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Whitt Travels to Cold Texas and Finishes in Top 10 in One of Two (Planned) |
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Monday, March 16, 2009 – The USAC National Midget series had a plan to run two races in the state of Texas this past weekend. However, the funny thing about plans in early spring is that those plans can be altered without notice. After a practice session on Thursday night, Mother Nature won the race event on Friday in Wichita Falls. Therefore, Cole Whitt and his no. 1 Red Bull / Toyota Midget traveled south to Thunder Hill Raceway in Kyle, Texas, where he would race on Saturday.
The track in Kyle, TX was new to Cole and the mid 30 degree temperatures did not help with set up for the teams or drivers. Cole came out of the gate recording the fastest time, below the track record in both practice sessions. However, after a disappointing qualifying run, the no. 1 Toyota ended up 10th. “I just overdrove the car”, stated a disappointed Cole. “It’s unfortunate because we have a really good car, and the Toyota power feels great, but now we are mid-pack on a track that is one groove and hard to pass on. We will just do what we can”, stated Cole. Once done in qualifying, Cole and his USAC pavement Beast chassis were able to work very hard in both the heat race and the feature to make ANY passes for position. At the finish of the 60 lap race, Cole was able to make a few passes and pull off another top ten by finishing 7th.
Cole concluded, “We made the long trip to Texas and I’m glad we got at least one night of racing in. With the temperatures as cold as they were, we weren’t sure we would race in front of anyone. The Texas race fans came out though to see a race and I tried my best to give them one. It was really tough to pass tonight, but we got a good start and was I able to find a couple of ways to make up spots” Cole will head back home to California for a couple of weeks before heading back to the Midwest.
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