Whitt Scores 16th Place Finish at Talladega

A 16th place finish concludes an eventful weekend for Cole Whitt and the No. 72 RTIC Coolers team at Talladega Superspeedway.

 

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) had two practice sessions scheduled on Friday. As the first session began, the No. 72 team were making final adjustments to the car when rain in the area caused the practice to be canceled and subsequently the second MENCS practice as well. Being a new build to the TriStar line-up, Whitt did not have any seat time in the car until Saturday when he belted in for the first time to make his qualifying run; slotting him with a 38th place starting positon for the Geico 500.

 

With a strategy to play it safe and steadily work his way up into the pack, Whitt had advanced to the 19th position by lap 10 of Stage 1. With the first caution on lap —, Whitt relayed the RTIC Coolers No. 72 was “bouncing on the nose and was loose”. Crew Chief Frank Kerr called Whitt to pit under caution for four tires, fuel, and chassis adjustment. Immediately upon returning to the field, Kerr called Whitt back to pit road, still under caution, to pull packers from the front of the No. 72. Whitt restarted 35th and continued to slowly advance positions. Working his way as high as 25th, Whitt was scored 26th at the Stage 1 completion caution at which point he radioed the car was “riding rough and the front was bouncing.” He pitted under caution for four tires, fuel, packers in the front, air pressure and track bar adjustments. Before the green, Whitt came back down pit road to top off with fuel and rejoined the field to take the restart 33rd.

 

Stage 2 Whitt maintained the same strategy by slowing advancing positions as high as 18th.  With a caution on lap 83, Whitt was scored 20th and relayed the car had more grip and better handling during that run. He pitted under caution only to receive four tires and fuel; restarting 27th. The handling shifted by the conclusion of Stage 2 and the RTIC Coolers No. 72 was “riding rougher than before.” Under the Stage 2 completion caution, Whitt received four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment.

 

Beginning Stage 3, 19th on the leaderboard, Whitt ran consistently in the Top-25 and was scored 19th when he pitted under green for right side tires and fuel on lap 145.  As the team knew Whitt would be short on fuel, a timely caution on lap 162 played to their advantage allowing Whitt the opportunity to come in for fuel and a full set of Good-Year Racing tires. The field had just returned to speed when “The Big One” occurred on lap 170 collecting multiple cars in its wrath. Due to smoke from the crashing cars, Whitt had limited visibility as he navigated his way through the incident. He incurred contact from a fellow competitor which sent him towards the interior wall but he maintained control of the RTIC Coolers No. 72 avoided contact with the wall and sustained only minor damage. The severity of the incident created for a lengthy red flag. When the red flag was lifted and the field was under yellow, Whitt came to pit to assess the damage and received four tires and fuel. When the race resumed under green, he was scored 17th for the restart. With a strategy to run the high line, Whitt maintained focus and continued to run as high as 14th. As the race neared end, two more cautions occurred with the final caution on lap 187 sent the race conclusion into overtime. Whitt stuck to the high groove for the final laps and took the checkers 16th  in the RITC Coolers No. 72 at Talladega Superspeedway for the Geico 500; scoring his third Top-20 finish of the 2017 season.

 

Tristar PR