The points leader didn’t need a day like Saturday. Red Bull development driver Cole Whitt and Turn One Racing’s No. 60 team struggled most of the two-day stay at Kansas Speedway. Whitt finished 15th in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 — the worst showing of his rookie NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. Before Saturday, the 19-year-old Whitt was the series’ youngest points leader
based on back-to-back top-three finishes at Dover and Charlotte.
But Mr. Mo Mentum took a break, and Whitt left Kansas 12 points behind veteran Johnny Sauter in the race for the Truck Series title.
“Just disappointing when we are leading the points,” Whitt said. “We need to regroup for the second half of the season.”
It was an uncharacteristic weekend for the No. 60 team. Whitt was 12th and eighth in Friday’s two practice sessions, and he qualified 16th — his worst starting position since hopped into Shane Sieg’s truck in the season-opening racing at Daytona. He climbed into the top 10 by lap 50, but then got gunned, as in “too fast exiting” on lap 60. That put Whitt behind, and he played catch-up the rest of the day. Off sequence, Whitt late moved to second, but as the race and pit stops moved one, Whitt cycled back to where he started.
On a positive note, Whitt is still the lone Truck Series driver to complete all 1,301 laps this season.
Red Bull Racing PR
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