#71 - Cole Whitt (Alpine, CA)

4th Chili Bowl Appearance

Chili Bowl Main Event Starts: 1

Chili Bowl Main Event Finishes:  13th (2008)

2008 Chili Bowl Results:

Thursday: 5th in Heat 8; 2nd in Qualifier 3; 4th in A Main

Saturday: 13th in A Main

The 17-year-old California native became the youngest National champion in USAC history by edging Tracy Hines by one point for the 2008 Midget crown.  Cole also ranked fourth in USAC National Sprint Car points.

Cole captured his first USAC score in Sprint Car action at Big Diamond Raceway on June 5, with his second USAC win coming during Sprint Week at Gas City.  He added his first USAC Midget score soon after at Wisconsin's Dodge County Fairgrounds in the Sue Thiel Memorial and then topped Terre Haute's Hut Hundred in October.

Racking up another seven wins in Indiana Sprint Car competition, Cole tallied a total of eleven feature wins with 44 top-fives and 65 top-tens in 90 overall feature starts in 2008.

After locking himself into last year's Chili Bowl championship main event with a late move around Tony Stewart in preliminary action, Cole sets his sights on the Golden Driller this time around.

Car Owner:  Keith Kunz Motorsports

Chassis:  Bullet

Engine:  Toyota

Sponsors:  Red Bull, IWX Motor Freight

Photo: Cole Whitt in USAC Sprint Car action at Terre Haute's Action Track. (TWC Photo)