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The 19-year-old Red Bull rookie says he would like to take some of the momentum from Dover along with him to Charlotte this weekend.
Enough already about Cole Whitt's hair color and his diminutive, youthful appearance, so what if he barely meets the height requirement at Disney's Autopia ride. Continuing to do so is a little like pointing out Beethoven's lazy left eye instead of focusing on his music. The 19-year-old Red Bull rookie is a phenom - deal with it - and because now anything less just seems like a thinly-veiled attempt to smush this huge driving talent into earthly dimensions we can more easily relate with.
Now that the young K&N sponsored racer has had a glimpse of the checkered it's, it's safe to assume he'll be kicking it up a few notches.
Think back to what you were doing at that age on Friday the 13th, and pretending not to be superstitious in front of your friends probably comes to play - going toe-to-toe with Kyle Busch late in the Lucas Oil 200 probably doesn't. The driver of the No. 60, Turn One Racing Red Bull Chevrolet, didn't win the Camping World Truck Series race at Dover International Speedway, but he did get a real good peek at the checkered flag. In what may prove to be a career defining moment in his young NASCAR career, Whitt finished second, his best to date.
Whitt told K&N Race News, "I think our team performed really well, and obviously finishing second place to Kyle Bush is like a win for us. I would have liked to been one spot further up, but we'll take second and keep trying for a win."
Kyle Busch and Cole Whitt went fender to fender during the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Lucas Oil 200 at Dover International Speedway (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Under the guidance of Red Bull Racing Team, Whitt is competing in his rookie season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and now that he's had a sample of what winning in this series might taste like, every indication points to him being a glutton for more.
"It's a big learning curve. A huge learning curve," Whitt said after the best finish of his seven-race Truck Series career. "Kyle's just fast. He and I had the field covered, and it was going to come down to the two of us. We had a better long-run truck. He had a better short-run truck. He's good on restarts... no question."
And that's precisely what the final 17 laps of the 200-lap race came down to - restarts. Whitt admitted after the race that he learned more than a truckload about restarts from Kyle in those last rounds.
"It just seemed like he (Busch) could get though the initial crack on the throttle. That's where he would get me," Whitt said. "We weren't bad in the second- and third- gear shift. He just seemed to get the throttle down so much better. We got it better at the end, just not good enough."
"I think for the most part we did everything we could," continued the K&N sponsored driver. "We had a fast truck and we were there at the end to contend for a win. I got to go to school a little bit and work on my restarts, and at the end we were there with Kyle Busch, and he's the best in the business when it comes to restarts. But, I think I'm getting better, and my restarts got better. Not spinning the tires is key."
Whitt confessed that Dover Speedway fits his driving style ideally, what with its high banking and high speeds. He says it's the kind of track he really enjoys racing on, adding "I like tracks that you have to get up on the wheel and really drive. We had a really good truck on the long runs and when we had clean air."
Kyle Busch may have picked up a thing or two regarding Whitt and the level of opposition he no doubt will be facing in races to come. Showing his future adversary a healthy dose of respect Busch said, "Cole Whitt did a really nice job, I think he's got something going on over there. The guys do a really nice job, and he's fast. He's quick week in and week out, and this is the first one he's really contended for - that I've been in, anyway."
With his second place finish Whitt climbed to third place in the driver standings, shaving off more than half his deficit on the top spot. He's now a mere seven points behind series leader Matt Crafton entering the May 20 race at Charlotte.
Said Whitt, "Hopefully we will take a little bit of momentum with us, but it's like any race, we start over from square one, and try to be fast, and be up front."
After a slow start to the 2011 season for Mike Edwards, the former NHRA Pro Stock Champion and his Penhall/K&N/Interstate Batteries Pontiac team rolled into the most recent NHRA National Event at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Georgia poised to get back to their class leader ways. Although the team picked up the Pro Stock Wally just two events ago, things had not quite fallen their way since.
Mike Edwards and his Penhall/K&N/Interstate Batteries Pontiac
"The last two races have not unfolded as we had hoped coming off the win in Las Vegas," admitted Edwards. "We were fast during the four-wide racing in Charlotte, but it did not translate into a win. Then in Houston, we were close to where we needed to be, but came up short in the semifinals."
As most teams know, it all starts in qualifying and although he qualified very well over the last two events, sitting at number three for race day for both, he had not grabbed a pole since the Las Vegas event.
One thing teams can count on for the Atlanta event each season is that they cannot count on the weather staying consistent. With many of the drivers in Pro Stock also being the tuners and crew chiefs for their team, it can put a lot one one's shoulders.
"Seems like we always have weather issues at this event and somehow or another we get the race in," he noted.
During the first session on Friday, it was a rather warm one. With a temperature of 88 degrees, and an adjusted altitude 3,678 feet Edwards managed to post a 6.641 @ 207.56 and right to the top of the heap.
By the time the teams rolled to the line for the second session, both the air and track conditions were much improved, allowing teams to give it a little more where it counted and Edwards' team was right on the money.
