Make It Eight Cordele Young Lions Wins For Denton
CORDELE, Ga. – Cole Denton continued to add to his season accolades at Cordele Motor Speedway Saturday with his eighth straight Young Lions division win at the three-eighths-mile oval.
The 13-year-old standout from Pascagoula, Miss., started third overall in a combined 20-lap feature for the Semi-Pro, Young Lions, and Charger classes and made his way to second within the first four laps.
Though he wouldn’t advance further the rest of the way, Denton was the top-finishing Young Lions competitor in the race, which was won by Semi-Pro driver Cooper Gaul.
Denton came home second, .544-of-a-second back, followed by Kyle Bacon, Bryce Sanders, and Dylan Bongiovanni.
He might not have picked up his 18th overall win of the year, but Denton did remain undefeated in eight Young Lions starts so far this season at Cordele as he chases the track championship.
“We’re really excited to come away with our eighth class win of the year at Cordele and it’s been amazing to perform as well as we have all year at our main racetrack,” said Denton. “I wanted to get the overall victory, but the 8 (Gaul) put together a strong race and we didn’t quite have enough to get him. We still got our winner’s sticker in Young Lions, though, and that’s always an exciting moment for us.”
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 of his racing efforts.
The next race for Denton will be Wednesday, July 3 on the quarter-mile Thunder Ring at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the sixth round of the Thursday Thunder mini-series.
Cordele Motor Speedway has Legend cars and Bandoleros back in action on Saturday, Aug. 10, during the 12th annual Georgia Summer Nationals at the three-eighths-mile paved oval.
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.