Weekly Notebook presented by FK Rod Ends
Notes: Georgia couple's racing love story
By Todd Turner
DirtonDirt managing editor
Junior and Brittany Whitener. (Deango Motorsports Photography)
After Brittany Whitener was the lone survivor of a small plane crash in December 2018 that left her with a broken neck, partial paralysis and the loss of three dear friends and colleagues, she’s got a long list of firsts.
The first toe wiggle.
The first time standing up on her own.
The first time pumping her own gas.
And the first time steadying herself in victory lane, clutching husband Junior Whitener after a Late Model victory at North Georgia Speedway in Chatsworth.
In her quest to return to a life of normalcy, rejoining Junior at the racetrack was high on the list. After all, dirt racing is intertwined in the love story of the Morganton, Ga., couple who even on their 2013 wedding day had the rig loaded up and planned to head to the racetrack (a race rainout let the reception roll on).
That May 2019 victory at North Georgia stands among the most memorable for the Whiteners, who divide life from before the plane crash and after the plane crash.
“As long as I'm holding onto something, I can stand a little bit. So I remember he was still in the (race) car and I came up,” said Brittany, who rode a four-wheeler to North Georgia’s victory lane for that victory six years ago. “When I got to the car, I was hitting the decking with my hand. I was smiling. And then when he got out, I hugged him and gave him a kiss and one of our good friends, they took a picture of it.
“And that's probably one of my favorite pictures.”
And there are lots of photographs of Junior and Brittany in victory lane, including a dozen or so over the last two seasons with him driving his black-and-orange No. 1 CVR Race Car to victories at North Georgia, Tri-County Racetrack in Brasstown, N.C., and Sugar Creek Raceway in Blue Ridge, Ga., not far from the family’s home.
“We waited to get our motor fresh and it took a little bit longer than what we was expecting, so we got a late start,” 40-year-old Junior said, but he’s been clicking off victories since.
Racing has been a lifelong pursuit for the diesel mechanic. “That’s all we know,” he said. He first started going the racetrack as a boy, joining his racing cousins Trig and Sam Parris to help them in the pits.
“I wasn’t event old enough to get in the pits and they would have to sneak me in,” Junior recalls, “so that's how long ago that's been.”
Soon enough Junior began competing in go-karts, began racing full-size cars by 18 and for the last 15 years he’s been driving a variety of Late Model-style cars, sometimes scoring double-digit victory seasons. His winningest season came with 12 checkered flags in the Late Model Sportsman division and now he’s a frequent winner in the 604 Crate Late Model class.
Since meeting Junior as a teenager 20 years ago, 35-year-old Brittany has been with him for virtually every race since. She’d long attended the race to help with the racing of her father, brothers and cousins (including Late Model standout Russell Thomas, who is honored annually at Sugar Creek Raceway with a memorial race).
“That's actually where we met was at Sugar Creek because him and my brother become really good friends,” Brittany said. “So my older brother started bringing the cute racer home — and that's how we met and everything. I mean, I probably like racing more than he does.”
For many years at the racetrack, “it was just me and him” with Brittany serving as crew chief and Junior doing the driving.
“He would go out to hot lap/qualify, and when he'd come in, I knew what he was gonna change,” Brittany said. “I had everything set out for him, get the car jacked up, change what he needed to, what he told me.”
All that changed with a fateful evening plane flight with friends to view Christmas lights on Dec. 19, 2018. The pilot and two of three passengers were killed when the four-passenger Piper PA-28-181 crashed into trees just shy of the Blairsville, Ga., airport’s runway. Brittany remembers screaming for help amid the wreckage as rescuers combed the woods.
She was airlifted to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, Ga., with a broken neck, back and a piece of broken vertebrae pinching her spinal cord, paralyzing her from the waist down. A week later she was transferred to the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, which specializes in spinal cord injuries, spending three months in rehabilitation.
A rare journey away from her recovery came late in January when she was able to join Junior at a postseason racing banquet to celebrate a championship at Blue Ridge Motorsports Park (a previous name of the Sugar Creek track in Blue Ridge, Ga.).
With Junior at her side, Brittany’s arduous recovery continued throughout the winter, and he considered whether he’d continue racing.
“He had done already said that if I couldn't get to the races and go to the races, he's gonna quit,” Brittany recalls. “And I said that's not an option. I said, ‘Well we'll go back racing one way or the other.’ ”
With support from family, friends and the racing community, including Chip Vineyard of CVR Race Cars, Junior indeed returned to the track. And five months after the place crash, they were again in victory lane sharing a checkered flag and a touching kiss at North Georgia Speedway.
