World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Dream job for Troutman's young crew chief
By Spence Smithback
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Hunter Cornell working under the hood. (Emily Schwanke/woolms.com)
If you’ve ever seen racer Drake Troutman at the dirt track, you’ve almost certainly also seen Hunter Cornell.
The 22-year-old Berlin, Pa., resident is in his second season on the road with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series as crew chief of the G.R. Smith Motorsports No. 22*. It’s nothing short of a dream job for Cornell, who has been tinkering with race cars for as long as he can remember.
It all started when Cornell went to the races as a child with his father, Greg, who raced street stocks at various Pennsylvania tracks. One of Greg’s close friends in the pit area was fellow racer D.J. Troutman, who brought along his own young son, Drake.
Whether it was at the track or on the high school football field, Cornell and Troutman had plenty of chances to get to know each other growing up. When Troutman began building his own racing program and was looking for crew help, he knew exactly who to call.
“He was a grade below me, we were kind of crosstown rivals,” Cornell said. “At the track, we would always park beside him and all that, me and Drake would always hang out when he wasn’t racing.
“Probably two months before I got out of high school, after he got back from Speedweeks, he kind of asked me what I was doing after high school. He’s like, ‘What about working on a race car?’ So, I went down for two months before I graduated and hung out with them. Really didn’t go to any tracks, just kind of hung around the shop, see if I liked it and all that.”
As it turned out, Cornell did like it. At a time when his classmates were preparing to head off to college or seek their first 9-to-5 job, Cornell was preparing to go to work in dirt racing answering to a then 16-year-old boss. And he wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
“I was going to be away from home for a while with either job I took,” Cornell said. “If Drake didn’t hire me, I would have went to a pipeline. So I was going to be gone no matter what.”
Many people’s favorite memories were made as teenagers running around with their high school friends, and Cornell is no different. But those memories usually involve house parties and date nights, not fielding a professional race team. Logic would say the arrangement should have never worked out, but somehow, the pairing lived to tell the story.
“It was different,” Cornell said. “Only me and Drake, and then we’d have his pap (Dave Troutman); his pap would drive the truck since we didn’t really know how to drive a big truck yet. We had a couple family friends drive us when we would need to. But like, if we were going to Bedford (Speedway), Drake would drive, but his pap would be in the passenger seat telling him when to shift and all that. It was really an experience, I’ll say that.”
A lot has changed since those early days. Troutman has transitioned from modifieds to Super Late Models and has gone from regional racing to a full-time national touring schedule. And of course, Troutman is now capable of driving the hauler on his own.
Cornell’s first three seasons with Troutman were spent working on his family-owned No. 7 program until the end of 2024, when Troutman got a call from G.R. Smith. When the idea was floated of Troutman becoming the new driver of the No. 22* for a rookie World of Outlaws campaign in 2025, it was made clear that Troutman and Cornell were a package deal. Now in his fifth year working full-time in racing, Cornell has turned into one of the more well-known crew chiefs on the World of Outlaws tour, despite being less than half the age of several others in that category.
At his core, Cornell is still a die-hard racing junkie who found a way to make a living chasing his dreams alongside his best friend. Several other crew members have come and gone, but Cornell is the one who has been there for every step of the journey. It’s already taken him through plenty of unforgettable moments, and with Cornell and Troutman continuing to gain comfort and confidence racing with the best, there’s still plenty more winning left to do.
Cornell has made memories with Troutman’s Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., his first WoO victory at I-55 Federated Raceway Park in Pevely, Mo., and at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway “when Drake slid (Gregg) Satterlee for the lead coming out of (turn) four on the last lap. There’s a lot, honestly.
“I always think it’s cool. A bunch of 16-, 18-year-olds when we started, and now we’re 22 and 20. It’s crazy how it’s all evolved.”
