Cole Whitt was one of those drivers who was on par/slightly above his equipment and kept it clean like Matt DiBenedetto. Aric Alrmirola and Paul Mernard but unlike Mernard and Alrmirola he had no major sponsor backing so he had to quit. If he could find enough funding he would make a great driver like Allgaier of defending the lower series and acting as the veteran driver.
@@MoltenRage41 They're okay. They keep the equipment in one piece, bring a lot of money and run around where the car is supposed to run and occasionally better. I mean you really can't ask for much more than that in a driver bringing that much money.
Lol Almirola has Smithfield they want him there. That's why he came back last year because they wanted him to stay. I wonder if he'll make the decision soon about next year because it's getting pretty close lol
Lol yeah, if you’re a backmarker in the season finale, your job is literally to get out of the way, that’s it. Every other week you can try to fight hard for position but in the last race, just try not to make that your legacy like cole Whitt 😂
I completely forgot that he drove for JR Motorsports....... and it's kinda sad that he had to resort to driving for backmarker Cup Series teams..... and may I add that after he left JRM, that no 88 team was never the same again.....
This makes me think of how different NASCAR could be had Red Bull stayed in the sport through the NextGen Era, we may have seen Cole Whitt be a fringe top 10 driver with at least a dozen wins to his name.
Absolutely, I think he would’ve been an Aric almirola-type driver if he went full time with Red Bull in cup. Red Bull was also my favorite team growing up (foreshadowing for future videos)
A fun fact on how he got his ride in the JRM 88 for 2012 was that Red Bull themselves paid for Whitt to run the full campaign to make up for the sudden end to his driver development deal. Also, another hard to believe fact is Cole Whitt holds the record for the most starts in the cup series without a top 10 finish at 161 starts, the closest he came was the 2016 Coke Zero 400.
Wow I had no idea Red Bull funded his JR Motorsports ride. I was kind of scratching my head wondering how he just went there with seemingly no big sponsors.
Whitt was definitely considerably better than the average backmarker. Racermetrics did an analysis based on performance against teammates in races where both finished. Whitt won every matchup he had, and usually by a considerable margin. In 20 races with Bowman, he beat him 18-2! Moffitt, 18-4. Sorenson, 11-2. Ryan Truex, 8-2. Yeley, 5-0. The only one who came anywhere close was Gilliland who only lost 17-13. His average driver rating was 42.2, which is considerably higher than quite a few drivers who have managed to get a top ten (Cody Ware, Josh Bilicki, B.J. McLeod, Josh Wise, etc.). He definitely doesn't deserve to be in the same category as Michael Annett and Timmy Hill.
Absolutely! I saw in his stats that he was definitely better than his teammates every year in Cup, but I didn't realize it was to that extent. The fact he never got a top 10 is just trivial and unlucky, anyone familiar with nascar knows he was WAY better than the average backmarker driver.
Whitt is one of very few drivers with over 100+ Cup starts to never scored a single top-10. He holds the dubious record for most starts without a top-10 at 161 starts. Also, Whitt said the team ran out of tires that night at Homestead in an SiriusXM interview after the race. Something people never realize every single time I hear about this tale. Was it appalling? Yes but see it through the team's eyes.
Cool, I didn’t know either of these things. I wouldn’t have thought he had the record for no top 10s, it really seems like someone would’ve done worse.
@@racingwithjoe Whitt had surpass the old record from Baxter Price, who made 90 starts, in 2016. Michael Annett and Timmy Hill are other ones with over 100 starts in the no top-10 club. At least Whitt got two top-10s in the Duels at Daytona. But even if 2017 was when they restarted awarding points, it's still an exhibition race that doesn't count in the official top-10 record.
@@racingwithjoe Josh wise was extremely good In his couple jr motorsports races and always kept cars clean he was more of a lost talent tbh in the right equipment coulda been great
Cole Whitt was never given a second season with turn one or Jr Motorsports. I think it’s frustrating thinking that he was just thrown on the curb and rushed to the cup series to drive for bad teams. Had he stayed at Jr Motorsports, I honestly think he would be a Nationwide Champion and potentially replace Dale Jr. in the 88 instead of Bowman or even drive for Spire today. I hate how this man got screwed out of his rides for potential talent of other drivers. He had the speed and the skill to win championships. Nobody ever believed in him and I hate how people think he’s a bust because he’s not. He can’t be a bust when he never got a proper chance at making a career.
