No time wasted, Cole Whitt newest JR Motorsports driver

by NASCARKrissy on Jan 4, 2012 4:43 PM EST in NASCAR Nationwide Series

HOMESTEAD, FL-NOVEMBER 19: Cole Whitt, former driver of the No. 84 Red Bull Racing Team Toyota, stands on the grid during qualifying for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 19, 2011. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and his team JR Motorsports wasted no time finding a replacement for Aric Almirola, who was announced as the newest driver at Richard Petty Motorsports on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, JR Motorsports announced that Cole Whitt would drive the No. 88 Chevrolet during the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series season.

Whitt joins JR Motorsports from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series where he finished ninth in last year's championship standings with one poie, two top-five and 11 top-ten finishes. He also qualified for the last two races of the Sprint Cup season for Red Bull Racing.

"Cole is the guy we wanted, and we're lucky to get him," Earnhardt, Jr. said in a press release. "He's got raw, untapped talent, but we were most impressed with his ambition. I sought advice and input from people I respect in the industry, and the overwhelming consensus was that Cole has the potential to do great things in this sport.'

Whitt, who is 20 years old, has three Nationwide starts with two finishes of 15th and one of 17th. He will be a part of a strong rookie class that includes Richard Childress Racing's Austin Dillion and Turner Motorsports' Brad Sweet.

"This is a big opportunity for me, and I'm happy to be a part of the JR Motorsports team," said Whitt. "I'm grateful to Dale, Kelley, and everyone at JR Motorsports for giving me this chance. It's an honor to work with the Eurys, and I will do everything in my power to put this No. 88 team where it belongs in Victory Lane."

Aside from the Cole Whitt announcement, JR Motorsports also announced the hiring of Bruce Cook as the crew chief for the No. 5 team, which will run primarily with Earnhardt, Jr. in select races. Cook comes to JR Motorsport sfrom Kevin Harvick Inc., where he served as the crew chief of the No. 2 KHI Chevrolet Silverado that won the owner's championship in 2011.

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I met Cole Whitt at Kentucky and have rooted for him ever since.

He’s a real nice guy and was super gracious with his time considering that he had just trashed his car.

That said, I can’t help but feel that Reed Sorenson is getting shafted again. What’s this guy got to do to get a top-tier ride?

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by MattWeaver on Jan 4, 2012 4:57 PM EST reply actions

I don't know, win a race?

Oh yeah, he did that didn’t he? Hmmm……compete for a championship?……..No he did that too……

In all seriousness, Reed might end up in a situation like Kurt Busch in which he might end up in a ride that has not been overly competitive in recent years. I heard that Blake Koch is out the #81 ride, and since Reed drove the team’s #82 to finish the season, I would expect to possibly see Reed end up in that ride.

by UnderdogFan89 on Jan 4, 2012 5:56 PM EST up reply actions

For what it's worth, MacDonald Racing has said that he's not a candidate for one of their two rides in '12.

Here’s the link.

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by MattWeaver on Jan 4, 2012 7:17 PM EST up reply actions

I stand corrected.

Well then, where would he end up? I don’t see any Cup teams looking to him, and he’s never raced in trucks before. Besides MacDonald, who said he’s not a candidate, and Braun, who I doubt would re-hire someone he fired, the only teams that I see with a full time ride open, or at least have not announced a driver, are Go Green’s #39 and new team (although supposedly the new team is with a rotation of drivers) , Key’s #40 (or #42, or #46, or #47, or whatever numbers he decides, but the #40 is at least locked in), Ware’s #41, and Means’s #52. Granted, several of the above have start-and-parked on multiple occasions, and Reed might not like that, so he might look elsewhere, but there aren’t a whole lot of full-time rides popping up right now. That being said, if he wants to go part time, and the rumors of Gibbs restricting Kyle Busch’s Nationwide and Truck races are true, he might be a good candidate to run KBM’s new Nationwide car in some races. That would keep him around in good equipment and keep his name running in the mix for possible rides in 2013. Right now that might be the best thing for him.

by UnderdogFan89 on Jan 4, 2012 8:26 PM EST up reply actions

nascar racing schedule

By qualifying Nascar Sprint Cup Series, Whitt shows their pace on race track and he was deserving candidate for this opportunity. He has excellent skills to make people surprise by win the races.

nascar racing schedule

by rafael026 on Jan 13, 2012 5:07 AM EST reply actions

Umm, what?

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by MattWeaver on Jan 13, 2012 11:19 AM EST up reply actions

My attempt to translate

By making the Cup Series race at Phoenix and Homestead, Whitt has shown that he can hang with the big boys and deserves this shot. He can wheel a car and might pull out a surprise win this season.

How’d I do? I think I got the gist of it, although I have no idea what the title is.

by UnderdogFan89 on Jan 13, 2012 5:29 PM EST up reply actions