Just curious, does anyone have statistics on how many starts, and how many seasons it took Tom Bigelow and Dave Darland to reach their feature win totals?

I don't have stats but DD laughed in the interview that Bigelow reminded him he got 52 in 12 years.

Wouldn't mind seeing the stats myself. Two of the greatest that's ever been.

I'm sure Ritchie has it somewhere.

For statistical purposes only:


Tom Bigelow:
First career USAC Sprint Car win: April 6, 1969 at Eldora Speedway
Last career USAC Sprint Car win: July 30, 1981 at Beaver Dam Raceway
**A span of 12 years, 3 months, and 25 days.


Dave Darland:
First career USAC Sprint Car win: May 2, 1993 at the Terre Haute Action Track
Most recent USAC Sprint Car win: August 24, 2014 at Kokomo Speedway
**A span of 21 years, 3 months, and 23 days.

Thanks Richie

Wow!! Is my math correct?? Tom Bigelow held the record for 33 years??
It was a true honor to meet this great man in person!
I feel very blessed to have been there!

Id be interested to know total number of sprint races, In both time periods.

I knew I could count on you

A great accomplishment. But as they say you can't compare results from different eras. Bigelow won the vast majority of his races on 1/2 mile tracks. Many, if not most, of Darland's wins were on shorter 1/4 mile tracks. And Bigelow also won races on the paved tracks including the high banks. Someone here will know for sure but off the top of my head I can't remember Darland ever winning a USAC sprint car race on a paved track. Don't get me wrong Darland is one of the best ever in USAC. But it would also be hard to find any sprint car driver whose record would match that of Bigelow for overall versatility.

I believe Darland has won at Winchester, Salem, & Toledo. Maybe Cedar Rapids too? Probably 5 pavement wins for him in an era dominated by Hines & Steele.

If there were more races on big tracks in his era, Darland's numbers would likely be higher. He has always been good on bigger tracks, with wins at Terre Haute, Eldora, Oskaloosa, Perris, Manzanita, Port Royal & Hartford just off the top of my head.