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Cole Makes Great Showing at 2008 Tag Worlds |
 Cole and his pit crew (tuner and coach DJ Ortiz, father and grandfather)make the 20 hour trip to Grand Junction, Colorado to compete in the Tag World Championships. Some of the best drivers in the nation showed up as well as some great locals like Flinn Lazier (son of Indy Car Driver, Buddy Lazier). The weekend had its share of ups and downs but was a great showing for Cole. Over the weekend, Cole led over 40 laps, qualified pole and outside pole, and podiumed in both classes he competed in. Cole also won the first heat race by over 5 seconds. Cole finished fourth in both finals after hitting the dirt in the prefinal as the top three leaders went into turn 1 three wide. In the finals, Cole led laps in both races and was trading spots with the top four drivers for the win.
Despite the downs, Cole was in the top 4 drivers all weekend competing for the win in every race. A great weekend as Cole makes a name on the National stage. |
Cole Glasson Wins 2008 Kart Nationals |
 Cole Glasson and his family and tuner, DJ Ortiz, make the trip to Garnett, Kansas this weekend for the KART National Championships. Cole had a great race weekend and was in the thick of the racing all weekend as his coach and tuner, DJ worked to get the kart and driver where they needed to be. In TAG Light, Cole took second on Saturday in Nationals against Bailey Ring. On Sunday, it was a different story where Cole qualified pole position, won the pre final and won the final by sizable margins, taking the Tag Heavy Kart National Championship and winning his first National Championship. Cole and Bailey lapped the field both days. |
Cole Finishes 8th at 2009 Rotax US Grand Nationals |
 Cole traveled to the Rotax US Grand Nationals from September 11th through September 19th to compete against 41 of the best Mini Max racers in the United States. He arrived in Norman, Oklahoma with the Alonso Kart USA National Team owned by Defrancesco Racing. The drivers were faced with wet conditions through qualifying which brought a lot of adversity for the week. Cole ended up qualifying 21st out of the 41 driver field which put him toward the back in all of his heat races. In Heat 1, Cole was taken out at the start when a driver forced him into another kart causing his bumper to bend under the car and ending his race in 16th position. In Heat 2, Cole came back with a vengeance forcing his way to the front of the field and finishing in the 6th spot. It looked as though Cole's National race would end early after Heat 3 where he again was wrecked out in Turn 11 putting him finishing dead last. This caused Cole to be the last transfer spot into the Finals on Saturday and starting him in the 28th position. While most drivers would be frustrated and just try to get in the top 20, Cole came out to reach the front. He charged from the 28th spot in the prefinal to finish 10th where he would begin the Final. In the final, he again charged out of the gate and was in a eight kart break away from the rest of the 34 kart field. The eight karts battled for position the entire 18 laps with Cole fighting as far up as fifth place. He would end his first Rotax Grand Nationals in eighth position of the 41 entered drivers and would run with the lead pack the entire race. The eight drivers that broke way from the field had lap times within 1/10th of each other. A very good showing for the youngest diver in the Mini Max field. |
Cole Glasson Places 2nd in 2009 WKA Mini Max |
 Cole and his new race team traveled to South Bend, Indiana to participate in the WKA Round 2 National Series. This was the first weekend that Cole was with his new race team, Alonso Kart USA which is owned by Andy DeFrancesco of DeFrancesco Racing. The team was in the Tony Kart Florida tent and was working on the new Alonso Karts to get them tuned in. The race weekend started with the Friday night race where Cole participated in the Mini Max race where he came in 2nd to Santino Ferruci with Derek Sobel close behind. He then worked the next two days to get the new Alonso Kart dialed into the track. On Saturday we qualified 27 out of 34 and on Sunday moved up to 22 out of 34. We had a lot of ups and downs throughout the weekend from stalling the engine in Saturday's prefinal and starting in the back of the pack- finished 25 in Saturday's final and then having a massive wreck in Sunday's final after getting into the 17th position. All in all we had a great weekend as the kart was getting within a half second of the leaders. A special thanks to the team- Andy DeFrancesco, Bobby Wilson, Ben Cruttenden, and Doug Sharp for the endless work on the karts throughout the weekend. |
Cole Glasson Wins 2nd National Title-2009 IKF Nationals |
 As quoted by Ekarting News, "The youngest drivers of the IKF Road Race Grand Nationals put on a great 20-minute show with three drivers battling for the win. Cole Glasson paced the field the majority of the race with Chris Clark and Beck Duggleby on his bumper. As they came around for the checkered, Glasson was leading the way with Clark looking to slingshot by him. At the line, Glasson had the edge by 0.044-seconds. Duggleby was a close third while Kinsley Cook beat Michael Schneider for fourth."
