Entering its fifth season Red Bull Racing yet again finds itself with an uncertain future. Brian Vickers returned to the team this year after spending most of 2010 sidelined with health issues and Kasey Kahne joined the team on a one-year visa.
With a couple of promising runs so far this season, 2011 could shape up to be a good year for Red Bull Racing. But with only one driver in place for 2012, what happens at the end of the year is anybody’s guess.
The potential of Red Bull was abandoned last year in favor of Kahne. Scott Speed lost his job at the end of 2010 after months of speculation about his future. He joined AJ Allmendinger in the category of Red Bull drivers pushed too soon and abandoned too early.
Now when Kahne jumps ship for Hendrick next year, what are the odds Red Bull does it again? Consider the options for the team. They could sign up a driver already in the sport – not too many great free agents available though. Or, they could tap the existing talent they have. Does the name Cole Whitt ring a bell?
The young driver, a former USAC champion, has 16 NASCAR starts to his name (10 of which came in the K&N Pro Series East last season). He’s currently running the full Truck Series schedule for Turn One Racing. If this sounds familiar, you’re not going crazy.
Scott Speed, a former F1 driver, ran a full ARCA and Truck schedule before being thrust into AJ Allmendinger’s seat. And lest we forget, Allmendinger had three starts in a Truck before being pushed into a Cup car with the new Red Bull team. Both drivers had two full Cup seasons with the team before being booted.
To say Red Bull has a bad track record developing its talent would be an understatement. While I have yet to hear anything substantive about the future of Red Bull, a scenario where they plop Cole Whitt into a Cup car is not completely out of the realm of possibility.
With Whitt they have a talented young driver with a world of potential in front of him. Whether they allow that talent to grow and prosper remains to be seen. So you tell me, what does Red Bull do next year?
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