Cole Denton hailing from Pascagoula, Mississippi is a rising star in the Legends world. Inspired by NASCAR since the age of two, Denton’s journey from go-karts to Bandoleros and now Young Lions has been made possible by true determination and hard work by him and his father. With his unique Days of Thunder paint scheme and nickname of Cole Trickle, Denton and his City Chevrolet-inspired machine have big goals ahead for this season and the rest of his racing career.

 

Hometown: Pascagoula, Mississippi

Division: Young Lions

Race Team: 77 Speed Shop & Cole Denton Racing

Car Number: 46

Favorite Dessert: Ice Cream

 

1. What got you started in racing?

When I was two years old, my dad was flipping through the TV channels and NASCAR was on, I believe at Talladega (Superspeedway) and I saw a Lowe's 48 Car. During that time we were rebuilding the house we lived in after a hurricane so I would always ride in the Lowe's 48 carts at Lowe's and then I saw the car on TV and I loved how fast they were going racing. Over time going to the short tracks, Mobile (International) Speedway, Five Flags (Speedway) and then we were at the Snowball Derby one year right after I’d watched the movie Days of Thunder and I loved the Mello Yello and City Chevy Car. I didn’t like the number 51 but I loved the 46 and I loved the Mello Yellow so when we went to Five Flags, I knew a lot about all the drivers and all the cars back then, Chandler Smith and all of them were racing in Pro-Late (models) and Super Late (Models) so I got to watch them when they were little and I was talking and these people behind me saw how much I knew and loved about racing and they told me I could race at four years old in a go-kart at a local track in Grand Bay, Alabama and three weeks later I had a go-kart for Christmas so I actually had a Mello Yello and Chevy mixed paint job.

2. How has your racing journey been so far?

It’s been really, really good and I’ve actually won my first races in the go-kart and the Bandolero so I’ve worked my way up and I raced for years in the go-kart and won a bunch of races and then moved up to the Bandolero. It took some time for me and my dad to figure out the car since we’re working on it ourselves and it took us a couple of years but in 2021, which was my third year, we finally got the car dialed in and I started getting some wins. Then, in 2022 I won every championship that I competed in on circle tracks and tied for road courses so it was a great journey in Bandoleros and then moved up into Legend Cars. It was really amazing just to get out, to start and go really really fast in the Legend Car but it was a hard transition because, in the Legend Car, it has so much more horsepower and it’s really hard to learn to drive it but it didn’t take me long. This journey has been really really good so far and now this year I’ve got seven wins.

3. How was it skipping Outlaws completely and going straight from Bandits to Young Lions?

I started in the Bandos and told my dad, if I can drive it, I can win and that’s what I’ve done ever since. Bandoleros were really fun and they didn’t have a lot of horsepower but it felt like it then, but switching from Bandits to Young Lions, I actually ran one Chargers race and I moved up that day, they made me move up. So, it was a hard transition considering how much more aggressive you have to be in the Legend Car and how much horsepower you have to deal with, then trying to pass people and getting under people, it’s just a really hard transition from Bandits to Young Lions because Young Lions are so much more aggressive and it’s just a huge learning curve and it’s been really good for me so far.

4. How was the journey to your National East Championship in your Bando?

It was a really long journey from the four years in Bandos that we raced but once me and my dad figured out how to set up the car and I could tell him what adjustments to make and we would gain half a tenth or a tenth (of a second) which will give us that edge and it was just really amazing to be able to do that and go into all the tracks and winning at them was a huge success but the main goals were to always run the fastest lap I could run, never about winning. I mean, the wins would be there and I will get wins but it was always about getting faster every race

5. How did you feel when you realized you had won the National East Championship?

It was really amazing knowing that I won the National Championship, it was actually hard to believe. It didn’t set in until after the banquet. I was like, “Did I actually win that?” I just couldn’t believe it. It was so amazing.

