EMC Sports – He started out racing go-karts at the age of 11, but six years and 600 horsepower later, Luke Whitteker of Iroquois races behind the wheel of a 358 Modified dirt car.
The 17-year-old Seaway District High School student is now preparing for his sophomore season after a stellar debut last year in the Modified Division.
Finishing a 40-race season with four wins, 21 top fives, and 26 top tens, Whitteker had an outstanding season by any standard, let alone compared to what one might expect of a rookie teenaged driver.
Throughout his rookie year, Whitteker raced on tracks throughout the area, including several in upstate New York, and participated in the Mr. DIRTcar circuit, a series of races that regularly attracts many of the region’s best drivers, including professionals who make their living on the track.
“I guessed I wouldn’t even qualify for the races going in, but I didn’t miss a single race,” says Whitteker.
More than that, at the end of the series, Whitteker was named Mr. DIRTcar Rookie of the Year for the Northeast division.
When all was said and done, Whitteker finished the season in 10th place on the overall points list in the Mr. DIRT car series, in fifth place at the Cornwall Speedway and in third place at the Edelweiss Autodrome.
“He certainly exceeded our expectations,” says Luke’s father, Kevin.
Often in life, however, before one finds success, one must struggle with some degree of failure – and so, too, did Whitteker.
Having done all he could behind the wheel of the 10-horsepower go-kart, finishing his career with multiple wins and several track titles, Whitteker made the jump to the Sportsman division and took his seat behind the wheel of a 350-horsepower machine.
“We did well, but we struggled to get any wins,” he says.
Over the course of two years plying the Sportsman track, Team Whitteker never did cross the finish line in first place. It would seem counterintuitive that, without any success in a smaller, less powerful car, one would attempt to move up a division and take the wheel of an even more robust vehicle, but that’s exactly what the Whittekers decided to do.
“He actually did a lot better with more power than he did with less,” says Kevin.
There are some subtle differences, apart from horsepower, that distinguish the Sportsman from the Modified division, and it seems these distinctions played to Whitteker’s strengths.
“The skills I learned in karting helped me in Modified, but I’m not sure about the Sportsman,” he says.
While the Sportsman division puts great stock in the capacity of the automobile, the Modified division puts a little more onus on the driver and less on the car.
“It’s more about being smooth,” says Kevin. “It’s about the driver and throttle control.”
Whatever the car, though, zipping around an oval track at 70 miles per hour while avoiding catastrophic contact with two dozen other cars doing the same thing takes skill and daring. Winning such a race, though, requires patience.
“It’s all about waiting for the guy in front of you to make a mistake and then capitalizing on it,” says Whitteker.
Actually, winning at the racing game takes more than just patience, it also takes money, lots and lots of money.
“It’s a very expensive sport,” says Kevin. “That’s why you need to promote yourself.”
Sponsorship is critical to the success of a racing team, and Team Whitteker has a host of excellent local sponsors – Rust Check, Toy Storage & Boat Transport, Steve Summers (Coburn Realty), Wells & Son Construction, Engine Research & Development, Jim’s Performance Plus, Parcoll Products, Riverside Pontiac Buick, Cohen Lord Insurance Brokers, Ultramar, Quaker State, Bicknell Racing Products, Finish Line Web Design – but you can never have enough.
“We know we can do it,” says Whitteker. “We just don’t know how long the money will last.”
That was the subject of a seminar Whitteker attended three weeks ago in North Carolina, where bigwigs from the professional racing community, including the marketing team from Jeff Gordon’s DuPont team, taught up-and-coming racers how to promote and publicize their enterprise.
“It was interesting and very helpful,” says Whitteker. “We got a lot of ideas.”
The Performance Plus seminar was actually part of a larger driver development program called Race 101, an annual series of educational seminars and one-on-one sessions that seek to help promising young drivers make the most of their talent.
“Being a talented driver isn’t enough,” says Kevin. “You need all the other parts to go with it.”
Founded by Tony Blanchard, a renowned crew chief, and formerly the development coach of NASCAR driver Joey Logano, Race 101 offered 15 scholarships to young drivers to take part in the program, but applications come in from novices throughout North America. So, when Whitteker received word that he’d been chosen, he was thrilled.
“It was pretty exciting,” he says.
Whitteker will travel to North Carolina three more times and participate in web-based seminars throughout the racing season, all of which is intended to help him make the most of his natural talent.
“It will teach us how to race and how to afford to race,” says Kevin.
Long before he was getting support and advice from the likes of Tony Blanchard, however, Whitteker was getting the same from friends and family, who always encouraged and continue to support his undertakings on the track – even if it’s with eyes closed.
“You just cross your fingers and say nothing until it’s over,” says Luke’s mother, Elaine. “You can always lose it on that last lap.”
Luke is very much aware of the tremendous backing he’s had from those close to him, and is grateful, not only to his parents, but to both his grandparents as well, who rarely miss a race, and to Brent and his pit crew – Kyle Dingwall, Jeff Whitteker, Dustin Gillard, Travis McMillan and Matt Cromie.
The cooperative aspect of racing is perhaps best summed up by Luke’s father: “Racing isn’t a ‘me’ sport, it’s a ‘we’ sport.”
Coupling his innate aptitude for racing a car around a track at breakneck speeds with the support he receives from friends, family and sponsors, the future looks bright for Whitteker, and as long as he keeps driving, who’s to say where he’ll end up.