Cole as well as several members of the KRS Team arrived in Decatur, Texas to compete in the 2009 IKF Road Race Grand Nationals which was held at Eagles Canyon Raceway. The 2.1 mile course was quickly tuned in for Cole by his driving coach and tuner, DJ Ortiz. During Wednesday's practice, Cole was running on average two seconds a lap faster than the field. His speed continued on Saturday mornings practice session where he found himself over 3 seconds a lap faster than the field. However, as usual, the competitors found speed and the draft to create a dramatic race for the coveted "Duffy Trophy". The entire race had the lead pack of three, Cole, Chris, and Beck within kart lengths each lap, there was one lead change in the second to the last lap where Cole fell to third, but retook the lead prior to the white flag where he held off a late charge by Chris and Beck beating them by only 4/100th's to claim his 2nd National Title.
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Cole Has 3 Top 10's In 2010 FWT at Ocala |
 Cole arrived to the final Florida Winter Tour race having already earned 3 top 10 finishes in the series hoping to add more to his resume. It did not take long for his Coach and Tuner, DJ Ortiz of KRS to get him dialed in and he quickly became a threat to run at the front of the 42 kart field. On Saturday in dry conditions, Cole qualified 15th getting an automatic transfer to the finals where he placed 7th in the prefinal and 8th in the final. On Sunday, however, he would have his work cut out as there were severe rain storms the entire day so he would have to change his driving style. DJ changed the kart set up and Cole went out and qualified 13th in the pouring rain. The prefinal was no different where Cole got a great start and quickly found himself in 9th place only two spin with 3 laps to go and falling near the back of the field. He was able to salvage a couple of positions before the checkered and finished 23rd. He did not give up and as the green flag waived for the final, Cole made an aggressive move down the middle and was in 13th place before turn 2. He worked his way into a 12 kart break away pack and finished the race in 10th to earn his 6th top 10 of the series. Cole did a remarkable job as one of the youngest drivers in the field and consistently ran in the top 10 and getting an automatic transfer to the finals in every race weekend. Special thanks to DJ Ortiz of KRS who tuned for Cole and the DFR Team for their continued support throughout the series. |
Pole Position and Podium at 2010 CKI |
 Cole began the opening round of Championship Karting International series in great fashion as he came away from the weekend with a pole position, and two top 5's including a podium in the finals. Cole was tuned and coached through the weekend by DJ Ortiz of www.kartracingsolutions.com and was under the DFR Race tent. Cole quickly found the pace on Saturday setting fast time to begin the pre-final rounds. He was in 3rd place when an on track incident pushed him back to 9th for the finals. He ended up charging from the back of the field to take the final podium spot in Saturday's final. Sunday still found him very fast, but he did not have enough to run into a podium position running in the top 5 all day only hundreths from a top 3. Cole finished the weekend with only 15 points separating him from 3rd place in the Championship points race. He also added another national stage podium to his resume...WKA, IKF, KART, TAG USA, and CKI. |
Cole Glasson Shines on National Stage-2010 Rotax Grand Nationals |
 Cole Glasson made his third trip to New Castle, Indiana with his coach / tuner DJ Ortiz of Kart Racing Solutions where the two joined the DeFrancesco Racing Team to compete in the 10 year olds 2nd US Rotax Grand National Event. Last year he finished the event in the eighth spot but was determined to place even better in 2010. The young pilot would compete against a tough 33 kart Mini Max field including his three teammates (DeFrancesco, Coultston and O' Ward) along with other notable National contenders of Dalton and Logan Sargent, Kyle Kirkwood, and Jordan Perry.
