page_title: Cole Whitt
section_title: Monster Energy Cup Series
hierarchical_section_title: Cole Whitt / Racing career / NASCAR / Monster Energy Cup Series
caption_attribution_description: English: Cole Whitt being introduced to the crowd at Talladega Superspeedway.
context_page_description: Cole Daniel Whitt is an American former professional stock car racing driver. After advancing his way through Kart racing, Whitt moved up to sprint cars and became a development driver for Team Red Bull. After running in the K&N Pro Series East, Whitt made his NASCAR debut in 2010. He last competed part-time in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 72 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for TriStar Motorsports. He is nicknamed "The Ginger Lion" due to his ferocity behind the wheel of race cars and his red hair.
context_section_description: During 2014 Daytona 500 practice, Whitt's car had debris hit the nose, and without a backup car due to teammate Parker Kligerman's crash during the session, Whitt's team was forced to make repairs, and he also did not have a provisional to lock him into the race. In the Budweiser Duels, Whitt's transfer into the 500 varied, but gained eight spots in the final five laps to finish 11th and qualify. When asked about the Duel, Whitt stated, "It was a hard way to do it, being out and back in with just a lap or so to go. I didn't know if I was in when I crossed the finish line. It was a nail biter, for sure." In the Daytona 500, Whitt ran as high as fourth, but ran out of fuel, and was later down two laps. However, Whitt eventually returned onto the lead lap, but was involved in a crash with seven laps remaining.  Whitt finished 28th in the race.
  Due to Swan Racing's restructuring, Whitt's future with the team was left in doubt, and on April 21, a representative from FUEL Sports Management Group announced that Whitt did not have a ride for the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond. However, Swan minority partner Anthony Marlowe stated his intent to run with Whitt for the remainder of the 2014 season.  Days later the 26 team was acquired by the former Swan co-owner and he merged his ownership into BK Racing, with Whitt remaining behind the wheel. The team debuted at Richmond for the Toyota Owners 400 under the BK Racing flag and maintained all accumulated 2014 driver and owner points.
  At Daytona in the Coke Zero 400, Whitt was caught up into a multi-car pileup and he t-boned Kyle Busch throwing Busch onto his roof. At Watkins Glen in the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen, Whitt crashed early in the race when his car drove straight into a tire barrier in turn 1 in an accident that loosely resembled Jimmie Johnson's infamous crash at the same spot in 2000. Whitt climbed out mostly unscathed. Whitt led his first lap in Sprint Cup competition under caution in the GEICO 500 at Talladega.  He would ultimately hang on for his then career-best finish of 15th.
  At the end of the season, in which he finished 31st in points, BK Racing owners Ron Devine and Anthony Marlowe announced that Whitt would not return to BK Racing in 2015. It was then rumored that he had left the team so he could replace David Ragan in the No. 34 Ford for Front Row Motorsports. Marlowe then sent a Tweet congratulating Whitt for getting the ride with the team. However, less than 24 hours later, Front Row Motorsports spokesperson Shari Spiewak squashed that announcement by stating that it was false and that they denied that Whitt was replacing Ragan at Front Row and that they are working to get Ragan and teammate David Gilliland contract extensions with them, leaving many including Ragan puzzled about what Marlowe was thinking. Marlowe later apologized to Ragan and the team about his inadvertent tweet in an interview with MotorSportsTalk, although he still insisted Whitt was headed to Front Row in some capacity. Whitt would eventually announce that he had left BK Racing.
  Later, on January 16, 2015, Front Row announced that Whitt would join the team, in the No. 35 Ford, the third full-time team car.  Speed Stick GEAR, who had sponsored him for four races at Swan and seven at BK, followed him to Front Row in a ten-race deal, along with Rinnai Tankless Water Heaters for an undisclosed number of races.  Whitt finished the year 31st in points for the second straight year, while improving his career best finish to 13th in the GEICO 500 at Talladega. FRM shut down the No. 35 car leaving Whitt with no ride in 2016.
  Whitt moved to Premium Motorsports in 2016, driving the No. 98 with sponsorship from RTIC coolers, Speed Stick, and Rinnai among others. While racing Michael McDowell in his Can-Am Duel race, Whitt spun and broke his transmission, which caused him to miss the Daytona 500 after qualifying the previous two years. Whitt finished a 26th place at Fontana on an unfunded team. At Talladega, Whitt avoided massive crashes contending a top 10 finish, but was involved in the last lap crash f
caption: Whitt prior to the 2015 CampingWorld.com 500 at Talladega
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