Cole Whitt nailed it when describing his Friday night at Nashville Superspeedway.
“I kinda feel like we’re all dressed up with no party to go, Marcus,” Whitt said to crew chief Marcus Richmond. “We’ve got a good race truck.”
Race truck: yes. Track position: no.
Whitt, who started 16th and pitted early under the first yellow flag, earned track position for a few moments when green-flag pit stops unfolded just past lap 60. Whitt’s No. 60 Red Bull/Fuel Doctor truck went a little longer than others and inherited the lead on laps 61-62. But as he peeled onto the apron, Whitt overshot the entrance to pit road.
Having lost precious seconds, Whitt came back around for his stop. By then, however, he was trapped lap down in 18th. “Really don’t have any complaints about the truck,” he noted. Whitt took the wave-around under the second caution, and from there the final 43 laps became a battle to earn the free pass.
He never did and finished 19th. The 20-year-old Whitt dropped to fourth in the championship standings — 43 points behind leader Johnny Sauter but only one back of third-place James Buescher. Race winner Austin Dillon sits second.
Red Bull Racing PR