Practice went very well as DJ and Cole worked together to get the kart and jetting right for the humid conditions. Throughout the practice week, Cole remained in the top 10 spots and was running consistently well. When official practice began on Wednesday, the final timed practice put Cole in the fastest qualifying group for Thursday's qualifying session. Cole came out of the gates with a mission to be consistent all week and put himself in a position to compete for the title. Cole qualified 7th out of the field of 33 which would put him starting in the second row of all of his heat races. Heat 1 found Cole in P3 and in a good position to get with the breakaway pack and finish in P2. Heat 2 and 3 put Cole on the outside of row two going into the fast Turn 1. DJ and Cole worked on race strategy to ensure he was smart and made the right race decisions not to get in an incident. Cole would finish Heat 2 in P2 and Heat 3 in P3. The young driver did exactly what he needed to in order to stay in front of the field as he would begin the final day on the outside of Row 2 in P4.
The prefinal would be a battle as the top six drivers pulled from the field and began making multiple runs to the front as they came down the front straight away. Cole would find himself as high as P3 but could not hold on in the final turns and finished the prefinals in P6. This put Cole once again on the "familiar" outside but he was able to squeeze in and find himself in P4 out of the first few turns. Cole battled with the same breakaway group of Perry, D. Sargent, Defrancesco, L. Sargent, and Kirkwood as again the pack slowly began pulling from the field. In the end, Perry and Cole were able to put a little distance between themselves and the next 4 drivers and they battled to the checkered with Perry taking the top spot by only 2/10ths and Cole standing on the podium of one of the biggest National events. It was a great weekend for the 10 year old who walked away with three P2's, a P3, and a P6 over the event schedule.
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Another 2010 Rotax Podium- Highs and Lows |
 Cole and DJ Ortiz, owner, coach, and tuner from Kart Racing Solutions had another great run at the opening round of the Rotax Pan American national series race that was held at MSR Houston. Friday began a long day of practice with the last session posting times with the front runners. On Saturday, Cole qualified 5th and ran up to a 3rd place finish with a five kart breakaway with Kart Mini and DFR drivers making the run from the field. Cole made some great late passes to take 3rd. In the final, Cole fell to 5th early as again the five karts pulled from the field, Cole was able to make a last lap pass around his teammate, O Ward to get into the 3rd position as they overtook lap traffic on the final lap. Cole finished on podium for a 2nd straight race and had the fastest lap time in the finals. Sunday quickly turned into "bad luck" day as an issue forced us to go to our backup engine for the prefinal and a broken bumper had us starting the final in the 7th position. Cole ran a solid 6th in the final but did not have enough to stay with the break away field. Cole and DJ leave in two weeks to Phoenix for the 2nd round of the WSK/CKI North American Series where they currently sit 5th in points. |
Cole Takes Pole, Sets Track Record, and Wins 2010 Championship |
 Cole raced the last two races of the Winter Regional series this weekend and again performed flawlessly with pole, and wins in both the prefinal and final. His engine was provided by TCRE/KRS (DJ Ortiz and George Shear) and not only walked away with wins all day, he set the track record in Mini Max which has stood for almost three years. The wins secured the points championship for Cole taking 7 wins, 4 poles, and 1 second throughout the four race series. In addition, the engines provided by KRS/ TCRE have been the most winning engines that Cole has raced gaining him two National Titles. To find out more about the tuning or engines, visit www.kartracingsolutions.com or www.gokartracingengines.com |
Cole Glasson finishes Top 5 and Podium at 2011 FWT |