Not only did Edwards and his Penhall/K&N Pontiac improve, they continued to outrun the field with a 6.605 @ 208.55, just enough to hold off Jason Line who was just three-thousandths behind.
"If we get the cooler weather tomorrow, this run won't hold," Edwards said that Friday after session two. "If it cools off tomorrow just look how it changed between sessions. We ran a 6.64 and then stepped up to a 6.60. We only picked up 400 or 500 feet. If we come out here in the morning and the air is 1000 feet better we will run a lot faster."
While weather conditions never got any worse for the two qualifying sessions on Saturday, they didn't necessarily improve. Edwards managed to make the third quickest pass of session three and second quickest of the final session. What was most important was the fact that he continued to earn a few precious championship bonus points during qualifying, which help him make up for the DNQ at Pomona and that he held on tight to the pole position for race day. With just a small handful of events remaining to garner qualifying points for the 2011 K&N Horsepower Challenge, Edwards was pleased to gain some ground in the standings and the $3,000 #1 qualifier bonus from K&N Engineering.
"It's all about points right now," he confessed after holding on to number one. "We're looking to get all we can get. I think we got the most out of the last two days; we haven't been doing that. That is a step in the right direction.
"You have to get in the Countdown to play the Countdown," he added.
"You never want to make a mistake, but [being qualified at the top] gives you the opportunity to try some things, not off the wall or out of the box things. You don't want to try something to far off because there are three points to gain."
Mike Edwards and his Penhall/K&N Pontiac have made it a little tighter in the top three of the 2011 K&N Horsepower Challenge, just seventy points out of first. There are just three remaining events, Topeka, Englishtown and Bristol before the $50,000 shootout unfolds in Norwalk, Ohio in mid-June.
As the biggest single payday in all of NHRA Pro Stock, the K&N Horsepower Challenge pits the top seven qualified teams along with one fan voted favorite for the coveted crown and bragging rights.
For more information on placing you vote and a chance to win in the 2011 K&N Horsepower Challenge Sweepstakes visit. Time is running out! Deadline for entry is May 27, 2011.
Teddy Hodgdon won the 2010 Hoosier Tire Challenge Series championship at Twin State Speedway in New Hampshire.
The first time Teddy Hodgdon saw Travis Kvapil's truck in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, he wanted one just like it.
Kvapil's truck was sponsored by K&N and had an orange and black paint scheme.
The first time Teddy Hodgdon saw Travis Kvapil's truck in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, he wanted one just like it.
"I was a little kid and I thought that his car was really cool," the 10-year-old Hodgdon said. "It had the K&N sponsor on it. I thought, hey, I like that car. I want to be sponsored by K&N too. I'm proud of K&N for doing this. I'd like to thank them very much too."
With the K&N colors, Hodgdon won the 2010 Hoosier Tire Challenge Series championship at Twin State Speedway in New Hampshire. He is back at Twin State Speedway racing a Tiger Sprint car and wants to win another championship at the track.
He plans on racing at Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut as well.
"My goal was for the points championship at Twin State and the points championship at Stafford too," said Hodgdon, a fourth-grader from Danbury, Conn. "I have a good chance of getting that."
He's off to a good start. He won the season opener at Twin State and finished third in his second race. He crashed in the second lap, but recovered for a podium finish.
"I feel pretty good about these races even though I had the crash," Hodgdon said. "I feel pretty confident from coming back from that crash."
Ted Hodgdon, Teddy's dad, has seen his son mature as a driver since winning the Hoosier Tire Challenge Series championship a year ago.
"He's really advanced from last year to this year," Ted Hodgdon said. "He's a lot more in tune with the racing this year and that happened over the winter. He wanted to start helping work on the car in the garage. During disassembling and rebuild, he was involved in most of that process and more hands on. I really think he was thinking about it all winter long, whereas before, the last couple of year, I would just work on the car and he would hop in and drive. When he got out of the car, he was off playing."
Ted Hodgdon said his son has become a more aggressive driver. Working on the race car has given Teddy a better grasp of how the car works and what it needs to improve the performance of the car.
"The age for that division of karting he's in is 7 to 11 years old," Ted Hodgdon said. "Being 10 years old, he's now in the upper half of that age group. He's a little older now. I can see that already in that first race, being a year older, he was more aggressive with the car. Not taking unnecessary chances, but when there was an opportunity, he would stick his nose in there. He would take advantage of the situation. When he was younger, sometimes he would hesitate some. This year, when he sees an opening, he's going for it."
As for winning two track championships, Ted Hodgdon said his son will have the opportunity to accomplish that goal. He is off to a good start at Twin State. Rain washed out the first race at Stafford. But winning races and championships is not the focus of his son's racing.
"We're going to run the two tracks weekly," Ted Hodgdon said. "He's in good position at both of the tracks. He's one of the frontrunners and he has a good opportunity if things go right. Our main goal is to have fun and be there as a family. My wife and my daughter are always there. My wife's very involved. That's the number one thing. If we can win some and happen to win a championship, that would be icing on the cake."
