The micro sprint wars, waged on tiny Pennsylvania ovals, are a well-accepted route into sprint cars, but Whittall had an interruption. He tried to race with the PASS series for 305 sprints but was turned down because of his age. He was 13 and racing 600 micros.
“Me and Anthony Macri were going to join PASS at the same time,” Whittall explained. “Anthony ended up getting a 410, while I got a 358 and then 360. I went with URC and raced 358s at Lincoln and Trail-Way. New Jersey wouldn’t let me run, either, because I was too young. I was in the 358 from 2015 to 2018, and in 2017, I was Selinsgrove rookie of the year in a 360.”
The Whittall family made the jump to 410 sprint cars in 2019 and has remained there since. It hasn’t been easy, a reality that involves more than the long haul down the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Whittall was forced into recovery mode at mid-season after suffering a concussion during a vicious flip at Williams Grove. While recovering, in hopes of returning to the seat for the prestigious Tuscarora 50 at Port Royal, Whittall mused on coping with the competitiveness that marks 410 racing in Pennsylvania.
“To go 410, you really need to have your stuff together because you’ll need a bunch of spares and whatever you have, it’s not enough,” he said. “It’s the small things. If you bend a front axle, you’re going to need a replacement right away because you’ve got to put it on the car. You’ve got to be able to run back and forth from the trailer to put parts on the car.
“With the 410, it’s roughly about 200 more horsepower,” Whittall explained. “It makes a difference. Like Brock Zearfoss said to me, he only does the 360 Nationals at Knoxville just to get a feel for the track like the other guys, and he said it feels like it’s in slow-mo. The 410 is wide and powerful, so now you’ve got to worry about dirty air, being behind another car, maintaining control and trying to keep the wheels underneath you, to do it all at the same time.”
Whittall has a victory and a growing list of top-five and top-10 finishes. Getting there starts when the team gets home to Vincentown and Whittall washes the car before doing maintenance. Weibley pitches in by phone and text on ride heights and weights. Whittall continues to help while working at his father’s business, Pioneer Auto Body.
Other backing comes from Mid-Atlantic Transportation in Cinnaminson, N.J., plus Atlantic Utility Trailer Sales of Thorofare. With Weibley’s help, the team has adjusted to the relative remoteness of its operations.
“It’s a challenge being from South Jersey, because all of your educated help is in central Pennsylvania,” Tom Whittall noted. “It’s a lot of work, a lot of luck and a lot of money. Plus, the more laps you have, the better you get. That was true in the quarter midgets and the same applies in a big car. The challenge is finding somebody who’s comfortable to work on these cars and not mess up. Justin is probably doing 70 percent of the work on the car.”
For his part, Whittall looks forward to a return to the hot seat, no matter what his 410 future holds.
“We make it work,” he said. “If I get to travel, I’ll travel, but if not, I’m happy where I’m at. I feel great now. I admire Donny Schatz, and I admire Kyle Larson and how good he is. Local guys, I admire Lance Dewease and Danny Dietrich. I’d like to win the Tuscarora 50, and I’d like to win the Weikert Memorial at the Grove. I hear that if you win that, you get a big bull’s head.”
This story appeared in the Sept 6, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
