From Truck to Cup

Earlier this season, Austin Dillon made his Cup series debut at Kansas Motor Speedway. Dillon piloted the #98 Ronald Reagan Centennial Chevy. He brought home a 26th place finish in his debut. But Austin isn't the only Truck series driver looking forward to the Cup series. There's another young hopeful looking to pave his way this weekend at Phoenix.

20 year old, California native, Cole Whitt is looking to begin making his way through the ranks this weekend. Whitt, who is in a tight three man battle for the Rookie of the Year championship in the Truck series, is making his Sprint Cup series debut this weekend at Phoenix. Whitt made his Nationwide Series debut a year ago at this very same track. Whitt, however, has been racing for years. He started out karting as a child and has worked his way up through the ranks. Last season, Whitt made his NASCAR debut, in NASCAR's K&N Pro Series East division. During that time, Whitt recorded 6 top five finishes--which includes two second place finishes--in only 10 starts.. He also laid down a 4th place finish in the championship standings. With all this success under his belt, Whitt is very confident in his start this weekend. There's only one little problem he has to cross over first. "The car doesn't have [owners'] points so we're gonna have to qualify it in," Whitt said. However, he also stated that he has a good team behind him helping work on the car, and felt he would be able to make it in just fine.

Whitt has partnered with a long time sponsor, Red Bull, this weekend and will pilot the #84 car in Sunday's race.