Denton Grabs Podium Finish In Thursday Thunder Kickoff

Cole Denton in his No. 46 Legend car at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (Race Face Brand Development photo)

HAMPTON, Ga. – Cole Denton opened his Thursday Thunder account at Atlanta Motor Speedway’s Thunder Ring with a pole qualifying effort and a third-place finish.

Denton, starting his fifth season in the annual Thursday-night summer series for Legend cars and Bandoleros, was fastest in time trials and started on the pole for the 20-lap Young Lions division feature on the flat quarter-mile oval.

He led the first three laps before an early battle with Aiden King forced Denton out of line to the high side, dropping the 13-year-old to fourth before he could settle back down to the bottom groove.

From there, Denton worked his way back around Max Olmsted II for third on lap 13, but ran out of time to advance further in a caution-free main event despite running the fastest times on the racetrack in the closing stages.

He ended up on the bronze step of the podium, .982-of-a-second behind at the checkers. King won the race over Dylan Bongiovanni, Denton, Olmsted, and Jack Lamarre.

While it was a solid result to begin Denton’s pursuit of a Thursday Thunder championship, he was understandably disappointed at not ending the night in victory lane after having winning speed all day.

“Sometimes those are the breaks,” Denton admitted. “We were so fast all day and I really believed we could have been celebrating in victory lane if not for the early contact that shuffled us back. When the race runs green to checkered like that, it’s so hard to make up ground when we’re all so close [on speed].

“We’ll take a second and see what we can do going forward; I’m excited to see how we can do in points this summer in such a strong field.”

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 will be back on track Saturday, June 8 at Cordele (Ga.) Motor Speedway, where he is undefeated in the Young Lions division through seven races this year.

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/.