“It was just winning after everything had been taken away,” Brittany said.
"Just everything went like it was supposed to,” Junior said.
Everyone at the track recognized what the Whiteners had been through, and that night’s runner-up Jason Deal, a longtime competitor, didn’t mind watching his buddy win.
“Jason said that was the best second-place finish he ever got,” Junior said.
While Brittany is still Junior’s biggest fan and helps out as much as possible, her mobility prevents her from serving as his sole crew chief these days. Junior’s father Dennis Whitener and crew member Anthony Warren assist with the car, but Brittany’s Vita Monster all-terrain mobility scooter allows her to navigate pit areas.
“A lot of time people wait their entire lives to meet their favorite driver and I married mine,” Brittany said. “But he is my biggest supporter like the back of his racing suit says ‘her fight is my fight’ and I say ‘his race win is my race win.’ ”
The former nurse still works at the same practice for doctors Raymond and Lee Tidman as a certified medical assistant doing desk work and has continued to improve her mobility, often leaning on Junior who, in a Facebook post, she praised as "my rock, my shield, my crutch, my nurse, my doctor, my lover, my soulmate, my husband … my everything.”
“I've got actually really good movement in my legs and I can even leg press 300 pounds, but it's just the trouble of my nerves running from the spinal cord down, trying to get them to move correctly,” Brittany said. "That's one thing that the doctors will actually tell you they don't know how you're gonna do because every spinal cord injury is different. I actually surprised them on how my feeling and some of my movement come back before I left the Shepherd Center. But when you ask the doctor, what do you think, will I get better? That's one thing they'll actually say, well, ‘I don't know how you'll do.’ ”
Junior is forever at her side as they go to the racetrack, where “she gets more excited than I do,” he said. In discussing their racing, Junior’s description of competing sounds very much like what Brittany has gone through with her recovery.
"I think just working hard and keeping our head up really,” he said. “Yeah, there's been several times you get disgusted and wanna quit, but we keep on digging.”
Weekly highlights
• Winning twice on the Aug. 15-16 weekend, Derrick Hilliker of Midland, Mich., picked up Super Late Model victories in Michigan at Auburn's Tri-City Motor Speedway and Crystal Motor Speedway. His Crystal victory on the Ron Flinn 52 paid $2,552.
• Securing his biggest Super Late Model victory, Braeden Dillinger of Dawson, Pa., earned $3,737 in Aug. 16’s Jim Stout Memorial at Elkins Raceway in Kerens, W.Va.
• Chad Becker of Aberdeen, S.D., won the Hample Memorial miniseries points, winning two of three Montana events on Aug. 14-16 with triumphs at Electric City Speedway in Great Falls and Big Sky Speedway in Billings, where his payday was $3,636.
• Winning from his ninth starting spot, Mark Burgtorf of Quincy, Ill., won Aug. 16’s Late Model feature at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, his first win at the track since Aug. 28, 2021.
• Allan Rettig of Sikeston, Mo., won his first Late Model feature in more than 20 years with an Aug. 15 Limited Late Model triumph at Poplar Bluff (Mo.) Motorsports Park.
• With his first victory of the season at Attica (Ohio) Raceway Park, Devin Shiels of Britton, Mich., picked up a $500 bounty for outrunning Super Late Model points leader Kyle Moore.
• Henry Hornsby III of Beckley, W.Va., won twice Aug. 15-16, taking the Crate Late Model feature at Princeton (W.Va.) Speedway and the Super Late Model victory at his hometown track. He has four victories in the month of August.
First things first
Recent first-time occurrences at the dirt track:
• In his rookie Late Model season, Brandon Kinard, 30, of Blackstock, S.C., won his first feature Aug. 16 at Lancaster (S.C.) Motor Speedway.
• Jacob Doolen of Harristown, Ill., captured his first career Crate Late Model victory Aug. 16 at Charleston (Ill.) Speedway. The 20-year-old is in his second year in the division.
• Winning Aug. 15 at Potomac Speedway in Budds Creek, Md., Austin Lathroum of Mechanicsville, Md., notched his first career Limited Late Model victory in outrunning track standouts Kyle Lear and Kyle Hardy.
• Bill Taylor of Arcade, N.Y., won his first Crate Late Model feature Aug. 16 at The Dirt Track at Genesee in Batavia, N.Y.
• Jacob Burdette, 28, of Brownsville, Md., won his first Crate Late Model feature Aug. 16 at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway.
