past present future

Chris Whitenight Earning Respect as a Modified Rookie in Area Asphalt Racing

By Gene Ostrowski
September, 2006

Back in 2003, Chris Whitenight took to the pavement at Mountain Speedway near Drums with a dream to pick up a feature win and follow in the footsteps of his dad, Dave Whitenight, owner of Whitenight Auto Body in Berwick. The young Whitenight first turned hot laps in 2003 and never turned back.

Starting at 13 years of age, Whitenight competed at Evansville Raceway, a local motocross track. "I got hurt in my second season and my dad pretty much told me, that's it for this. If you wanna race, then it's either a stock car or nothing, so I started doing this, he said. "I liked the motocross more at first, but over time, the oval track racing grew on me and now I think it's definitely better for me".

Only a high school freshman at the time, Whitenight took to the pro stock division at Mountain Speedway, which was at the same track his father, recorded his first and last feature win back in June of 2001. The elder Whitenight said that at the time the division was a good starting point for any racer who wanted to eventually move up in the racing ranks. Although the rookie didn't win a feature, he finished the season 10th in the point standings and realized that there was more to racing than just driving itself. "There's a lot of work that goes into these cars way beyond just at the track", noted Whitenight.

For Whitenight, the following season was a little different when it came to racing. The team only ran a handful of shows in the same division, and finished off the year in the top 20 in the points. Later the same season it was announced that the track would terminate the division after the season, so Dave and Chris decided to put a late model together for the following year.

The year 2005 was an up and down season for the young talented rookie in the late model ranks. Again, without a win, Whitenight started to give up hopes of victory, but did finish off the season with a career-best finish in the points with a 9th place effort, in which he missed a number of outings along the way.

The tables have turned for Whitenight this season, as he jumped from his full-bodied late model to a '06 full-blown open wheel Raceworks modified equipped with a Denny Fisher power plant from Mooresville, NC. The track modifieds are very similar to the current NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour vehicles. Whitenight said he was nervous, yet excited about his new endeavor. "We had problems the first week out and I missed the show". "It wasn't disappointing because we knew that it was a problem on the car and when we got home we noticed that it had a broken shock. Regardless, I was nervous with the competition with the modified here", He noted, as he talked about the chance to run in the fan favorite division.

After missing opening day, Whitenight also failed to qualify the following week. While most teams would drop their heads, Whitenight set focus on trying to pull out success for the year. With help from his father, along with help former local open wheel aces, Chuck Schartzer and Mike Adams, Whitenight jumped on the right path: success. Whitenight qualified for his first modified feature during the third race of the season and after finishing an impressive fourth, he topped that feat the following week with a second place effort.

The strong finishes were no fluke on June 10th, when Whitenight became the first rookie to score a modified victory in a number of years. The day after graduation with honors from Berwick Area High School, Whitenight had finally found victory lane, nevertheless, in the areas most competitive division. "We couldn't believe it. Our goal at the beginning of the season was just to be competitive. That's changed a bit. Now we want to win more races", he said. While still feeling the effects from the first victory, Whitenight followed up the same feat later in the season with another feature win, which moved him 7th in the point standings out of the forty-three drivers on the modified roster. At that point he had six top ten finishes in only nine starts.

"The biggest transition from full-bodied stock cars to the open wheel modified was the feeling of the car. They're kind of touchy, compared to the late model or pro stock. Not necessarily the easiest thing to drive, because you always have to be on your toes. But, I like it better because you can see easier and see the wheels and what's in front of you", he said. He continued by saying, "I feel as though I'm starting to earn respect from my competitors since that first win".

However, his original goal at the start of the season was quite simple: to qualify for features, take care of the equipment and have decent outings. That has since changed. "I just want to go out and do my best. It would be great to win a few more this year", he said about his fantastic rookie season. When asked about competing against local hot shoe and also the three-time defending Mountain Speedway modified champion, Brian DeFebo from Berwick, Whitenight stated, "Brian's great around this place. Honestly, I was a little nervous around him at first, just because of how good and fast he is here". He said that his main goal for the season is still to run competitively and finish races.

Currently employed by his father's auto body repair shop, Chris works roughly 50 hours per week on average, but has started college this month at the University of North Carolina, where he'll major in mechanical engineering. He still plans to fly home on the weekend to compete in the modified division. "It'll be tough and we'll see how it all works out", said Dave Whitenight.

Although racing doesn't seem like his number one priority, Whitenight hasn't counted out racing on the RoC (Race of Champions) in the future. "I think there's a possibility we'll try a few RoC shows next year and also race at Mountain", he said about his future plans.

Whitenight wanted to give special mention to all of the folks who have helped him in one way or another over the course of the season. "I have to especially thank Chuck (Schartzer), Mike and Mitch Adams, along with Ross Bacher for everything they've done for us this year".

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