Reginald Donald Whittington (born January 23, 1946) is an American former racing driver from

Lubbock, Texas Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

, who won the

1979 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 47th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 9 and 10 June 1979. With no other major works cars this year, the Porsche team were the strong favourites to win. Their competition would be from Cosworth DFV ...

together with his brother

Bill Whittington William Marvin Whittington (September 11, 1949 – April 23, 2021) was an American racing driver from Lubbock, Texas, who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and competed five times in the Indianapolis 500. Career Whittington, together with his brother ...

and

Klaus Ludwig Klaus Karl Ludwig (born 5 October 1949) is a German racing driver. He had a very successful career winning a total of 118 races. Biography He also known as ''König Ludwig'' (" King Ludwig") for his success in touring cars and in sports car r ...

in a

Porsche 935 The Porsche 935 is a race car that was developed and manufactured by German automaker Porsche. Introduced in 1976 as the factory racing version of the Porsche 911 (930), 911 (930) Turbo and prepared for Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, ...

, although Ludwig, a multiple winner at Le Mans and elsewhere, did most of the driving in the heavy rain as the brothers did not have any real racing experience prior to the late 1970s. Don's brother Dale also competed in open wheel racing. His father, Don Whittington, Sr. was also an American racing driver in the

USAC National Championship From 1956 to 1978, the United States Auto Club (USAC) sanctioned Championship Car class featured the top teams and drivers in U.S. open-wheel racing. Until 1971, races included road courses, ovals, dirt courses, and, on occasion, a hill climb. ...

from 1957 to 1959.

Racing career

Whittington also raced in five

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

s, with a best finish of sixth. He also made ten

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Winston Cup The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

starts in 1980 and 1981. He earned a top-ten in the sport in his debut at Riverside. He also participated in the 1980

International Race of Champions International Race of Champions (IROC) was a North American auto racing competition, created by Les Richter, Roger Penske and Mike Phelps, promoted as an American-motorsports equivalent of an all-star game. Despite its name, IROC was primarily ...

. In 1979, the brothers purchased and operated the

Road Atlanta Road Atlanta (known for sponsorship reasons as Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta) is a road course located just north of Braselton, Georgia, United States. The facility is utilized for a wide variety of events, including professional and amateur spo ...

road-racing circuit, reportedly utilizing the secluded backstretch of the course as a landing strip for aircraft. In 1984, Don's brother Bill co-owned, with

Randy Lanier Randy Thomas Lanier (born 1954) is a professional race car driver and convicted drug trafficker from the United States. He is best known for his racing efforts in the mid-1980s, including winning the 1984 IMSA Camel GT title for the wholly inde ...

and Marty Hinze, the ''Blue Thunder Racing Team''. Don raced for the team on occasion. The Whittington brothers also raced aircraft at the

Reno Air Races The Reno Air Races, or Roswell Air Races, officially known as the National Championship Air Races, are a multi-day event tailored to the aviation community that took place each September at the Reno Stead Airport a few miles north of Reno, ...

, including the highly modified P-51D " ''Precious Metal''", which set a qualifying record of in 1976. Between 1976 and 1995, they raced four different P-51 Mustangs (including a rare H model and a

Rolls-Royce Griffon The Rolls-Royce Griffon is a British 37-litre (2,240 cubic inch, cu in) Engine displacement, capacity, 60-degree V12 engine, V-12, liquid-cooled Aircraft engine, aero engine designed and built by Rolls-Royce Limited. In keeping with compan ...

powered P-51XR), an F8F Bearcat and a P-63 King Cobra. While they never scored a victory, Don in ''Precious Metal'' earned three podium finishes and was top qualifier twice. The brothers were heavily involved in the 1970s 'warbird' movement, and participated in preservation groups like the Confederate Air Force and Valiant Air Command. They restored numerous aircraft over the years, including an FG-1D Corsair, HA-1112 (Spanish-built

Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the Bf 109 formed the backbone of the ...

), several P-51 Mustangs, and two B-17 Flying Fortresses (including a rare B-17E recovered in Bolivia). In 1986, Don Whittington pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in association with his brother Bill's guilty plea to income tax evasion and conspiracy to smuggle marijuana into the United States from Colombia. Don Whittington received an 18-month prison sentence. Along with

, John Paul Sr. and John Paul Jr., the Whittington brothers were part of the

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, ACCUS arm of the Féd ...

drug smuggling scandal of the 1980s, where a number of drivers financed their racing activities with the proceeds from drug smuggling. In 2009, Whittington sued the

Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a motor racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, and and formerly the home of the U ...

Foundation over possession of the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans winning Porsche 935. The car was given to the Speedway's museum in the early 1980s. Whittington claimed it was a loan and wanted to reclaim possession. The Speedway maintained it was a donation. On April 13, 2010, the

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, courts in the following United Stat ...

sided with the museum and found the evidence pointed to the car being a donation. Currently, Whittington owns World Jet, a

fixed-base operator A fixed-base operator (FBO) is an organization granted the right by an airport to operate at the airport and provide aeronautical services such as fueling, hangaring, tie-down, and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction ...

at the Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport.Where are they now?: Shadow figures
''AutoWeek'', December 31, 2008

Motorsports career results

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

American open-wheel racing

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

CART PPG Indy Car World Series

=Indianapolis 500

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

=Daytona 500

Winston West Series

International Race of Champions

( key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)

References

External links

*
RARA stats from airrace.orgWorld Jet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Whittington, Don 1946 births 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers American Le Mans Series drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Champ Car drivers International Race of Champions drivers Living people NASCAR drivers Sportspeople from Lubbock, Texas Racing drivers from Texas Trans-Am Series drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers