Hi everyone!
It’s been a couple of weeks since I checked in with all of you. I hope everyone’s year has started well. My year has been great so far!
After I returned from Tulsa and the Chili Bowl I had a bunch of things start that will be a fun balancing act for my entire season. First, back to school again. My parents always stress the importance of an education. While it would be a lot easier to focus entirely on racing, I know that my parents have been successful in life and that comes from their families and a good education. Therefore, I have a schedule through my school that allows me to attend school when I am in California and also continuing my education on the road through a remote lesson program when needed. Like I said, while it would be easier to just be a racer, I also need to make sure that I have a good education.
In addition to my school responsibilities, I have added a go-kart team involvement in my 2008 season. My friend Steven Barros from Empire Karts here in California is someone who I used to race with and has moved into team management in the karting world. He has worked with Grand Products Top Kart national professional karting team in the Stars of Karting, as well as working for his father who is a Top Kart dealer. He is also a real cool guy who is simultaneously working on a clothing brand called Audace. Anyway, Steven has set up team that will compete in the IKF Region 7 series in addition to a few other races. Well, when I heard what he was up to, I wanted to get involved (because I don’t have enough going on!). I am now apart of Steven’s team as a part time driver and a driver coach for his team. The first event for this new team was set for Fontana’s CalSpeed karting track. We thought the best way forward would be to first get some testing in before the big race weekend set for February 1 – 2. The test turned into a big event as a few other friends including Matt, Jeff, Steve, and Adam joined me. They ran with their karts and we ran all day. It was cool because I had not karted for almost two years and my times were very competitive in the two classes I would compete in the next weekend. Those classes included TAG light (a touch and go kart for lighter weight drivers) and HPV 4 (a two stroke restricted class). We worked all week after the test to get the karts totally dialed before the race weekend. Both classes had some great national level talent and Steven set up a very cool hospitality area with the help of his mom (great lunch and dinner) and Red Bull (well, um, with Red Bull!) we were the hit of the paddock (that’s what they call the pits in road racing) with our setup and Red Bull available to other competitors. In addition, on top of my parents coming out to the event my friends Matt, John, and Sam came out to support me. They all had cameras and it looked like paparazzi. It was all pretty funny as they shot the race as if a Hollywood A-lister was in action! The race action Saturday for me was the TAG class. This class is set up to be a real driver’s class, because the engine rules are very limited. It was cool to come out and qualify fast with the other 35 or so TAG karts. I ran well in the heat race and finished 3rd going into the main event. In the main I started conservative before picking up spots. After running fifth, I moved eventually into second with a lap and a half to go. I was in second, with only Michael Lewis in front. Michael is very fast and very cool. We used to race each other when I was karting, and I knew it would be tough to get pass him. However, he left the door open in the final corner and made the move to get past. We actually touched but I made it through and went onto victory! Michael and I agreed afterward we raced hard but fair and it was cool to win the first race in karts for two years! For the HPV4 race, it was raining all day. The track in those conditions makes it quite a handful! I qualified in fifth and after a fun rain race finished fifth. Overall it was a great weekend, and I want to thank Steven, my karting sponsor Mike Tetrault from Grand Products, and Top Kart for their support in this race.
After the race, it was time to get back to oval racing in the sprint and midget classes. A friend of my dad Tobin’s named Glen Crossno called us up on Sunday. Glen runs a very professional local sprint car team that races in Perris at Perris Speedway. He asked if I would be interested in competing in the CRA (California Race Association) opening race event at Perris. It did not take me long to say yes! I drove up to the shop of Glen Crossno iTi Performance Racing on Wednesday to get fitted for the car. It was cool to visit a new team. Glen runs a Bullet chassis that is produced by USAC team owner Keith Kunz, so I was stoked to get a chance to run a customer version of the chassis I run for Keith. When we got to the track and began running on Friday, I was ready to get back on the dirt. Perris is a half mile long track that is a two groove track. This means that a car can run on the outside on the berm and simultaneously a car can run an equal fast lap time on the bottom of the track. In addition, this type of track makes for good race action because most passes are “slide jobs”. This means that a car goes to the bottom and enters the corner faster than they can control the car on the bottom. The car then slides up the track faster than the passed car. On Friday we qualified 12th out of 50 cars. Everything went well until the main when the rear brakes stopped working! Now in a sprint car this doesn’t mean you can’t drive it. It just means that you can’t position the car as well through the corners. We made it through the main and finished 10th. After the race, we went back and changed out the entire rear brake system. For Saturday, this worked out well. We didn’t qualify where we wanted and started near the back of the pack. However, the car was really hooked up and we moved all the way up to 7th place. This was a lot of fun and was a great way to prepare for the opening midget / sprint weekend. I want to thank Glen Crossno and the entire iTi Performance Racing Team. I can’t wait to run at Perris with them again.
