Like a lot of teenagers, Cole Whitt took Driver’s Ed recently. But in his case, one has to wonder who was schooling whom: while Whitt didn’t yet have a permit, he did have eight International Karting Federation Grand National Titles, as well as racing honors including SuperNational Champion, Pro Moto Tour Champion, Stars of Karting National Champion, and California State Champion.
The high-schooler spends his summer vacations and most of his weekends driving in some of the most hotly contested races on the planet. After dominating the karting scene, Whitt began racing a junior winged Sprint Car in 2004, rapidly progressing to the wilder non-winged version, as well as full-size Midget and 410 Sprint Cars. In 2006 he won the Hoosier Sprint Car Rookie of the Year Award, and with a full calendar of Sprint Car and Midget contests, he continues to pursue his goal of becoming a top racecar driver.
His wish granted, Whitt crisscrossed the United States to earn his string of IKF titles and assorted championships. Barely a 13-year-old in 2004, he even advanced to the semi-finals in the Red Bull Driver Search effort to identify teens with the potential to compete in Formula 1.
That was also the year that Whitt began his transition to Sprint Car racing. Sprint Cars are high-powered machines that often serve as a stepping-stone to the IndyCar and NASCAR ranks. In 2004, while still earning awards like Super Kart Illustrated Young Driver of the Year, Whitt was the main event winner at the Palace Nationals Junior Sprint Car race.
The following year, he continued to rock the karting scene (winning Super Kart Illustrated Rising Star of 2005), and he expanded his Junior Sprint Car experience, taking six wins. He also debuted in a full-size Midget Car at the Chili Bowl Nationals, where he was the youngest competitor to make it to the B Main of the feature night.
In 2006, the popular athlete said goodbye to karting and put in his first full season in a 410 Sprint Car. Several main event wins, eight top five finishes, and eleven top ten finishes earned him a nomination for North American Non-Winged Sprint Car Rookie of the Year in addition to his Hoosier Sprint Car Rookie of the Year kudos.
“I’ll be excited to get back on pavement when I’m eligible mid-season,” Whitt said as 2007 began. “But I want to come out of the gate strong from the very first race of the year. We’ll start the season in Indiana – including Indiana Sprint Week, which is nine races in eleven days. By then I will be 16, so we’ll try to run some pavement races and USAC national events, too.”
The United States Automobile Club is generally acknowledged as the country’s premier series for non-winged Sprint Car racing. “Non-winged Sprints put on a better show and are more exciting to watch,” Whitt explains, “and because they take a lot more to control, they teach you more. The non-winged events are where I can learn the most.”
The ambitious driver, whose Sprint Car is number 29, also participates in a number of Midget events. “It’s a non-wing downsize of a Sprint Car, with four cylinders instead of eight,” he says, noting that the horsepower difference is “huge” but that both vehicles are valuable learning tools.
Seeing Whitt mastering a track, it’s easy to forget that he’s still in school. When he’s not training or doing homework, the friendly redhead enjoys camping and riding his Rhino in the desert, as well as tennis, wakeboarding, and working on his own cars. He’s also an enthusiastic supporter of the Lions Tigers and Bears animal rescue facility near his home in California.
Maybe Whitt likes big cats so much because he hopes to be a big dog on the racing scene. “In the long term, I’d like to race NASCAR – but I don’t want just to say I did it,” he declares firmly. “I want to race NASCAR and be really good.”
The high-schooler spends his summer vacations and most of his weekends driving in some of the most hotly contested races on the planet. After dominating the karting scene, Whitt began racing a junior winged Sprint Car in 2004, rapidly progressing to the wilder non-winged version, as well as full-size Midget and 410 Sprint Cars. In 2006 he won the Hoosier Sprint Car Rookie of the Year Award, and with a full calendar of Sprint Car and Midget contests, he continues to pursue his goal of becoming a top racecar driver.
FROM TWO WHEELS TO FOUR
Born in 1991 in California, Whitt began successfully racing BMX at age 5. But four wheels held more appeal, and by the time he was 8, the youngster was begging to race a kart.His wish granted, Whitt crisscrossed the United States to earn his string of IKF titles and assorted championships. Barely a 13-year-old in 2004, he even advanced to the semi-finals in the Red Bull Driver Search effort to identify teens with the potential to compete in Formula 1.
That was also the year that Whitt began his transition to Sprint Car racing. Sprint Cars are high-powered machines that often serve as a stepping-stone to the IndyCar and NASCAR ranks. In 2004, while still earning awards like Super Kart Illustrated Young Driver of the Year, Whitt was the main event winner at the Palace Nationals Junior Sprint Car race.
The following year, he continued to rock the karting scene (winning Super Kart Illustrated Rising Star of 2005), and he expanded his Junior Sprint Car experience, taking six wins. He also debuted in a full-size Midget Car at the Chili Bowl Nationals, where he was the youngest competitor to make it to the B Main of the feature night.
In 2006, the popular athlete said goodbye to karting and put in his first full season in a 410 Sprint Car. Several main event wins, eight top five finishes, and eleven top ten finishes earned him a nomination for North American Non-Winged Sprint Car Rookie of the Year in addition to his Hoosier Sprint Car Rookie of the Year kudos.
FROM DIRT TO PAVEMENT
To Whitt, turning 16 in the summer of 2007 meant more than getting his driver’s license. It meant being able to race on pavement again, and in his home state. Although Whitt had gotten his start on pavement with karting, through the 2006 season his Sprint Car races had been primarily on the dirt of the Indiana circuit, because Sprint Car competitors under the age of 16 aren’t allowed to participate in events on paved tracks; and in the state of California athletes under 16 aren’t allowed in Sprint Car competitions in general.“I’ll be excited to get back on pavement when I’m eligible mid-season,” Whitt said as 2007 began. “But I want to come out of the gate strong from the very first race of the year. We’ll start the season in Indiana – including Indiana Sprint Week, which is nine races in eleven days. By then I will be 16, so we’ll try to run some pavement races and USAC national events, too.”
The United States Automobile Club is generally acknowledged as the country’s premier series for non-winged Sprint Car racing. “Non-winged Sprints put on a better show and are more exciting to watch,” Whitt explains, “and because they take a lot more to control, they teach you more. The non-winged events are where I can learn the most.”
The ambitious driver, whose Sprint Car is number 29, also participates in a number of Midget events. “It’s a non-wing downsize of a Sprint Car, with four cylinders instead of eight,” he says, noting that the horsepower difference is “huge” but that both vehicles are valuable learning tools.
Seeing Whitt mastering a track, it’s easy to forget that he’s still in school. When he’s not training or doing homework, the friendly redhead enjoys camping and riding his Rhino in the desert, as well as tennis, wakeboarding, and working on his own cars. He’s also an enthusiastic supporter of the Lions Tigers and Bears animal rescue facility near his home in California.
Maybe Whitt likes big cats so much because he hopes to be a big dog on the racing scene. “In the long term, I’d like to race NASCAR – but I don’t want just to say I did it,” he declares firmly. “I want to race NASCAR and be really good.”
Dave Merritt
Dave Merritt
