Tom Milligan
Tom Milligan started his racing career at the CNE Stadium in Toronto back in 1964. Fireball Roberts (a Popular Nascar Driver) was his favorite Driver at the time so Tom raced the #22 at the CNE from 1964 through 1966 as it was Fireball Roberts number.
After the CNE closed in 1966, Tom started racing at Pinecrest Speedway. Jim Ward, a Pinecrest Speedway competitor had been racing the #22 for a few years already so Tom changed his number to the #23 that we are all more familiar with.
Before his racing career, Tom hung out with Buck Baker (another Nascar Driver) who was racing at the CNE Stadium in one of the scheduled Nascar events that were held at the CNE Stadium back in the early days.
Tom raced in the first event at Barrie Speedway 1965. He raced in the first event at Westgate Speedway (Peterborough Speedway) 1967.
Bobby Allison (another popular Nascar driver) was paid to come and compete in the 1973 International at Pinecrest Speedway. This was all prearranged with “Rip” (Bob Rippington) the car owner, and Tom. It was at this time that the car was painted red and gold instead of the black and gold colors of Fireball Roberts. Bobby Allison was sponsored by Coca Cola and the car was painted his colors.
Bobby had a hard time getting the #23 around Pinecrest as it was a tight 1/4 mile paved oval and he was not used to the power streering. It was Tom that ended up qualifying the car for the race. By the time Bobby had ran the 100 lap race he was getting used to the power steering and actually quite liked it. After racing the 100 lap event he was not tired and worn out.
Most people do not realize that, by racing this car in the 1973 International at Pinecrest Speedway, Bobby gained some valuable information. Yes it was a learning curve, but, it was Bobby Allison that first brought power steering to Nascar after he raced the #23 that Tom usually raced in the 1973 International.
Tom Milligan was, (and still is) one of the household names to any stock car racing fan in southern Ontario. Race fans from CNE, Pinecrest, Barrie, Sunset and Mosport all know the name, Tom Milligan.
Just a few of Toms accomplishments in racing:
- 6 of 9 International wins at Pinecrest Speedway
- Won the last ever feature race at Pinecrest Speedway August 14, 1976
- Won the last Championship at Pinecrest Speedway 1976
- there was a bounty set up against Tom in the early 1980’s at Sunset Speedway because he had won over 20 consecutive features
- Tom was the Crew Chief for ASA driver Bill Stephenson in 1985 and 1986 travelling to many tracks in Canada and the USA including; Nashville Fairgrounds, Michigan International Speedway, Winchester Speedway, Georgia International Speedway and Cayuga Speedway.
- Won 14 out of 17 Feature events in the OSCAAR Super Late Model Division in 1991 at Mosport Speedway, winning the Championship that year.
- Won many open wheeled Modified features in the early 1990’s
- Crew Chief for Hooter’s Pro Cup series driver John Guant in the early 2000’s
Tom won 12 Track Championships during his career:
- Pinecrest Speedway – 2 Championships – 1974 and 1976
- Sunset Speedway – 9 Championships – 1977 – 1984 and 1988
- Mosport Speedway – 1 Championship – 1991
Tom’s racing career spanned five decades starting in 1964 through early 2000’s. Tom has raced at CNE Stadium, Pinecrest Speedway, Sunset Speedway, Barrie Speedway, Mosport Speedway, Sutton Speedway, Sauble Speedway, Flamboro Speedway, Cayuga Speedway, Westgate Speedway, Speedway Park, Varney Speedway, Delaware Speedway and Kawartha Speedway.
Courtesy of Tammy Milligan-Giddings
