How I made my obsession into a way of life.

By Trevor Hilliar

Trevor's Racing Bio

If you had asked me in 1990 what I would be doing in 15 years, I might have said IMSA or Indy Car. At 19 years old, having just completed a 3 day Skip Barber formula Ford school at Bridgehampton, I probably figured that the letter from Penske would be waiting for me when I got home. Like any aspiring young racer, I had big, BIG plans.

Me, Me, Me

Now, 15 years later, I have found that MY path to racing stardom turned out to be a 1/6th mile dirt road course in my own back yard. This is not to say that I have achieved any level of racing stardom (other than to the people who have heard about the rental-car-ice-racing-rollover incident.) Rather, that by dunking myself in the river of racing, and letting the current take me, I have washed up on a nice little beach. I have found a way to devour the flesh of racing without choking on a single bone (and racing is one bony fish.) Enough with the water analogies, though.

After that Skip Barber school in 1990, I bought a Datsun B210 that was prepared for SCCA GT4. The Datsun had a 9000 rpm pushrod motor and I learned how to blow them up very quickly, so I had to learn how to fix them too. Working at my family's repair shop, Hilliar's Foreign Motors, enabled me to race the Datsun for 3 years in the Northeast, culminating in 1993 NARRC Champion and 3 National finishes. At the end of 1993, I decided that formula cars were the way to go and started looking at Formula Continentals.

FC was a quickly growing class and there were a number of competitive and unique cars available. I looked at Van Diemens, Reynards and Swifts, as well as a one-off BRD and Vector. I settled on the Swift DB6 and in 1994, began to campaign the car in Northeast SCCA National races and a few ACC/USAC FF2000 Pro races, including Lime Rock, NHIS, Mid Ohio and Watkins Glen. My best Pro finish was an 8th, at Lime Rock in 1994. I did have several SCCA National poles, a track record (NHIS) and a win (Lime Rock, 97.) I continued to develop and race the Swift with the help of, among many people, Kent Jones of Marblehead, MA. In 1997, I finished 2nd and Kent was 3rd in the Northeast Division, and he talked me into a trip to the Valvoline Runoffs at Mid Ohio. When I broke the car in half on the first day of testing, it lead to a memorable 10 day thrash.

In 1999, Kent and I bought a pair of 1997 Van Diemens and campaigned them in the Northeast Nationals with much success. We sold the cars at year's end and began a Grand Am Cup project that we would race in 2002. Endurance racing has appealed to me since attending the Rolex 24 for the first time (1995.) I vowed that I would race and finish that grueling contest. I have made 3 failed attempts at the Rolex, perhaps the most promising being in a Lola/Ford in 2000. The car expired before the race even began. But I will be back.

Leading the 2000 Lime Rock SCCA National Formula Continental Race.

Kent Jones and I campaigned a Camaro SS in the GSII class of Grand Am Cup for several races in 2002 and 2003. We had what I would consider to be great success. On a limited budget, we were able to stay in the top half, and usually top third of the grid. We qualified 3rd on the grid for the last two races we ran, VIR and Daytona 2003. The most memorable race of the two seasons would have to be the 2002 Daytona 6 hour. Running 2nd with an hour and a half to go, we bent a rear axle and developed a vibration that made the car undrivable. Kent pitted and, behind the wall and in the dark, the Precision Motor Werks/Garden Iron team changed the entire (very hot) rear axle in 16 minutes. Kent rejoined in 5th. A roar of joy and satisfaction went up from the crew and hundred or so on lookers. We finished 5th and the crew got a much earned pat on the back.

Daytona 2003

Flashback to 1998. In the off season, good friend and accomplished hillclimber, Dan Rutan, and I bought three used racing karts to do some driveway and backyard racing between events. Shortly, we had converted them to Honda power and by the end of 1998, there were 6 or more karts in circulation. Over the next few years, a very challenging and enjoyable road course developed in my back yard and the pack of karts grew by leaps and bounds.

At the beginning of 2004, I was working for Garden Iron of Essex, CT when I decided to take the backyard karting thing and try to make a living from it. I had learned a great deal about running a business, sales and marketing and fabrication in my three fun years at Garden Iron, and I already knew a bit about karting and a lot about racing. I began to design a kart that would be affordable, WKA/IKF race legal, but optimized for backyard tracks. I formed T Karts, LLC and began producing and selling the T1. At writing, I have built 10 karts and they are routinely the fastest karts among our 20+ karters. With the purchase of an AMB timing system this year, we have been able to expand out number of tracks to five and have timed sprint and endurance races on an almost weekly basis.

As well as building the T1, I knew that I would need to create a market, a niche. I envisioned a network of backyard tracks, road courses and ovals, spread across the continent. Track owners could do as they pleased, but I would offer a recommended set of rules and create a national championship event. A web based community would be formed to give karters a place to come together and discuss what could just be the most entertaining form of racing on Earth.

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