Mooresville, N.C. (June 3, 2013) Debuting for TriStar Motorsports for his first NASCAR Nationwide Series race of the 2013 season, Cole Whitt made great strides during Saturday afternoon’s 5-Hour Energy 200 at Dover International Speedway. Starting from the 20th position, Whitt set out on Dover’s 1-mile concrete surface for 200 slick laps. A track that was hot and a car that was set up a little more loose than desired, Whitt and crew were doing all they could to maintain grip and track position.
While being limited on the type of adjustments they could make on pit road, Whitt and Crew Chief Randy Cox made multiple pit stops throughout the day trying to tighten up his Toyota Camry.
“Speed was not our issue, we were running respective lap times, enough to be in the top-10 all day long,” said Whitt. “Our set up seemed to be a little off, we could only do so many crucial adjustments on pit road.”
Towards the close of the 5-Hour Energy 200, Whitt found something in his Camry allowing it to maneuver through traffic, passing teammate Mike Bliss to clinch 16th position at the wave of the checkered flag.
“So many of the cars out there were running pretty much the same speeds and lap times, making it really hard to pass one another,” said Whitt. “I am still grateful for the opportunity TriStar Motorsports has given me; Dover made me even more excited for our future races.”
Up next will be the 7/8th mile oval of Iowa Speedway, where Whitt will fill in for fellow TriStar Motorsports driver Chad Hackenbracht.
