PASCAGOULA, MS – Team Photo — Mississippi racer Nicholas “Cole” Denton has just turned 13 years of age. He celebrated by winning his third race of the season so far. This win took place at Crisp Motorsports Park in Georgia. He has also picked up a new Cartersville, Georgia based sponsor in Matt Jones Motorsports.
Denton, who last year won 40 of his 62 races in the INEX Bandolero division and had 16 second place finishes, three third place finishes and three fourth place finishes en-route to several championships, is a rookie this year in the INEX Legend Cars, a bigger, faster machine that runs at tracks all over the world and, like the Bandolero, is built exclusively at US Legends International’s facility in Harrisburg, North Carolina.
Two of Cole’s three wins have come at Crisp, where he’s had seven top three finishes and a fourth in eight starts. The other win took place at Lanier Raceway, where he’s qualified fastest in his last two starts there and had finishes of fourth and first. He’s finished in the top 10 in all of his races so far competing with Andy James and Podium Motorsports overseeing his fast machine and is starting to get used to the more powerful car.
“It doesn’t drive anything like the Bandolero,” the personable young racer said. “These are so much faster, and the drivers are a lot more aggressive. I’m still learning how to pass, and I’m not a driver who likes to use the front bumper, but that’s sometimes what you have to do on tracks like Atlanta where they’re just ¼-mile and it’s hard to run the outside and pass there.”
Matt Jones owns a car dealership in Cartersville, Georgia. He is a long-time NASCAR fan who met the Denton family at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, where the Dentons lease a condo for the summer so Cole can compete in the track’s “Thursday Thunder” series. Jones bought a neighboring condo, and he and the family struck up a friendship.
Jones’ father worked with former Georgia-based businessman and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series owner Billy Ballew, so Matt’s love for NASCAR began at an early age. He sees great potential in Cole as a racer and decided to become a sponsor.
“Cole is a fine young man with a family that is doing all they can to help him achieve his dream of racing in NASCAR,” Jones said. “He is humble and respectful, extremely talented and he knows a lot about the car he is driving and how it works. I was happy to be able to support him.”
Cole and his team would like to thank all of their supporters, including Podium Motorsports, Matt Jones Motorsports, Myers Construction, Race Face Brand Development, Friends of Jaclyn, his entire family and especially God for keeping him safe.
For more information about Cole, visit him on his website at www.ColeDentonRacing.com or on Facebook at Cole Denton Racing.