Denton Hits A Winning Note At Nashville Fairgrounds
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Cole Denton ran his spring winning streak to seven in a row with a wire-to-wire Legend car victory Sunday at historic Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
Besting a 15-car Young Lions division field, Denton qualified on the pole and led from start to finish in the 16-lap, time-shortened feature at the inner quarter-mile oval. He finished 1.711 seconds ahead of runner-up Dylan Bongiovianni.
Denton held a sizable lead prior to the first caution, but fought his way through several double-file restarts before driving away on the last, single-file restart that occurred once the time limit was reached.
He also battled a vibration after a near-spin through the grass at the midpoint, making Denton’s run to victory even more impressive.
It marked the fourth different track that Denton visited victory lane at during his winning run.
“This was my first time at Nashville in a Legend car, and it’s the smallest track I’ve raced on so far in Legends racing,” Denton noted. “I was excited that I learned the track quickly and qualify as well as we did. It was a great weekend with another trophy, and also really special because I finally got to meet a lot of my online friends that I met through iRacing in person.”
Sunday marked the first time that Denton had competed at the Nashville quarter-mile since the track’s Spring Nationals in 2022, when he was racing in Bandoleros and clinched the six-race INEX Spring Nationals championship.
Denton would like to thank 77 Speed Shop, Matt Jones Motorsports, Race Face Brand Development, Race Face Digital, the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, Myers Construction Co., and City Chevrolet for their continued partnership and support.
Denton’s next scheduled race is April 13, back at Cordele (Ga.) Motor Speedway, where he won his most recent start on March 30.
About Cole Denton Racing
Nicolas “Cole” Denton is a 13-year-old Gulf South racer with dreams of racing at the top level of stock car racing. From Pascagoula, Miss., Denton began racing go-karts at the age of four and advanced into Bandoleros by the time he was eight years old, where his racing brand and nickname were born.
It was in Bandoleros where Denton, a fan of the iconic racing movie Days of Thunder, adopted the No. 46 as his car number and stylized his Bandolero scheme in black and neon green – akin to the same Mello Yello colors that Tom Cruise’s character Cole Trickle campaigned in the 1990 film.
Denton quickly picked up the nickname “Cole Trickle” at his races, and the persona stuck as his racing stock climbed, leading him to continue racing under the name Cole as he advanced and found success.
His breakout season came in 2022, when Denton accrued 40 wins and 59 podium finishes in 62 starts en route to the INEX Bandolero national championship, leading him into his first year in Legend cars last season.
Away from the driver’s seat, Denton is an avid iRacer, cyclist, and push scooter racer. He also practices flying on a flight simulator and attends both local and NASCAR races as his schedule permits.