This moves us to my reunion with Keith Kunz Racing in Arizona. I was so excited to meet up with the team and get racing in my 2008 regular rides. As I said the last time we talked, Keith has a great team and they are one of the teams to beat in any race they contest. In addition, my teammate for 2008 is Darren Hagen. Darren is totally cool. He is like Kasey Kahne, because I think he has more female fans than male fans. I think they all want Darren to date them. He is also real fast and a good guy to hang out with at the track. Finally, I was stoked because I had some cool guests come out to see me race. Buddy Rice and his friend Mike came out to the track on Saturday. Buddy is the 2004 Indy 500 winner, and he has driven just about every kind of four wheel race car (except a midget and sprint actually). He is also a Red Bull athlete. Its real cool how Red Bull is like a family, and other athletes and people they work for or with Red Bull support you by attending your events. Everyone around Red Bull likes to learn about other racing and things Red Bull is associated with, and that’s cool. In addition, my friend Colby also came out to support me which was cool. He is really busy and it was great that he found time to come and hang out at my first USAC race. Finally, the race, the Copper on Dirt World Classic and it is a big deal to do well, because it’s the first race of the season. All three major sprint car classes were competing (midget, sprint, and silver crown) with all the classes there were over 125 cars in the pits.
The race was supposed to be a two-day show. However, it rained all day in Arizona! I would have never seen that coming. Therefore, the weekend was condensed into a one-day event. We got up very early on Saturday and had a super long wheel packing session. Basically when it rains this much, you need to just go out at a semi slow speed and push the water out of the dirt. Once we did this, we had a quick hot lap session and then went into qualifying. Both qualifying sessions went well. In the midget I qualified 12th out of 60, and in the sprint car I qualified 14th out of 45. Then we moved into heat races. Like any sprint car/midget race, depending how you finish in the heat, determines whether you go straight to the main event (A main), or whether you go to one of the lettered qualifying mains (D main, C main, B main, which you have to finish in the top 4 to transfer to the A ). My team did a great job and we made it straight to the A main in both classes. I actually finished 3rd in both races. Now I got to go back and watch everyone else qualify for the main events. The track was good just like Perris, and I found that my sprint car and midget worked best on the bottom of the track. This was good because most guys ran on the top side of the track.
For the main event for the sprint car, I started 12th out of the 25 cars that started in the field. I was able to run well on the bottom and I eventually posted a 5th place finish after 40 laps. My teammate Darren started 17th and I think finished in the top ten so this was a good start to the season for the team. In the midget race, Darren and I were hooked up! I started 10th and he started 5th. As soon as the race started he went straight into the lead. I was little further back, but I moved up to second quickly. After 25 laps, we finished 1st and 2nd. Congratulations to Darren, he drove great! Also, thank you to my parents Kim and Tobin and to Pete and Keith from Keith Kunz Racing. The Bullet Chassis worked great and I can’t wait until the next race in March.
After the weekend, I came home and I was happy to see that my friend Andy from Ogio was able to send me some new traveling bags to use this year. They are very big, and I will need them with all of the travel this year. I am also really excited for this weekend. My dad, my friend Matt, and I will be attending the NASCAR event in Fontana as guest of the Red Bull Racing Team. I can’t wait to see the team and cars. I am also looking forward to spending some time with Red Bull Racing Team drivers Brian Vickers and AJ Allmendinger. They are both real pros, and someday I hope to be where they are, in the Sprint Cup. It is also cool because my cousin Brandon is racing on Friday night in the NASCAR Truck Series event. Brandon is a real good “shoe” and he has posted some very good results in the truck series. It will be fun to see him and catch up. I am sure I can learn a lot about the current NASCAR world.
Well that’s all for now. Talk to you soon!
