Midvale driver sees a title within grasp at West Valley track

WEST VALLEY CITY — If the season at Rocky Mountain Raceways wrapped up this weekend, Tyler Whetstone could walk away feeling satisfied.

Whetstone earned his first-ever super stock main event victories this summer. His first win came in the second race of the season, followed by another on July 4 and another last week.

"It was a whole different feeling," Whetstone said. "I had won several heat races before but not any main events. It was great."

But his sights are set on more than just a few feel-good victories.

Whetstone sees a potential championship within his grasp. Only two points separate the Midvale resident from points leader Mitchell Dickinson.

Whetstone made it his mission to upgrade his race car after last season so he could knock Dickinson from atop the super stock class.

"This year, over the winter, I put in a little time and money into my car and brought it up to speed with his," Whetstone said. "It's kind of refreshing to give him a challenge."

Whetstone's success in his third year of super stock racing comes on the heels of a brief hiatus from racing. He sold his car and stepped away from the oval shortly after getting married, so he could spend more time with his wife.

But the itching to race never quite left him. With his wife's support, he returned to the track a couple years later.

Whetstone's first stint in racing came in the Pro-4 class. He joined that class mostly because it was the one his father Keith had competed in for many years. Whetstone purchased his first race car from his dad in an unusual manner.

His son traded him a never-been-used engagement ring for it.

"He got a race car and I got a ring," Keith Whetstone said with a laugh. "I had to upgrade my wife's wedding ring."

These days, father and son no longer race together on the oval. But racing still connects them. Keith is his son's crew chief. Actually, it would be much more accurate to say he is the whole crew.

Having his father as a crew chief has allowed Whetstone to take his racing to the next level. He has learned to trust his dad's insights.