Certainly, at the very least he could’ve had a great Xfinity/truck career long term. (And he was MUCH better than bowman at Bk racing) Not sure if that would’ve translated to better performance with Hendrick but we’ll never know
@@racingwithjoe I know little about NASCAR since I’m from Japan, but I remember watching it around 2011-2018 then again this year and I wanted to see Cole Whitt make it to the big leagues. He’d make a great substitute driver for any driver hurt or sick. I think he could make a return in the Xfinity series driving the JGR 19 and maybe he can rebuild his career and get back on track.
@@hope-mania first off, that's really cool that you're tuning in from Japan. But unfortunately Cole is fully retired now. There's plenty of other good underdogs to follow right now in Xfinity and Trucks though.
@@racingwithjoe I like drivers who always tend to come up short when it comes to winning races. They’ll get the occasional win here and there but that’s fairly rare.
According to Whitt, they had enough fuel to make it to the end of the Daytona 500 with their reserves. The fuel pick up line failed and resulted in the car running out.
He was decent but nothing more than that he didn't do perfectly well in top-tier equipment like JR Motorsports but he wasn't horrible he was just a subpar okay-ish was he a bust no was a notable not really the only notable thing he did was basically unintentionally changing the 2016 championship race which wasn't even his fault the team literally ran out of tires I don't know what they could have done but other than that he really was just a okay-ish forgotten driver.
Cole Whitt was one of those drivers who was on par/slightly above his equipment and kept it clean like Matt DiBenedetto. Aric Alrmirola and Paul Mernard but unlike Mernard and Alrmirola he had no major sponsor backing so he had to quit. If he could find enough funding he would make a great driver like Allgaier of defending the lower series and acting as the veteran driver.
Yeah at the very least he could have made a very successful, winning career in trucks or Xfinity
Hay Aric and Paul aren't that bad they are pretty decent drivers.
@@MoltenRage41 They're okay. They keep the equipment in one piece, bring a lot of money and run around where the car is supposed to run and occasionally better. I mean you really can't ask for much more than that in a driver bringing that much money.
Lol Almirola has Smithfield they want him there. That's why he came back last year because they wanted him to stay. I wonder if he'll make the decision soon about next year because it's getting pretty close lol
before i even watch: no. cole whitt was an amazing driver who just needed to be developed more
I’ll always remember him as the guy that messed up the 2016 Xfinity finale and basically gave Suarez the championship.
Lol yeah, if you’re a backmarker in the season finale, your job is literally to get out of the way, that’s it. Every other week you can try to fight hard for position but in the last race, just try not to make that your legacy like cole Whitt 😂
Trackhouse should give Cole a chance some day at least in a truck.
I remember him doing well in the 60 truck but not much after that. Completely forgot he drove for jr Motorsports
I think a lot of it is that he was in Jr motorsports the same year Danica Patrick. He wasn’t outrageously good, but he was serviceable
I completely forgot that he drove for JR Motorsports....... and it's kinda sad that he had to resort to driving for backmarker Cup Series teams..... and may I add that after he left JRM, that no 88 team was never the same again.....
This makes me think of how different NASCAR could be had Red Bull stayed in the sport through the NextGen Era, we may have seen Cole Whitt be a fringe top 10 driver with at least a dozen wins to his name.
Absolutely, I think he would’ve been an Aric almirola-type driver if he went full time with Red Bull in cup. Red Bull was also my favorite team growing up (foreshadowing for future videos)
A fun fact on how he got his ride in the JRM 88 for 2012 was that Red Bull themselves paid for Whitt to run the full campaign to make up for the sudden end to his driver development deal. Also, another hard to believe fact is Cole Whitt holds the record for the most starts in the cup series without a top 10 finish at 161 starts, the closest he came was the 2016 Coke Zero 400.
Wow I had no idea Red Bull funded his JR Motorsports ride. I was kind of scratching my head wondering how he just went there with seemingly no big sponsors.
