	Vollstedt 72	Offy 159 ci t	ONT 9	ONT	ONT 10	PHX	TRE																								24th	240
		Vollstedt 73							INDY 12	MIL	POC 19	MCH 22	MIL	MCH	TRE	TRE
	Lodestar Lola	Lola T332	Chevrolet 5.0 V8														PHX 23
1975	Vollstedt Enterprises	Vollstedt 73	Offy 159 ci t	ONT	ONT 11	ONT 16	PHX	TRE	INDY 18	MIL 12	POC 21	MCH 16																				27th	115
		Vollstedt 72/75											MIL 9	MCH	TRE	PHX 19
1976	Leader Card Racers	Eagle 74	Offy 159 ci t	PHX 20	TRE 17		MIL 11	POC 29	MCH 12	TWS 7	TRE 21	MIL 7	ONT 5	MCH 9	TWS 14	PHX 18																13th	820
		Eagle 72				INDY 14
1977	Leader Card Racers	Eagle 74	Offy 159 ci t	ONT 4	PHX 4	TWS 12	TRE 15				MOS 8			MIL 4			PHX 19															9th	1370
		Watson 77						INDY 6	MIL 7	POC 29		MCH 11	TWS 10		ONT 28	MCH 15
1978	AMI Racing	Wildcat Mk 2	DGS 158 ci t	PHX 15	ONT 7	TWS 12	TRE 8	INDY 21			POC 15	MCH 8	ATL	TWS	MIL 10	ONT	MCH 4	TRE	SIL	BRH	PHX 18											16th	764
	Leader Card Racers	Eagle 74	Offy 159 ci t						MOS 14
		Watson 77								MIL 6
1979	AMI Racing	Lola T500B	Cosworth DFX V8t	ONT 6	TWS 12	INDY 14	MIL 3	POC 8	TWS 2	MIL 2																						3rd	1305
1980	AMI Racing	Lola T500B	Cosworth DFX V8t	ONT	INDY 8	MIL	POC	MDO																								12th	250
1981-82	Gohr Racing	Penske PC-7	Chevrolet 355 ci V8	INDY 20	POC 3																											3rd	1280
	Info not available					ISF 12	DSF 2	INF 5
	HBK Racing	Eagle 81	Chevrolet 355 ci V8						INDY 18
1982-83	Info not available			ISF	DSF 25	NAZ																										NC	0
	HBK Racing	Eagle 81	Chevrolet 355 ci V8				INDY DNQ
1983-84	Info not available			DSF 17																												33rd	8
	Scott Cole	March 81C	Cosworth DFX V8t		INDY DNQ
Source:[4]

PPG Indy Car World Series

PPG Indy Car World Series results
Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Pos.	Pts
1979	AMI Racing	Lola T500B	Cosworth DFX V8t	PHX	ATL	ATL	INDY 14	TRE	TRE	MCH	MCH	WGL	TRE	ONT	MCH	ATL	PHX			NC	0
1980	AMI Racing	Lola T500B	Cosworth DFX V8t	ONT	INDY 8	MIL	POC	MDO	MCH	WGL	MIL 14	ONT	MCH	MEX	PHX					26th	260
1981	Gohr Racing	Penske PC-7	Chevrolet 355 ci V8	PHX	MIL 9	ATL	ATL	MCH 5	RIV	MIL 24	MCH 9	WGL	MEX	PHX 11						12th	60
1982	HBK Racing	Eagle 81	Chevrolet 355 ci V8	PHX	ATL	MIL 18	CLE DNQ	MCH 5	MIL 22	POC 25	RIV	ROA	MCH 20	PHX						20th	32
1983	HBK Racing	Eagle 81	Chevrolet 355 ci V8	ATL	INDY DNQ	MIL 15	CLE DNQ	MCH 29	ROA	POC	RIV	MDO	MCH							NC	0
	Jet Engineering	Eagle 82												CPL DNQ	LAG 17	PHX DNQ
1984	Scott Cole	March 81C	Cosworth DFX V8t	LBH	PHX	INDY DNQ														NA	-
	Dale Coyne Racing	Eagle 82	Chevrolet 355 ci V8				MIL DNQ	POR	MEA	CLE	MCH	ROA	POC	MDO	SAN	MCH	PHX	LAG	CPL
1985	Leader Card Racers	March 85C	Cosworth DFX V8t	LBH	INDY DNQ	MIL 18	POR	MEA	CLE	MCH 26	ROA	POC 23	MDO	SAN	MCH	LAG	PHX	MIA		47th	0
1988	Dayton-Walther	March 86C	Cosworth DFX V8t	PHX	LBH	INDY DNQ	MIL	POR	CLE	TOR	MEA	MCH	POC	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG	MIA		NA	-
1989	Burns Racing	March 86C	Cosworth DFX V8t	PHX	LBH	INDY DNQ	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	MEA	TOR	MCH	POC	MDO	ROA	NAZ	LAG		NA	-
Source:[4]

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
1970	Huffaker	Chevrolet	DNQ		Carl Gehlhausen
1972	Eagle	Chevrolet	DNQ		Ray W Smith
1973	Vollstedt	Offenhauser	DNQ		Vollstedt Enterprises
1974	Vollstedt	Offenhauser	23	12	Vollstedt Enterprises
1975	Vollstedt	Offenhauser	33	18	Vollstedt Enterprises
1976	Eagle	Offenhauser	32	14	Leader Card Racers
1977	Eagle	Offenhauser	22	6	Thermo King
1978	Wildcat	DGS	18	21	AMI Racing
1979	Lola	Cosworth	30	14	AMI Racing
1980	Lola	Cosworth	31	8	AMI Racing
1981	Penske	Chevrolet	14	20	Gohr Racing
1982	Eagle	Chevrolet	31	18	HBK Racing
1983	Eagle	Chevrolet	DNQ		HBK Racing
1984	March	Cosworth	DNQ		Scott Cole
1985	March	Cosworth	DNQ		Leader Card Racers
1988	March	Cosworth	DNQ		Dayton-Walther
1989	March	Cosworth	DNQ		Burns Racing

