Denton Sweeps Cordele Double; Closes In On Track Title

Cole Denton in victory lane. (Tina Denton photo)

CORDELE, Ga. – Cole Denton put together a perfect day of racing at Cordele Motor Speedway during the Sept. 21 Legends All-Star Showdown at the three-eighths-mile oval.

With his familiar No. 46 City Chevrolet-adorned Legend car, Denton qualified fastest and swept a pair of 20-lap Young Lions division features, leading every lap of both races in the process.

Denton fended off his longtime friend Bryce Sanders in the first race, grabbing the checkers by .439 seconds over Sanders, Case James, Will Haire, and Carson Youngblood.

Eleven of the 13 starters finished the first leg of the doubleheader.

The Pascagoula, Miss., young gun then made the nightcap look effortless, pulling away to a comfortable 1.314-second victory over runner-up James, who chased Denton for the entire distance.

Sanders, Dylan Bongiovanni, and Youngblood filled out the top five finishers in race two. All 12 drivers that started the latter feature reached the finish line under power.

The double victory pushed Denton’s undefeated win total at Cordele to 11 victories in as many starts this season, with only the track’s championship night on Oct. 12 still remaining.

Should Denton wrap up the title, it will be his fourth straight year winning an INEX-sanctioned championship at Cordele, dating back to the 2021 season when the track was still called Crisp Motorsports Park.

Denton earned back-to-back Bandolero Bandit crowns in 2021 and ’22, before adding the Young Lions title last season in his first year driving a Legend car. He also earned the overall Bandolero and Legend car titles in each of those campaigns as well.

“We’re closing in on the end of our home track season at Cordele, and I know I’ve said it before, but I can’t believe the kind of success that we’ve put together as a team,” noted Denton. “We never expected going into the year that we’d be talking about going undefeated, let alone also having a shot at the Young Lions National Championship coming up in a few weeks. It’s still surreal to all of us.

“It’s never easy to sweep two races in one day, but when you have the kind of speed that 77 Speed Shop and Matt Jones Motorsports puts into our race cars each time out, it makes my job as a driver a lot easier,” he added. “Thanks to Bryce (Sanders) for racing me clean in the first race also; it’s always fun to compete against him and now, hopefully, we can put one more night of racing together and finish off another track 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 of his racing efforts.

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.

For more information on Cole Denton, visit his website at https://coledentonracing.com/.