Cole
#71
www.colewhitt.com
It’s been a couple of weeks since I checked in with all of you. I hope everyone’s year has started well. My year has been great so far!
After I returned from Tulsa and the Chili Bowl I had a bunch of things start that will be a fun balancing act for my entire season. First, back to school again. My parents always stress the importance of an education. While it would be a lot easier to focus entirely on racing, I know that my parents have been successful in life and that comes from their families and a good education. Therefore, I have a schedule through my school that allows me to attend school when I am in California and also continuing my education on the road through a remote lesson program when needed. Like I said, while it would be easier to just be a racer, I also need to make sure that I have a good education.
In addition to my school responsibilities, I have added a go-kart team involvement in my 2008 season. My friend Steven Barros from Empire Karts here in California is someone who I used to race with and has moved into team management in the karting world. He has worked with Grand Products Top Kart national professional karting team in the Stars of Karting, as well as working for his father who is a Top Kart dealer. He is also a real cool guy who is simultaneously working on a clothing brand called Audace. Anyway, Steven has set up team that will compete in the IKF Region 7 series in addition to a few other races. Well, when I heard what he was up to, I wanted to get involved (because I don’t have enough going on!). I am now apart of Steven’s team as a part time driver and a driver coach for his team. The first event for this new team was set for Fontana’s CalSpeed karting track. We thought the best way forward would be to first get some testing in before the big race weekend set for February 1 – 2. The test turned into a big event as a few other friends including Matt, Jeff, Steve, and Adam joined me. They ran with their karts and we ran all day. It was cool because I had not karted for almost two years and my times were very competitive in the two classes I would compete in the next weekend. Those classes included TAG light (a touch and go kart for lighter weight drivers) and HPV 4 (a two stroke restricted class). We worked all week after the test to get the karts totally dialed before the race weekend. Both classes had some great national level talent and Steven set up a very cool hospitality area with the help of his mom (great lunch and dinner) and Red Bull (well, um, with Red Bull!) we were the hit of the paddock (that’s what they call the pits in road racing) with our setup and Red Bull available to other competitors. In addition, on top of my parents coming out to the event my friends Matt, John, and Sam came out to support me. They all had cameras and it looked like paparazzi. It was all pretty funny as they shot the race as if a Hollywood A-lister was in action! The race action Saturday for me was the TAG class. This class is set up to be a real driver’s class, because the engine rules are very limited. It was cool to come out and qualify fast with the other 35 or so TAG karts. I ran well in the heat race and finished 3rd going into the main event. In the main I started conservative before picking up spots. After running fifth, I moved eventually into second with a lap and a half to go. I was in second, with only Michael Lewis in front. Michael is very fast and very cool. We used to race each other when I was karting, and I knew it would be tough to get pass him. However, he left the door open in the final corner and made the move to get past. We actually touched but I made it through and went onto victory! Michael and I agreed afterward we raced hard but fair and it was cool to win the first race in karts for two years! For the HPV4 race, it was raining all day. The track in those conditions makes it quite a handful! I qualified in fifth and after a fun rain race finished fifth. Overall it was a great weekend, and I want to thank Steven, my karting sponsor Mike Tetrault from Grand Products, and Top Kart for their support in this race.
After the race, it was time to get back to oval racing in the sprint and midget classes. A friend of my dad Tobin’s named Glen Crossno called us up on Sunday. Glen runs a very professional local sprint car team that races in Perris at Perris Speedway. He asked if I would be interested in competing in the CRA (California Race Association) opening race event at Perris. It did not take me long to say yes! I drove up to the shop of Glen Crossno iTi Performance Racing on Wednesday to get fitted for the car. It was cool to visit a new team. Glen runs a Bullet chassis that is produced by USAC team owner Keith Kunz, so I was stoked to get a chance to run a customer version of the chassis I run for Keith. When we got to the track and began running on Friday, I was ready to get back on the dirt. Perris is a half mile long track that is a two groove track. This means that a car can run on the outside on the berm and simultaneously a car can run an equal fast lap time on the bottom of the track. In addition, this type of track makes for good race action because most passes are “slide jobs”. This means that a car goes to the bottom and enters the corner faster than they can control the car on the bottom. The car then slides up the track faster than the passed car. On Friday we qualified 12th out of 50 cars. Everything went well until the main when the rear brakes stopped working! Now in a sprint car this doesn’t mean you can’t drive it. It just means that you can’t position the car as well through the corners. We made it through the main and finished 10th. After the race, we went back and changed out the entire rear brake system. For Saturday, this worked out well. We didn’t qualify where we wanted and started near the back of the pack. However, the car was really hooked up and we moved all the way up to 7th place. This was a lot of fun and was a great way to prepare for the opening midget / sprint weekend. I want to thank Glen Crossno and the entire iTi Performance Racing Team. I can’t wait to run at Perris with them again.
