Monday, October 6th, 2008 – There are some weekends for a driver that he or she will remember for the rest of their lives.  For Cole Whitt, this weekend will be reflected upon as one of those weekends.  With two races on the schedule, one in his “house” car and one with Keith Kunz Motorsports, Cole converted victory in two classes and went down in the history books by winning the 57th running of the Historic Hut 100. 

 

 

Friday night found Cole and his friend Chuck Gurney Jr. back at Gas City I-69 Speedway for the track’s final race of the season.  However, tonight not only was their Midwest talent, many USAC competitors were in the pits to take on Cole and his Gas City winning record.  A field of more than 44 cars meant that not only was it a talented field, but also a deep field.  Cole and Chuck felt confident in the fact that the preparation that they put into the 29w has yielded many great results in 2008.  Both Cole and Chuck worked hard to get the car right and the hard work paid off.  After a great battle in the heat race, Cole was able to make a late race pass picking up the win in the heat race.  At Gas City, the top 12 draw for their starting position and Cole would start the feature in 7th.  At the start of the feature, Cole battled the high groove and the bottom to work his way into the top five.  After racing three and even four wide (!), Cole would capture victory in the 25 lap feature.

Next up, was the famous USAC National Midget “Hut Hundred”.  The Terre Haute Action Track was the site of the famous race that has seen the greats in oval dirt racing capture victory in this traditional Indiana race.  For Cole, a Rick Mears-like mindset was in order for this 100 lap marathon race.  Cole came out of the box quick in practice and backed it up in qualifying.  A second place in the 22 car field meant that Cole would be able to focus on running at the front in order to make it to the mandatory lap 75 red flag.  At the green flag, Cole made a strong move into the lead.  Cole started outside front row of pole sitter Brad Sweet and lead the first 45 circuits, however a strong challenge emerged in the third Tony Stewart Racing car driven by Shane Cottle.  Cottle driving the brand new Chevrolet development engine pushed hard and eventually took the lead, as Cole maintained a strong 2nd.  At the mandatory red, Cole and Keith Kunz agreed they were ready for the last 25 lap segment.  On the restart, Cole amazed everyone in pit lane by making a move on Cottle and his “mountain motor”.  After retaking the lead on lap 76, Cole withstood a number of late race caution restarts en-route to victory in this historic event.

With success from the weekend, Cole now moves closer to the USAC National Midget points lead.  Cole will now travel to Illinois for three nights of racing at the Gold Crown Midget Nationals, in his USAC National dirt midget.  Look for updates and results as the season continues.