Pictures of mini stock racer
Carl Hilton
Fresh out of the army, Carl carries a checkered flag at Hialeah driving a Simca. This is what Hialeah looked like before the concrete wall was put up around 1968.
(photo by Bobby Day) Feb. 18, 1967
Just a month later, Carl had switched to English Fords, a model that would carry him to much success.
(photo by Bobby Day) March 25, 1967
The Ed Bowling Race Team! Carl and his brother Ed Bowling were showing off a pair of snazzy Anglias in front of the track stands. Not a 100% sure about this, but it looks like Carl and Ed have swapped cars for this shot.
Check out the tiny left-front tire Carl was using on this new car. It looked like the TQ midgets of the time: using a small tire and carrying it high in the air.
The Ed Bowling Race Team really hit its stride in the early 1970's. They would often arrive at the track with 3-5 cars, usually driven by assorted cousins, friends and family members.
In this shot, #51 was driven by Carl's brother-in-law, Eddie Hutchinson. Ed's 52 is furthest from the camera and Carl's 53 is in the center.
"Powder Puff" night and the 53 is still running strong. The driver is Carl's sister, Barbara Rogers. Barbara loved to race against her sister Joyce, who was married to driver Ed Hutchinson.
Ed and Carl were going at it tonight.
The Bowlings were always competitive, and sometimes controversial, but they had much success. Carl and Ed did most of the winning for the team.
(photo by Ed Oberlies) Oct. 28, 1972
The finer things in life! Patricia Hilton, Carl's wife at the time, joins him in victory lane.
(photo by Ed Oberlies) March 3, 1973
Yeah, he won a lot of races.
There is story behind this picture!
I used to work at the track on Sundays cleaning up trash, mowing the grass, etc... One day, I found this picture in a speedway trash can, and it had been ripped in 4 pieces. Look close, you can see that I taped it back together.
Remember that I wrote "The Bowlings were always competitive and sometimes controversial"? My guess is that Carl must have irritated a fan enough for them to buy a $1 Ed Oberlies print, just for the satisfaction of ripping it up!
Hollywood Speedway hosted the minis this day. Carl runs in race traffic behind Gary Rehrer.
At this point, Carl's racing days were numbered, but he continued to love speed. I understand he built some street Mustangs that were damn fast, and late in life he restored a basket-case pick-up.
(photo by Bobby Day)
We lost Carl in September of 2001. Lots of family and friends attended a bar-b-que held near his home, not far from the old track. That day, they remembered a hard-driving guy, who had a great time and won lots of races.
photo Sept. 16, 1972