Weekly news briefs
• Gondik Law Speedway in Superior, Wis., announced details for the 37th Annual XR Events Northern Nationals presented by Bay Lock & Security, a Sept. 4-6 event that will include $2,300-to-win WISSOTA Late Model programs each night. Several other divisions are in action and practice is scheduled for Sept. 3.
• Ponderosa Speedway in Junction City, Ky., this week announced D.J. Smallwood would serve as the track’s race director. He’s worked as a race official in various capacities, including as race director for the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series and DIRTcar Summer Nationals.
• Crystal (Mich.) Motor Speedway is welcoming all Montcalm County EMS employees with free admission on Aug. 22 as a gesture to healing and kindness after a tragic motorcycle accident that took the life of one of the staff members that handles the organization’s billing for the track.
• Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway is mourning the passing of longtime sponsor John C. Leidy, who had a significant presence at the track in fielding pace vehicles and making donations to improve facilities.
• Mudlick Valley Raceway in Wallingford, Ky., has decided to remain dark on Aug. 23 with several local events and the opening of local schools. The track returns to action Aug. 31 with a $3,500-to-win Super Late Model event on Labor Day weekend.
• The Ozarks Area Racers Foundation mourns the death of Mark Perry, “a remarkable man whose warmth, good humor and kindness touched so many lives,” the foundation announced. The Springfield, Mo., resident was 70.
Weekly points
DIRTcar (Supers): Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., has 2,365 points to lead Tyler Erb (2,256) and Bobby Pierce (2,024).
IMCA (Limiteds): Zach Zeitner of Bellevue, Neb., has 782 points to lead Kale Kosiski (772) and Logan Veloz (770).
USRA (Limiteds): Lucas Peterson of Stockholm, Wis., has 5,206 points to lead Jason McFadden (4,869) and Cade Nelson (4,679).
WISSOTA (Limiteds): Tyler Peterson of Hickson, N.D., has 1,625 points to lead Kevin Burdick (1,503) and Devin Fouquette (1,397).
American All-Stars (Crates): Ronnie Martin Jr. of Buena Vista, Va., has 532 points to lead Justin Williams (463) and Tyler Hoy (454).
Crate Racin’ USA (602 Crates): Brett White of Kosciusko, Miss., has 695 points to lead Devin Whatley (679) and Covy Parson (675).
Crate Racin’ USA (604 Crates): David Williamson of Seminary, Miss., has 680 points to lead Ben Davis (672) and Chris McElhenney (668).
DIRTcar (Crates): Denny Woodworth of Mendon, Ill., has 1,257 points to lead Chase Wilson (1,208) and Brandon Sweitzer (1,134).
RUSH (Crates): Jason Genco of Frewsburg, N.Y., has 1,330 points to lead Jeremy Wonderling (1,313) and Davin Kaiser (1,301).
Ultimate (Crates): Chandi Currence of Clarksburg, W.Va., has 480 points to lead Kolbe Kimbrew (421) and Derrick Shaw (311).
Upcoming weekly specials
Among non-touring and independent special events coming up for Late Models at dirt tracks around the country:
I-96 Speedway, Lake Odessa, Mich. (Aug. 22): The Late Model Throwdown pays $5,000-to-win for DIRTcar-sanctioned Supers on a three-division program with All-Star Circuit of Champions sprints.
Tri-City Raceway Park, Franklin, Pa. (Aug. 22): Super Late Models chase a $5,000-to-win purse with big-block mods and limited sprints among undercard divisions.
Ponderosa Speedway, Junction City, Ky. (Aug. 22): Unsanctioned Super Late Models chase a $5,000 winner’s prize with Crate Late Models on the undercard. Jamie Stumph is promoting the event.
Dog Hollow Speedway, Strongstown, Pa. (Aug. 22): Super Late Models top a six-division card with a $2,500-to-win event (Limited and Crate divisions also in action).
Needmore Speedway, Norman Park, Ga. (Aug. 23): The seventh annual Morgan Sheffield Memorial pays $3,016-to-win for 602 Crate Late Models with 604 Crates among five undercard divisions.
Ohio Valley Speedway, Washington, W.Va. (Aug. 23): The Keith Barker Memorial pays $3,000-to-win for the Keith Barker Memorial as part of a five-division program.
I-75 Raceway, Sweetwater, Tenn. (Aug. 23): A nine-division program is topped by a $2,500-to-win event for Limited Late Models with 602 Crates and two sportsman divisions on the card.
