Stories and photos by
Terry Spradley
Sixth in a Series
Tom Hilt,changes in attitudes, changes in latitudes
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Tom Hilt cuts grooves in a set of racing tires in preperation for another night of racing on the dirt
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The sound of an electric grinder and the smell of burnt rubber greet me as I enter the non-descript tan building. A blue and yellow car hood leans against the back wall, and a few feet from that the driver of the number 21 super stocker grinds the rubber off a new looking tire mounted on an aluminum race rim and supported by a blue metal wheel stand.
Tom Hilt grinds away, cutting grooves and roughing up the surface of a new set of tires getting them primed for another night of riding the ragged edge at Salina ’s banked dirt oval. Hilt currently lives in Lindsborg and pilots a yellow on blue, highly modified, 1981 Chevy Camero around the 3/8 mile dirt oval just west of Salina . This was not always the case.
Hilt was born in Belleville Kans. , home of one of the fastest ½ mile dirt tracks in the nation. However, this was not where Hilt got his start in auto racing. At the age of two his family relocated to the far west corner of the state in St. Francis Kans. This is where the racing bug found Hilt and started him on a race career that would span many counties and a variety of styles of racecars.
Hilt started out in the 80’s version of a hobby stock car. “I raced for about 10 to 12 years when I lived out in St. Francis,” Hilt said. “Then I moved down here and I was out of racing for awhile.” His brother, Jeff, introduced him to Greg Slater who was looking for a driver for his open-wheel TQ. Open-wheel racers refer to a style of car that has no real body covering, and is not much more than a fire-breathing motor bolted to four wheels and a driver’s seat. Commonly known as sprint cars, the TQs are a classification of these racers on a three-quarter scale and limited engine size. They are still capable of harrowing speeds and power drifting slides on the smaller tracks around central Kansas .
“The first time I drove it, I bicycled it,” Hilt said. Bicycling is putting the car on the two outer wheels when cornering. Not the preferred method of turning the tightly sprung racers. “I thought what in the world am I doing wrong. I came back in and the guy said drive it harder, you’re not driving it hard enough.”
With a hot motor and the correct set-up one of these small winged rockets can be driven around the track at full power sliding through the corners and lifting the inside front wheel most of the way down each straight away. “I drove that car for five years,” Hilt said. “I get in this 3400 pound car (super stock car,) and you don’t do that.” 
During his open wheel-racing career, Hilt competed against some top names, and provided some toppled thrills. “I flipped the car in Clay Center one time,” Hilt said. “I was coming down the back straightaway and a guy came over and clipped the left front wheel, broke the spindle and the wheel fell off. I knew it was coming, I let off the gas the front end dug in and flipped 5 times end-over-end. That was really the only bad crash I’ve ever been in, and I didn’t get hurt or anything.”
While this is only Hilt’s second season pushing a super stocker through the turns at Salina Speedway, he is doing an admirable job of it. Last year he finished sixth in the points chase. This year with more improvements to the #21, and continual tweaking by his set-up man David Kohler, (location), He hopes to improve on that finish.
When not pushing the limits in his sleek oval version of a Camero, Hilt works as a building contractor. Recently branching out on his own, he is currently working on a new home at Emerald Lake east of Lindsborg.
Hilt is a first generation racer, but he is not the only member of the family that goes fast and turns left. Jeff Hilt, Salina , Tom’s younger brother also pilots one of the supercharged replicas of the family car. Owner of Hilt Trucking, one of Tom’s sponsors, he is also one of Tom’s rivals. “I think after last week, he (Jeff), is in first place in the standings.” Jeff got his start in racing by driving Tom’s car in the mechanic’s race.
Many of the speedways run special novelty features such as a mechanics only race. In past years a ladies only event, known as powder puff was popular, and Salina Speedway has held trailer races where drivers compete hauling whatever creation they come up with dragging along behind their cars.
Besides family competition on the track, Hilt has strong family support in the stands. “My folks are probably my biggest fans,” Hilt said. “For years, it didn’t matter where we were at, racing, they’d go, if they could.” Merlyn and Rita Hilt, Lindsborg, have followed both of their sons to many of the dirt ovals in central and western Kansas . With two of their offspring in the same class its tough deciding whom to cheer for. “It’s hard,” Rita Hilt said. “And when they are both racing side-by-side you don’t get to see much of the rest of the race.”
Hilt does not come from a long bloodline of racers, but his dad may have been a contributing factor to his need for speed. “I built him a go-cart when he was 5-years-old,” Merlyn Hilt, said. “He about ran the wheels off that thing. I’ve often wondered if that’s why he got into racing.”
While Hilt may spend his week nights alone grooving tires or prepping the car for the weekend, he and his brother Jeff share a good crew of supporters and crew members. Greg Slater, location, (the same one that put him in the seat of an open-wheel racer,) Mike Peterson, location, and Bill Burgman, location, help keep Tom’s #21, and Jeff’s #12 super stocks making super lap times.
Hilt, his brother and many other local racers are setting super lap times, and entertaining the fans every Saturday night at Salina Speedway. Bring the family and join in on the fun that is dirt track racing in the country’s heartland.
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| Tom Hilt #21, holds the inside line while passing his brother, Jeff. Tom also passed his brother in the point standings and is currently leading the Super Stock class. |