Cole Whitt

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.

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.

Cole Daniel Whitt (born June 22, 1991) 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.

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.

After winning championships in go-karts, Whitt moved up to sprint cars in 2004.

Whitt was quickly noticed by Red Bull and was in the semifinals for Red Bull's driver development search.

After winning the Hoosier Sprint Rookie of the Year award in 2006, Whitt traveled around the United States the next year, running 60 races and gaining top-tens in 34 of those starts.

To continue his racing career, Whitt and his mother moved to Lebanon, Indiana.

In 2008 Whitt became the youngest winner of the USAC National Midget Championship, while winning the Hut Hundred.

The next year Whitt raced in Silver Crown, Sprints, and Midgets, earning 17 wins driving for Keith Kunz.

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.

Cole Whitt, born to Tobin and Kim Whitt, was inspired to race when he saw his cousin Brandon with a go-kart.

Whitt moved up to stock cars in 2010, the same year he won the Super License award for USAC.

Whitt ran for the Camping World East Series championship, where he impressed by winning the pole in his first start at Greenville-Pickens Speedway.

Whitt eventually finished fourth in points.

Whitt drove for Turn One in 2011 and competed for Rookie of the Year honors.

After failing to qualify in the No. 60 truck at Daytona, Whitt drove the No. 93 for RSS Racing before returning to Turn One.

Whitt won the pole at Darlington, and became the first rookie to lead the Truck Series points after Charlotte, winding up ninth in points at the end of the season.

He also drove a third Team Red Bull entry in the Sprint Cup Series in the final two races of the season at Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway, but ended Homestead with a DNF near the finish of the race.

With the closing of Red Bull's racing program after the 2011 season, Whitt signed a contract with JR Motorsports to drive that team's No. 88 Chevrolet in the Nationwide Series in 2012, competing for Rookie of the Year honors.

He also competed on a start and park basis in the Sprint Cup Series in selected races for Turn One Racing and Circle Sport.

At the October Talladega race, Whitt was running in the top 15 before a crash involving Carl Edwards and Joey Logano took out Whitt on lap 17.

In 2013, Whitt and JR Motorsports parted ways with the team citing lack of sponsorship.

He later joined forces with Tri-Star Motorsports, driving their No. 44 Nationwide entry from Dover onward.

He earned his first top-ten of the year with an eighth-place finish at Road America.

Late in the season, he ran seven Sprint Cup races with Swan Racing Company as a replacement for David Stremme.

The team then hired him for the full 2014 season, placing him in their new second team, the No. 26.

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.

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.

Whitt was rewarded with making his Nationwide Series debut at Phoenix International Raceway, where he made the race and finished 15th.

The next week, Whitt ran both the Nationwide and Truck Series events at Homestead-Miami Speedway, finishing 17th and 28th respectively, running the Truck race for Turn One Racing.