He had potential but no good rides were available at the time
Cole Whitt almost swept the Talladega races in my Nascar Heat 2 season
Just came across your channel. So far, really digging it. Look forward to binging your videos. 🤙🤙
Man i forgot Cole existed
Whitt was definitely considerably better than the average backmarker. Racermetrics did an analysis based on performance against teammates in races where both finished. Whitt won every matchup he had, and usually by a considerable margin. In 20 races with Bowman, he beat him 18-2! Moffitt, 18-4. Sorenson, 11-2. Ryan Truex, 8-2. Yeley, 5-0. The only one who came anywhere close was Gilliland who only lost 17-13. His average driver rating was 42.2, which is considerably higher than quite a few drivers who have managed to get a top ten (Cody Ware, Josh Bilicki, B.J. McLeod, Josh Wise, etc.). He definitely doesn't deserve to be in the same category as Michael Annett and Timmy Hill.
Absolutely! I saw in his stats that he was definitely better than his teammates every year in Cup, but I didn't realize it was to that extent. The fact he never got a top 10 is just trivial and unlucky, anyone familiar with nascar knows he was WAY better than the average backmarker driver.
Damn that is actually pretty impressive
Whitt is one of very few drivers with over 100+ Cup starts to never scored a single top-10. He holds the dubious record for most starts without a top-10 at 161 starts.
Also, Whitt said the team ran out of tires that night at Homestead in an SiriusXM interview after the race. Something people never realize every single time I hear about this tale. Was it appalling? Yes but see it through the team's eyes.
Cool, I didn’t know either of these things. I wouldn’t have thought he had the record for no top 10s, it really seems like someone would’ve done worse.
@@racingwithjoe Whitt had surpass the old record from Baxter Price, who made 90 starts, in 2016.
Michael Annett and Timmy Hill are other ones with over 100 starts in the no top-10 club.
At least Whitt got two top-10s in the Duels at Daytona. But even if 2017 was when they restarted awarding points, it's still an exhibition race that doesn't count in the official top-10 record.
Drop to the back then
Don’t interfere in the championship battle and cost one of the drivers a shot
That’s absolutely bullshit
Would Love to see Josh Wise next
Well that’s crazy, because I was actually planning on that 😂😂
@@racingwithjoe Josh wise was extremely good In his couple jr motorsports races and always kept cars clean he was more of a lost talent tbh in the right equipment coulda been great
Every time this dude said USAC I hurt a little on the inside
There's a lot more ways than 2 to reference that organization, trust me..😁
Good job gained a subscriber
Thanks, appreciate the support
Cole Whitt was never given a second season with turn one or Jr Motorsports.
I think it’s frustrating thinking that he was just thrown on the curb and rushed to the cup series to drive for bad teams. Had he stayed at Jr Motorsports, I honestly think he would be a Nationwide Champion and potentially replace Dale Jr. in the 88 instead of Bowman or even drive for Spire today.
I hate how this man got screwed out of his rides for potential talent of other drivers.
He had the speed and the skill to win championships. Nobody ever believed in him and I hate how people think he’s a bust because he’s not. He can’t be a bust when he never got a proper chance at making a career.
Certainly, at the very least he could’ve had a great Xfinity/truck career long term. (And he was MUCH better than bowman at Bk racing) Not sure if that would’ve translated to better performance with Hendrick but we’ll never know
@@racingwithjoe I know little about NASCAR since I’m from Japan, but I remember watching it around 2011-2018 then again this year and I wanted to see Cole Whitt make it to the big leagues.
He’d make a great substitute driver for any driver hurt or sick. I think he could make a return in the Xfinity series driving the JGR 19 and maybe he can rebuild his career and get back on track.
@@hope-mania first off, that's really cool that you're tuning in from Japan. But unfortunately Cole is fully retired now. There's plenty of other good underdogs to follow right now in Xfinity and Trucks though.
@@racingwithjoe I like drivers who always tend to come up short when it comes to winning races. They’ll get the occasional win here and there but that’s fairly rare.
According to Whitt, they had enough fuel to make it to the end of the Daytona 500 with their reserves. The fuel pick up line failed and resulted in the car running out.
It’s u-sac bro
Kinda random but I just came 33rd with him in a 160 lap Daytona night race in NASCAR 15, also on 100 % difficulty
He was decent but nothing more than that he didn't do perfectly well in top-tier equipment like JR Motorsports but he wasn't horrible he was just a subpar okay-ish was he a bust no was a notable not really the only notable thing he did was basically unintentionally changing the 2016 championship race which wasn't even his fault the team literally ran out of tires I don't know what they could have done but other than that he really was just a okay-ish forgotten driver.
Don’t think he was that good but also not that bad
Just kinda meh
He was more or less just meh.