NASCAR: 10 drivers who deserve better rides in the Cup Series

By Asher Fair | Aug 24, 2017

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - JULY 01: David Ragan, driver of the #38 Shriners Hospital for Chldrn 95th Annvrsry Ford, and Ty Dillon, driver of the #13 GEICO Military Chevrolet, lead the field to a restart during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 59th Annual Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway on July 1, 2017 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images) /

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BRISTOL, TN – AUGUST 18: Cole Whitt, driver of the #72 Bad Boy Mowers Chevrolet (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

BRISTOL, TN – AUGUST 18: Cole Whitt, driver of the #72 Bad Boy Mowers Chevrolet (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /

#10 – Cole Whitt, TriStar Motorsports, No. 72 Chevrolet

Of the 10 drivers on this list, Cole Whitt, 26, is without a doubt the least proven. He has driven off and on in the NASCAR Cup Series since 2011, but only in 2014 did he really start driving in pretty much every race each season, with 2016 being an exception, as he only drove in 26 of the 36 events last season.

Whitt, like Reed Sorenson, who was discussed on the previous slide, has driven for all kinds of small and underfunded teams. In 2011, he drove two races for Team Red Bull, and in 2012, he drove three races for Turn One Racing and two races for Circle Sport.

Then in 2013, he drove seven races for Swan Racing Company before driving full-time in 2014 for Swan Racing (renamed from Swan Racing Company) and BK Racing. In 2015, he continued driving full-time for Front Row Motorsports before driving the majority of 2016’s races for Premium Motorsports. He is currently in his first season as the full-time driver for TriStar Motorsports.

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Whitt’s statistics over the course of his 136 career Cup Series races have really not been great. In fact, he has never finished a single race in the top 10, although he has come close with a 12th place finish at Indianapolis this season, an 11th place finish at Daytona last season and a 13th place finish at Talladega in 2015. He also has several other top 20 finishes.

Whitt has switched teams at least once per season throughout his Cup Series career, and he’s never driven for a team that has anywhere near the resources that top-tier teams like Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing or Stewart-Haas Racing have to offer. The fact that he has even come close to finishing in the top 10 driving for some of the teams he has driven for shows that he should be given a shot to drive for a top-tier team at some point.

Do you think any of these 10 drivers will ever end up driving for top-tier NASCAR Cup Series teams? If so, which ones do you see doing so? Which one of these 10 drivers do you think is most deserving of a ride with a top-tier team?

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