 Cole returned to the third and final round of the FWT in Ocala, Florida where he had mixed results but two good finishes in the finals. By the time practice was finished, Cole was within the top 5; however, did not have good qualifying sessions finishing with a P9 start on one day and a P11 start the next. On Day 1, a 8 spot penalty forced him back to P21 for the final but he had a good run to finish P11 at the end of the day. On day 2, he started P9 where he worked his way up to P5 for the start of the final and after a hard battle all race long with several of the front karts, he managed to get P3 and his first podium ever in the highly contested Florida Winter Tour which has International competition. His consistency throughout the series enabled him to finish an impressive 4th place in the Championship Points race. Cole improved greatly on last year's results and is looking forward to the next national series, Rotax Pan American and the upcoming National and International races. |
Cole Takes Top Podium at Pan American 2011 |
 Cole Glasson continued the 2011 season this past weekend in South Bend, Indiana, at the last Eastern qualifying round of the Rotax Pan American Challenge. He arrived Thursday morning with the DFR Team and his coach/tuner Chris Wehrheim to try and make a run at the podium spots in the competitive Mini Max field. The weekend ended with consistent results in the Top 5 and taking the top podium spot after an "eventful final" which saw lane violation penalties, contact penalties, and removal of times.
Cole began the weekend events on Thursday where he quickly was in the top five in times; however, the event saw eight drivers all capable of turning the fast times and winning the event. Times stayed close through the two days of practice often only separated by 100th's of a second. On Saturday's qualifying session, Cole qualified sixth and finished the prefinal in the same spot with times of the top 6 less than 1.5 tenths and all crossed the line within two seconds of each other. In the final, Cole would improve a couple of spots and challenge for the last podium spot but fell short and would take the checkered in P4 posting the second fastest time only 8/100th's off the fast lap.
Sunday's qualifying session showed better efforts as Cole qualified 5th which was his best qualifying in a National event this year. In the prefinal, the field remained same at the checkered flag and a separation again by 2 seconds and lap times within 8/100th's of each other which was a setup for an exciting final. In the final, Cole came out of turn 1 in P5 at the tail end of a 5 kart break away. In the white flag lap, Cole moved into P4 where he crossed at the checkered flag. Penalties were immediately given to the 1st place finisher for a starting lane violation that pushed the driver back 3 seconds and 3rd place was given a 3 spot contact penalty. When the dust settled, the 2nd place finisher was also removed which moved Cole up to the top step of the podium.
Cole will be spending the next several weeks preparing for the upcoming championship events which will see him compete in both the US and Europe with the DFR Team striving to bring home some National Titles.
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Cole Glasson Wins 2nd Duffy |
 From the standard Le Mans style start on the front straight, the five drivers in the Mini Max category began their 20-minute race around the 2.5-mile course. Cole Glasson and Nathan Adds began as the front two drivers, stretching out to a two-second advantage after the opening lap over Colin Russell, Jacob Loomis, and Chris Clark. The top two swapped the lead a few times over the course of the first half of the race. With five minutes to go, Glasson assumed the lead after riding behind Adds for a couple of laps. Coming to the white flag, Adds made his move for the lead and Glasson slotted in behind. Adds was able to gain about three kart lengths after the long 2000 foot straight away, but Glasson quickly closed that as the two went side-by-side through the final corner. Coming to the line, the two drag-raced with Glasson getting the most out of his Rotax to grab the checkered flag by just inches. Another solid 20-minute race between Russell and Loomis ended with Loomis taking the third spot by just 0.008-seconds with Clark completing the podium. The results however changed in the tech barn as Adds was removed from the results with a engine issue, moving everyone behind him up one spot. |
Cole Glasson takes Win at SWRC |