6. How did you settle on your unique yellow and green paint scheme?

Well, I love bright colors and I love blue, green, and yellow and I’ve always loved bright colors, and then with the Mello Yello and the City Chevy, it made me love it even more because of how the car looked. When I got the go-kart everybody started calling me Cole Trickle and that’s kind of been my thing ever since with the Bandolero and Legend Car. Actually, when I got my Legend Car we had these little diecasts and they made me unwrap the diecast with the light superflow and the Mello Yello and the Chevy Cars. What was funny was I thought I was getting a new paint job on my original Bandolero because I’ve been wanting the City Chevy paint job on one of my Bandos and one with Mello Yello and then I walked out there and it was a City Chevy Legend Car so I’ve just kind of kept the tradition going of Cole Trickle and again, I love green so it’s really cool to be able to have the Cole Trickle design.

7. What is your favorite track to race at?

Crisp Motorsports Park, they just changed the name actually to Cordele Motor Speedway and it’s my favorite because of how fast it is. It’s one of the fastest tracks Legends race on in the country. You actually get up to 95 miles per hour down the back straightaway and the front straightaway. You slow down on the corners because they’re tighter corners but the straightaways are twice as long as Lanier Raceway so you got to really drive it hard into the corner but you go got to slow way down and it’s really fun because you can actually pass people. I think it's one of the easiest tracks to pass people at and battle. If you get a really competitive field with all the Young Lions, you can actually battle each other and have a lot of fun so that’s why it’s my favorite track because I like passing people and crossing each other.

8. What is the best part of racing?

That's actually my favorite part of racing, getting to have fun and battle with people and just being competitive.

9. What has been your most exciting win?

My most exciting win was my first-ever Winter Nationals in 2022 in the Bandolero. At Winter Nationals it’s like impossible to win and back then there were even more cars than there are now and I was like, “Man, can I get a win?” Team Gordon was dominant back so to even compete with them was a big deal so when I started on the outside and actually passed a Gordon car for the lead on the outside I was like, “Oh man, his car is gonna come in in lap 12 and he’s gonna pass,” because that’s what always happened and then when he didn’t I was like “Oh, wow!” It was just an unbelievable moment, then winning all five of them (the Winter National races) that week, it was just a feeling that you’ll never forget. I was also so excited when I won the guitar at Spring Nationals, so those have been the most rewarding and exciting races.

10. What is the most challenging part of racing?

I think just living far away from the tracks is a challenging thing because we’re about seven hours from the closest track so that’s the most challenging part for us is having to drive all the way there. We’re in Mississippi and there’s not a lot of racing where we’re at.

11. What motivates you to continue racing?

Every time I shoot for lap times and I think that motivates me to go to the track and get better than last time. I love getting wins but the most motivating part is getting better lap times I think for me. Every time you get a better lap time you know that you’re getting way faster than before and that’s probably the best part is getting better lap times.

12. Do you have a favorite driver?

I know most of the NASCAR drivers because I get to meet them every NASCAR weekend in Atlanta and right now my favorite driver is Kyle Larson because he can drive anything. Before that though it was Jimmie Johnson. Jimmie Johnson is the cleanest driver I’ve seen. He’s so clean and he doesn’t blame anybody for mistakes and he owns up to his and he never talks bad about anybody and he’s always been really humble. That’s what made me like him, he’s just a good person on and off the track.

13. What do you like to do outside of racing?

Sim racing flying on my flight simulator. I actually had my flight simulator before my racing simulator. Flying on my flight simulator, flying airliners and going fishing, they all just kind of calm me down after a race weekend. I also like riding motorcycles, bicycles, scooters and all that. Also, spotting airplanes and looking at Starlink in the sky and all the Elon Musk satellites that you can see at night, they’re really cool to see. Those are some of the things that I like to do off-track.

14. If you had to do another sport outside of racing, what would you do?

Probably just be done with sports, I’d have to say that.

15. What are your goals for the rest of the 2024 racing season?

My goals are just to get better lap times like I said earlier. One of my goals is to get a win at Cordele Motor Speedway because that’s my favorite track but really just getting good results. Good clean racing and better lap times every race and that’s kind of my goal for the season, just getting faster every race.