Don Whittington: Le Mans Win, Prison, and the DEA Raid

Don Whittington is a former American race car driver who won the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans and later pleaded guilty to federal money laundering and tax charges tied to a $73 million marijuana smuggling operation that had financed his racing career. He served 18 months in federal prison in the late 1980s, then moved into the aircraft sales and charter business in Fort Lauderdale, where his company, World Jet, was raided by federal agents in 2013 as part of a drug trafficking investigation.¹

The 1979 Le Mans Win

Don’s defining result came at the 1979 24 Hours of Le Mans. He and his brother Bill Whittington each paid $100,000 to join Kremer Racing, which was fielding a Porsche 935 K3. Wanting full control of the car, the brothers offered the Kremer brothers an additional $200,000 in cash. According to Bruce Meyer, who later acquired the car, Don produced the entire sum in cash at the track and counting it took an entire day.² Teamed with German driver Klaus Ludwig, the brothers won the race outright, finishing first overall in the Groupe 5 category.³

Federal prosecutors would later allege that the $203,000 Porsche had been bought with drug proceeds and that the purchase was concealed from the IRS.⁴ After their indictment, the brothers “lent” the Porsche 935 K3 to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum to try to keep it out of government hands, and later failed in a 2004 court case to reclaim it.²

Indianapolis 500 and IMSA Career

Don made five Indianapolis 500 starts between 1980 and 1985. He debuted in 1980, starting 18th and finishing 13th in a Penske/Cosworth for the family’s Whittington Brothers team.⁵ His best finish came in 1982, when he started 8th, led two laps, and finished 6th. That year all three Whittington brothers, Don, Bill, and Dale, qualified for the race, the only trio of brothers ever to start the same Indy 500. Dale’s day ended on the pace lap when he locked his brakes and spun into Roger Mears.⁶

Don’s final Indy 500 came in 1985. He qualified a career-best 6th for Pat Patrick’s team after being brought in as a replacement for the retired Gordon Johncock, having originally come to Indianapolis as a potential substitute for Randy Lanier. Engine trouble ended his race after 97 laps.⁷

Alongside the open-wheel starts, the Whittingtons were active in IMSA sports car racing in the early 1980s and bought the Road Atlanta circuit in 1979.⁸ Later accounts described the racetrack being used for nighttime smuggling flights, with planes landing on its back straight.²

How the Racing Was Funded

Federal prosecutors described a smuggling ring that imported multi-ton quantities of marijuana from Colombia into the United States between 1977 and 1981, generating roughly $73 million in profits.⁹ An IRS criminal investigator later testified that an estimated 400,000 pounds of marijuana were brought in during that period.¹⁰

The brothers’ profits were disguised in part through Gary R. Levitz, son of the Levitz Furniture chain founder, who placed them on a furniture company payroll despite their never performing any work, giving them a fictitious source of income.¹⁰ Drug money in that era of sports car racing was common enough that Bobby Rahal recalled a paddock joke that IMSA stood for the “International Marijuana Smugglers Association.”¹¹

Federal Charges and Prison

An 18-month IRS-led investigation produced charges filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lurana S. Snow. Don, then 40, was charged with filing a false income tax return for 1979. Bill, then 37, was charged with fraud, income tax evasion, and conspiracy to smuggle marijuana from Colombia.¹²

All three defendants pleaded guilty on March 14, 1986, before U.S. District Judge Jose Gonzalez Jr.⁹ Don pleaded guilty to money laundering and tax evasion.¹³ On January 5, 1987, Judge Gonzalez sentenced Don to 18 months in federal prison and Bill to 15 years. The brothers were collectively ordered to forfeit $7 million in property, including race cars, boats, and planes that the government identified as bought with drug profits.¹⁴ The gap between the two sentences reflected the different charges: Bill faced the smuggling conspiracy itself, while Don’s exposure was limited to money laundering and tax offenses.

World Jet and the 2013 DEA Raid

After his release, Don went into aviation. He and Bill ran World Jet Inc., a full-service aircraft sales and charter company at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.¹

In November 2013, agents from the DEA, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security raided the company’s Fort Lauderdale offices.¹ A DEA search warrant affidavit filed in Colorado federal court alleged that the brothers were leasing and selling aircraft at inflated prices to drug cartels in Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, and Africa, and keeping U.S. tail numbers on the planes so the company could deny responsibility if one were seized in a narcotics interdiction. A Hawker 700 traced to World Jet had been seized by the Venezuelan government, and informants said it was meant to carry more than two tons of cocaine. A Beech King Air 300 had been sold to the head of a South African company under investigation for laundering drug and weapons profits.¹⁵

Investigators also alleged that the brothers laundered profits through the Springs Resort and Spa in Pagosa Springs, Colorado, a hot springs property owned by Bill’s daughters Nerissa and Keeley Whittington. A DEA informant said Don was channeling money from aircraft sales through the resort. Financial records cited in the affidavit showed World Jet wired $451,000 to the spa in 2009, with $111,408 wired back the same year. After federal agents seized $645,000 from World Jet, the brothers allegedly moved to indirect transfers involving third parties and bulk cash.¹⁶ DEA and IRS agents conducted a separate search of the Springs Resort in September 2014.¹⁷ No charges against Don Whittington have been publicly reported in connection with the World Jet investigation.

Where Things Stand

Bill Whittington died on April 23, 2021, at age 71, when the 1981 Swearingen Merlin he was piloting crashed outside Winslow, Arizona. The youngest brother, Dale, had died in 2003 at age 43 from a drug overdose and was the only Whittington brother who never served prison time.⁶

At the time of Bill’s death, Don was reported to be running an airplane leasing business in Fort Lauderdale.¹⁸ Florida corporate records show that World Jet II, Inc., which listed Reginald D. Whittington Jr. as president, was voluntarily dissolved in June 2024.¹⁹

In November 2024, Amazon MGM Studios acquired American Speed, a feature film project about the Whittington story with Tom Holland and Austin Butler attached to star. Dan Wiedenhaupt is writing the script, and Charles Roven is producing alongside RD Whittington, Dale’s son, and Douglas Banker.²⁰

1
CBS News Miami. DEA Raids Charter Airline Owned by Ex-Race Car Driver
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Road & Track. Whittington Porsche 935 Crime, Passion, Le Mans
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24 Hours of Le Mans. Bill Whittington Track Record
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New York Times. Brothers Charged
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Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Don Whittington Driver Stats
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Autoweek. Former IndyCar, Sports Car Racer Bill Whittington Killed in Plane Crash
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UPI. Nobody Was More Surprised Than Don Whittington
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Racer. Bill Whittington 1949-2021
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Sun-Sentinel. Whittingtons, Levitz Plead Guilty, Forfeit Millions in Smuggling Case
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Sun-Sentinel. Furniture Heir Gets Jail Term
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Octane Press. Bad Boys of IMSA Part 2: Randy Lanier
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Los Angeles Times. Whittingtons Charged
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New York Times. Whittingtons Sentenced
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Los Angeles Times. Whittingtons Sentenced
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Autoweek. Former Racers Don and Bill Whittington Suspected of Supplying Planes to Drug Traffickers
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The Journal (Cortez). Feds Probe Pagosa Springs Resort in Drug Money Case
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Denver Post. DEA, IRS Agents Search the Springs Resort in Pagosa Springs
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Indianapolis Star. Bill Whittington, 24 Hours of Le Mans Winner and IndyCar Driver, Died Friday
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Florida Division of Corporations. World Jet II, Inc. Corporate Filing
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The Hollywood Reporter. Tom Holland, Austin Butler to Star in American Speed at Amazon MGM