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	NWCC	Pts	Ref
1986	Ball Motorsports	99	Chevy	DAY	RCH	CAR	ATL	BRI	DAR	NWS	MAR	TAL	DOV	CLT	RSD	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	MAR	NWS	CLT	CAR	ATL 40	RSD	121st	43	[5]

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	ABSC	Pts	Ref
1985	Info not available			ATL	DAY	ATL	TAL	ATL	SSP	IRP	CSP	FRS	IRP	OEF	ISF	DSF 22	TOL												74th	-	[6]
1986	Bigelow Racing	96	Dodge	ATL	DAY	ATL	TAL 37	SIR	SSP	FRS	KIL	CSP	TAL	BLN	ISF	DSF	TOL	MCS	ATL										NA	0	[7]
1987		60	Pontiac	DAY	ATL	TAL	DEL	ACS	TOL	ROC	POC	FRS	KIL	TAL	FRS	ISF 32	INF 15	DSF 15	SLM	ATL									46th	-	[8]
1988				DAY	ATL	TAL 38	FRS	PCS	ROC	POC	WIN	KIL	ACS	SLM 26	POC	TAL	DEL	FRS	ISF 22	DSF 40	SLM 4	ATL							32nd	-	[9]
1989				DAY DNQ									TAL DNQ	DEL	FRS	ISF 29	TOL	DSF 28	SLM 25	ATL									34th	-	[10]
			Chevy		ATL 17	KIL	TAL	FRS	POC	KIL	HAG	POC
1990			Pontiac	DAY	ATL	KIL	TAL	FRS	POC	KIL	TOL	HAG 10	POC 13	TAL	MCH 27	ISF 27	TOL	DSF 30	WIN 26	DEL	ATL 34								24th	-	[11]
1991				DAY	ATL	KIL	TAL	TOL	FRS	POC	MCH	KIL	FRS	DEL	POC	TAL	HPT	MCH	ISF	TOL	DSF 23	TWS	ATL						103rd	-	[12]
1992				DAY	FIF	TWS	TAL	TOL	KIL	POC	MCH	FRS	KIL	NSH	DEL	POC	HPT	FRS	ISF 27	TOL	DSF 12	TWS	SLM 17	ATL					60th	-	[13]
1993				DAY	FIF	TWS	TAL	KIL	CMS	FRS	TOL	POC	MCH	FRS	POC	KIL	ISF 36	DSF 21	TOL	SLM 25	WIN 20	ATL							40th	-	[14]
1994		8		DAY	TAL	FIF	LVL	KIL	TOL	FRS	MCH	DMS	POC	POC	KIL	FRS	INF 20	I70	ISF				WIN 21	ATL					44th	350	[15]
		01	Chevy																	DSF 27	TOL	SLM
1995	Bigelow Racing	8	Pontiac	DAY	ATL	TAL	FIF	KIL	FRS	MCH	I80	MCS	FRS	POC	POC	KIL	FRS	SBS	LVL	ISF 23		SLM 23							55th	565	[16]
			Chevy																		DSF 6		WIN 19	ATL
1996			Pontiac	DAY	ATL	SLM	TAL	FIF	LVL	CLT	CLT	KIL	FRS	POC	MCH	FRS	TOL	POC	MCH	INF 7	SBS	ISF 18	DSF 11	KIL	SLM	WIN 23	CLT	ATL	54th	-	[17]
1997			Chevy	DAY DNQ	ATL	SLM	CLT	CLT	POC	MCH 33	SBS	TOL	KIL	FRS	MIN	POC	MCH												95th	-	[18]
			Pontiac															DSF 15	GTW	SLM	WIN	CLT	TAL	ISF	ATL
1998			Chevy	DAY DNQ	ATL	SLM	CLT	MEM	MCH	POC	SBS	TOL	PPR	POC	KIL	FRS	ISF	ATL	DSF	SLM	TEX	WIN	CLT	TAL	ATL				NA	-	[19]

References

1. Biography at the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
2. Tunnicliff, Greg (July 2, 2012). "Must See Racing announcer, Tom Bigelow, likes keeping busy". Flint Journal. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
3. NASCAR statistics at racing-reference.info
4. "Champcar complete – Tom Bigelow". OldRacingCars. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
5. "Tom Bigelow – 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
6. "Tom Bigelow – 1985 ARCA Talladega SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
7. "Tom Bigelow – 1986 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
8. "Tom Bigelow – 1987 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
9. "Tom Bigelow – 1988 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
10. "Tom Bigelow – 1989 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
11. "Tom Bigelow – 1990 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
12. "Tom Bigelow – 1991 ARCA Permatex SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
13. "Tom Bigelow – 1992 ARCA SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
14. "Tom Bigelow – 1993 ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
15. "Tom Bigelow – 1994 ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
16. "Tom Bigelow – 1995 ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
17. "Tom Bigelow – 1996 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
18. "Tom Bigelow – 1997 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
19. "Tom Bigelow – 1998 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 13, 2019.