Allard's other main focus for the 2011 season is making the cut for the Knoxville Nationals.
Veteran racer and Chico, California native, Jonathan Michael Allard, told K&N Race News "Our goals for this season include winning the King of the West title, as well as making the Knoxville Nationals. For us its always one race at a time, that's how we have able to win two Golden State titles. If you're able to win races - the championships will take care of themselves."
Veteran racer Jonathan Allard took one big step towards winning the King of the West Series Race title by capturing the first race at Antioch Speedway.
That's the sort of sound racing advice you'd expect from the seasoned K&N sponsored driver. Following that logic, Allard took a major step toward fulfilling his number one goal for 2011 by winning the opening race of the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series, and in the process setting the time to beat in the 30-lap A-main at Antioch Speedway.
This was Allard's 25th career Golden State 410 victory, and it kicks things off nicely for his team's chances at the champion's share of the $125,000, King of the West Series bounty.
The added reliability K&N products deliver to Allard Motorsports has helped them to win championships, says Allard.
"It's great to come out here and win the first King of the West race tonight and I just can't thank my guys enough," said Allard, who joins Brent Kaeding, Tim Kaeding and Steve Kent as the only drivers who have won at least 25 races with the Golden State Series. "Getting fast time and winning the main event is a tremendous way to begin the season. We had been close to a win many times at Antioch but with no result. We'll try to do it again this coming week in Tulare."
"Our schedule is great this year," continued Allard, "We are going to support the new series in California, as well as going to the Nationals in August. We are very excited about the opportunity to run the new King of the West series here at home. Being able to put on a great show on for the fans is the focus of this series, and we want to be a part of that."
Allard says the off-season was an amazing time for him, filled with exciting racing and career highlights.
"I was able to race in two countries, and win two championships. I have a great team in New Zealand, and we ran a few races in Australia as well. Being away from home is tough during the holidays, but well worth it! We were the first non-New Zealand resident to bring home the New Zealand title, as well as the North Island title. It was a great
experience and I'm already looking forward to next year over there."
A few of Allard's other many accomplishments include being the only three time winner of Dave Bradway Memorial, winning the Cotton Classic, the Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup Championship, and the Spanky Mathews Memorial.
In discussing his relationship with K&N Allard says, "K&N provides great products that have been developed with the racer in mind. K&N has provided us with a product that we don't ever have to think about .Our turnaround time has been cut in half, and our reliability has won us championships. These products have changed the face of racing, look though the pits, everyone is using the washable cotton air box that K&N developed. When it comes to performance K&N is on top!"
Allard Motorsports' next King of the West Series race is this Saturday, May 21, at Santa Maria Speedway in Santa Maria, California.
After the storm racing continued without event for all classes.
High performance boats churned the water in a desert storm that was the season opener for the Pacific Offshore Powerboat Racing Association at Lake Havasu City, Arizona. When the clouds cleared and the sun shone through for the first time all weekend, it was Pig Iron Racing, the team from Lake Tahoe, California, taking the checkered flag in the P-4 class.
K&N sponsored Pig Iron Racing team won Pacific Offshore Powerboat Racing Association season opener at Lake Havasu City.
"The weather didn't cooperate as nice as we would have liked, but all in all it was a great weekend," commented Crew Chief, Nancy Johnson. Nancy, along with husband, Brad, own the team. Brad is also the driver and along with his throttle-man, Scoti Childs, they took the season opening win in less than favorable conditions. Yet, despite the inclement weather, somewhere between six to 7000 people were in attendance for the race and the Lake Havasu Boat Show running in conjunction.
A thick layer of clouds kept the temperatures somewhere in the 50's, the lake reacted with rough and unruly water, while the boats ran two heats of 30 miles each. Friday night was the "K&N Filter Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament" with over 100 people vying for their chance of winning the grand prize of a K&N cold air induction system. Those who didn't qualify to win the air induction system still had the opportunity of winning a $100 gift certificate from K&N.
Saturday the weather turned from not-so-good to worse. The sky grew dark and angry spitting down lightning-bolts, which immediately brought out a black flag on the course. Lightning, lakes and boats are a bad mix, and all the boats came back to shore and side-tided together to wait out the storm. Less than two hours later the sky turned blue, and the racing resumed, with Pig Iron Racing logging the victory in the first race of the season.
Pig Iron Racing uses K&N Filters on their boat as well as their boat hauler. All their support vehicles also run K&N cold air induction systems, which helps to add the horsepower needed to haul all the additional equipment, as extra parts are always hauled along in case they're needed.
Brad Johnson says "I could not imagine running any other filters on my custom engines. And without the air induction systems we use, it would be hard to make the big haul back home after a race. Our shop at Lake Tahoe is at 6,200 feet, it's hard on the vehicles engine making that climb, especially with all the weight we carry. Pacific Offshore & Pig Iron Racing wants to thank K&N Filters for their continued support."