 Cole jumped into the IronRock Motorsports provided Birel chassis first thing Saturday morning after missing the entire practice day Friday. He was able to quickly adapt and post the 4th best qualifying time of the 14 kart field, but still almost a half second off the pole position. Saturday would not be Cole's lucky day as in the prefinal he was involved in a turn 1 incident that sent him to the back of the field and into the dirt. He quickly got the kart back on the track and was able to work his way back up to finish P8 for the main. In the main, Cole quickly moved through the field to find himself in P4 about to go into a podium position when he lost his chain and ended the day with a DNF. However, not discouraged, Cole came back focused for Sunday's final day where he would not disappoint. Cole would take the pole position by 1/100th and then have disaster strike again in turn 1 for the prefinal when he got involved in an on track incident and find himself again coming out of Turn 1 near the tail of the field. With only 7 laps to work with, Cole went through the field quickly to finish P2 and start the main on the front row. The final would be an exciting one as Cole stayed on the bumper of the P1 kart through the entire race as they pulled in front of the rest of the field by several seconds. With one lap remaining the two came into lap traffic when Cole made his move going into Turn 1 and taking the lead to the finish and to take the top step on the podium. |
Cole Glasson- 2012 Shootout Winner |
 The annual talent search known as The Shoot-Out always sorts out the top talented young drivers from across the nation. Making the Shoot-Out is an honor in itself. Winning the Shoot-Out and earning a spot in Ron Sutton's Winner's Circle driver development program,along with big sponsorship dollars,is the goal. In the previous year's Shoot-Out 14 of the 933 drivers that applied made the cut. This year only 9 super talented young drivers won spots from the 965 applicants for the RSWC program and Star Racing Supply sponsorship dollars. "We had slightly more apply for 2012, however we were simply more selective in this year's Shoot-Out," stated RSWC Owner Ron Sutton.
With the driver search complete, nine new talented drivers coming from all over the US will join the returning 11 drivers from last year's RSWC driver roster. These 20 drivers, each with $6,000 to $25,000 of sponsorship dollars from Star Racing Supply, will train and race with the RSWC driver development program with the goal of working their way up the ladder to professional stock car careers. Each driver stood out uniquely and drove impressively in the Shoot-Out to earn a position in the RSWC program.
Among the highlights in the class of 2012 is young 11 year-old driver Cole Glasson. Glasson of Corinth Texas brings an impressive racing resume of five years in asphalt sprint go karts competing in 426 races with 225 podiums and 98 wins. The karting star has collected two IKF Road Race Grand National Championships as well as earning the IKF expert status, runner up in the largest US Rotax Grand Nationals and a KART National Championship. At such a young age, Cole has displayed talent and strong mental skills which stood out in the driver shoot-out. Cole made an easy transition from karts to a race car posting fast laps in his first day.
"What an exciting group of talented drivers we found in this year's Shoot-Out," stated head of development, Ron Sutton. "We were more selective in this year's interviewing process and it shows. We are very fortunate to have these impressive young drivers join our development program. We've already started class room training and I can't wait to get to the race track with them."
The race season begins shortly for these 9 drivers but the off-season has been busy already with testing and classroom training sessions. The new season begins on March 31 with many of the new drivers competing in the USAC Focus Midgets Madera Gerhardt Classic event at Madera Speedway in Madera, CA, and with NASCAR Modified openers on April 7 at Stockton 99 Speedway in Stockton, CA.
About Ron Sutton's Winner's Circle:
Ron Sutton's Winner's Circle is an established talent scout and development program, providing long term, comprehensive racing and career development for up and coming drivers focused on NASCAR careers. RSWC drivers are raced, coached, groomed, trained and molded, within a professional racing environment, into what top NASCAR teams look for when hiring drivers. Drivers involved in the program race in a variety of cars, including USAC Norcal Focus Midgets, Star Grand American Modifieds, NASCAR Whelen All American Modifieds, NASCAR Late Model stock cars, NASCAR Grand National stock cars and the ARCA series. |
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