He began competing in the National Championship in 1967 placing 18th in the points. His two wins at Hales Corner, Wisconsin and one at Sycamore, Illinois in 1968 driving a very famous and very old midget owned by John Hajduk set the stage for his rapid rise to stardom in auto racing. Duane Carter’s old “Speed Age” Kurtis Kraft with Tom at the wheel would win the first Astro Grand Prix in the Houston Astrodome in 1969 and Tom was on his way to Sprint and Championship cars and the Indianapolis 500.
     In the next fifteen years Tom would become 5th in the list of all-time winners in USAC behind A.J. Foyt, Rich Vogler, Mel Kenyon and Gary Bettenhausen. He would race at Indy nine times and place 6th in 1977 and 8th in 1980. Bigelow also became the leader in USAC Sprint car wins with 52.
     In 1984 he returned to the midgets and won the National Championship. He placed 4th, 3rd and 9th the next three years and won the USAC Midwest Regional Title in 1982.