This moves us to my reunion with Keith Kunz Racing in Arizona. I was so excited to meet up with the team and get racing in my 2008 regular rides. As I said the last time we talked, Keith has a great team and they are one of the teams to beat in any race they contest. In addition, my teammate for 2008 is Darren Hagen. Darren is totally cool. He is like Kasey Kahne, because I think he has more female fans than male fans. I think they all want Darren to date them. He is also real fast and a good guy to hang out with at the track. Finally, I was stoked because I had some cool guests come out to see me race. Buddy Rice and his friend Mike came out to the track on Saturday. Buddy is the 2004 Indy 500 winner, and he has driven just about every kind of four wheel race car (except a midget and sprint actually). He is also a Red Bull athlete. Its real cool how Red Bull is like a family, and other athletes and people they work for or with Red Bull support you by attending your events. Everyone around Red Bull likes to learn about other racing and things Red Bull is associated with, and that’s cool. In addition, my friend Colby also came out to support me which was cool. He is really busy and it was great that he found time to come and hang out at my first USAC race. Finally, the race, the Copper on Dirt World Classic and it is a big deal to do well, because it’s the first race of the season. All three major sprint car classes were competing (midget, sprint, and silver crown) with all the classes there were over 125 cars in the pits.
The race was supposed to be a two-day show. However, it rained all day in Arizona! I would have never seen that coming. Therefore, the weekend was condensed into a one-day event. We got up very early on Saturday and had a super long wheel packing session. Basically when it rains this much, you need to just go out at a semi slow speed and push the water out of the dirt. Once we did this, we had a quick hot lap session and then went into qualifying. Both qualifying sessions went well. In the midget I qualified 12th out of 60, and in the sprint car I qualified 14th out of 45. Then we moved into heat races. Like any sprint car/midget race, depending how you finish in the heat, determines whether you go straight to the main event (A main), or whether you go to one of the lettered qualifying mains (D main, C main, B main, which you have to finish in the top 4 to transfer to the A ). My team did a great job and we made it straight to the A main in both classes. I actually finished 3rd in both races. Now I got to go back and watch everyone else qualify for the main events. The track was good just like Perris, and I found that my sprint car and midget worked best on the bottom of the track. This was good because most guys ran on the top side of the track.
For the main event for the sprint car, I started 12th out of the 25 cars that started in the field. I was able to run well on the bottom and I eventually posted a 5th place finish after 40 laps. My teammate Darren started 17th and I think finished in the top ten so this was a good start to the season for the team. In the midget race, Darren and I were hooked up! I started 10th and he started 5th. As soon as the race started he went straight into the lead. I was little further back, but I moved up to second quickly. After 25 laps, we finished 1st and 2nd. Congratulations to Darren, he drove great! Also, thank you to my parents Kim and Tobin and to Pete and Keith from Keith Kunz Racing. The Bullet Chassis worked great and I can’t wait until the next race in March.
After the weekend, I came home and I was happy to see that my friend Andy from Ogio was able to send me some new traveling bags to use this year. They are very big, and I will need them with all of the travel this year. I am also really excited for this weekend. My dad, my friend Matt, and I will be attending the NASCAR event in Fontana as guest of the Red Bull Racing Team. I can’t wait to see the team and cars. I am also looking forward to spending some time with Red Bull Racing Team drivers Brian Vickers and AJ Allmendinger. They are both real pros, and someday I hope to be where they are, in the Sprint Cup. It is also cool because my cousin Brandon is racing on Friday night in the NASCAR Truck Series event. Brandon is a real good “shoe” and he has posted some very good results in the truck series. It will be fun to see him and catch up. I am sure I can learn a lot about the current NASCAR world.
Well that’s all for now. Talk to you soon!
Cole
#71
www.colewhitt.com
Sam Keene aka Paparazzi
TME Photography
Tim Aylwin