TERRE HAUTE — Seventeen-year-old Cole Whitt of Alpine, Calif., is a junior in high school.
He’s not even old enough to vote in the upcoming presidential election.
But late Saturday night in front of a mostly packed house at the Terre Haute Action Track, Whitt proved he was old enough — and definitely skilled enough — to take the checkered flag as winner of the 57th running of the First Financial Bank Hut Hundred presented by Dorsett Mitsubishi.
Whitt, who drove a black Red Bull No. 71 for the Keith Kunz Motorsports team, received $4,000 for his victory in the 100-lap race for U.S. Auto Club midget cars.
It didn’t take long for an accident to stop action at the beginning, as vehicles driven by Shane Cottle, Jason Leffler, Cole Carter and Dakoda Armstrong got tangled in the second turn of the first lap. All but Carter were able to return later.
On the restart, Whitt seized the lead from the outside of the front row and kept it through 45 laps. On the 46th lap, Cottle — who went to the back of the pack after his first-lap accident, then worked his way up to second by the 39th lap — traveled the high side to pass Whitt coming out of the fourth turn.
Cottle eventually pulled away and appeared to be in control until a yellow flag delayed action after the 75th lap. At that point, USAC allowed drivers to refuel. After the restart, Whitt closed in on Cottle and passed him on the inside coming out of Turn 4 on Lap 79.
“I got underneath him just right,” Whitt mentioned.
Jerry Coons Jr. spun out between turns 1 and 2 on the 88th lap, triggering another yellow flag and giving Brady Bacon a better chance of catching Whitt on a restart.
That didn’t happen, however, as Whitt held off Bacon and Cottle in the final 12 laps to seal the outcome.
“It’s gotta be probably the biggest win of my career,” Whitt admitted after posing for dozens of victory photos.
Cottle finished second and fastest-qualifier Brad Sweet came in third. The last previous Hut Hundred winner, Darren Hagen in 2006, ended up seventh.
There was no Hut Hundred in 2007.
Earlier Saturday evening, Brad Barrow of Bloomington won the 20-lap Monster Energy Drink Modified Classic presented by MacAllister Machinery. The race included several stoppages in action because of yellow-flag accidents. Eventually, Barrow received $2,000 for his victory.
There were no injuries reported from any of the accidents.
The previously publicized Race to Recover Modifieds race, featuring a few nationally known racers, did not take place Saturday because of prior commitments by some of the drivers.
This was the final Action Track event of the season put on by DHK Promotions LLC, which consists of partners Mike King, Brian Dorsett, Davey Hamilton and Chris Novotney.
“I think it’s been a really good first season,” Dorsett assessed during a break in Saturday’s event. “We’ve made a big investment in this track. We’ve made a lot of improvements aesthetically.”
Dorsett said the 2009 schedule has not been put together yet, but he thinks the season will probably start in late April or early May.
“We’ll probably have a couple more races [than in 2008] and maybe some different kinds of races,” Dorsett said, mentioning the World of Outlaws sprint cars, motorcycles and Late Models as possibilities.
“We want to look at everything, but we need to make some more improvements here first.”
57th First Financial Bank Hut Hundred
Feature (100 laps) — Cole Whitt, Shane Cottle, Brad Sweet, Tracy Hines, Bobby East, Dustin Morgan, Darren Hagen, Jerry Coons Jr., Chase Barber, Kody Swanson.
Ricky Ehrgott, Davey Ray, Dakoda Armstrong, Brady Bacon, Brad Kuhn, Joe Liguori, Levi Jones, Brad Loyet, Cole Carter, Chad Boat, Jason Leffler, Justin Grosz.
Qualifying — Sweet 22.389 seconds, Whitt 22.563, Hagen 22.755, Cottle 22.758, Hines 22.771, East 22.951, Carter 22.992, Bacon 23.023, Jones 23.140, Coons 23.263.
Leffler 23.518, Boat 23.572, Loyet 23.591, Armstrong 23.691, Kuhn 23.772, Morgan 23.876, Ray 23.989, Liguori 23.990, Barber 24.097, Ehrgott 24.127, Swanson 24.217, Grosz NT.
Monster Energy Drink Modified Classic
Feature (20 laps, top 10) — Brad Barrow, Ray Humphrey, Bob Pohlman Jr., Kenny Carmichael, Scott Martin, Nick Allen, Clint Domoss, Curt Rhoades, Doug Vinnedge, Brian Shaw.
First B-main (12 laps, top two) — Wes McClara, Chad Evans.
Second B-main (12 laps, top two) — Matt Huddleston, Phil Vansant.
Heat winners (eight laps each) — Tim Hancock, Nick Allen, Barrow, Don Kiger, Rhoades.
Auto Racing
17-year-old races away with Hut Hundred
Cole Whitt, of Alpine, Calif., finishes first in late Saturday race at Action Track
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