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It was announced this week that Cole Whitt will attempt to make his Cup Series debut at Phoenix for Red Bull Racing.  The team will enter a third car for Whitt, who will have to qualify on time.  If it goes well, expect Red Bull to enter Whitt at Homestead as well.  The move would seem to make sense, as Red Bull has backed Whitt’s Truck Series effort for much of the season, except for the fact that Red Bull is shutting down it’s NASCAR program after Homestead.  Why spend money continuing to develop a driver for a team that won’t exist in a few weeks?

Whitt is currently competing in his first full season in the Truck Series, and has had a very solid year.  Running for Stacy Compton’s under-funded Turn One Racing, he actually led the points earlier in the year, and is still solidly in the top ten.  He’s also locked in a battle with Joey Coulter and Nelson Piquet, Jr. for the Rookie of the Year title.  His performance this season certainly warrants opportunities to advance his career.

If Red Bull were continuing it’s NASCAR operation, getting Whitt more experience would be important.  They would need to replace Kasey Kahne in the #4, and Whitt would certainly be a candidate to do so in the next year or two.  We’ve heard that Jay Frye may be close to securing an investor to keep the team afloat, and getting Whitt up to speed might be a major selling point.  Take that at face value though, because this rumor has surfaced several times over the last few months and a deal has yet to be made.

There is another rumor floating around about where Whitt could end up, and this one might have some teeth.

In a recent interview with NASCAR.com’s Dave Rodman, Whitt said “Red Bull has already committed to him a similar program as he had in 2011, for next season.”  So even if Red Bull Racing shuts down, Red Bull will maintain some level of sponsorship involvement with Whitt next season.  And the NASCAR.com article seemed to imply that Whitt may be shopping that deal.

With that in mind, the other rumor we’ve heard is that Whitt might be the third driver to fill out the lineup for Michael Waltrip Racing’s #00 next year.  We know Mark Martin will run 25 races, and that Michael Waltrip will drive another five, so MWR is looking to fill the seat for the remaining six races.  Whitt’s backing from Red Bull might be the key to getting him into those races.

These are nothing more than rumors at this point, but expect Whitt to end up in a decent ride for next season.  As for these two possible Cup races, it’s certainly an interesting move for a lame duck team to bring out a third car for a developmental driver.  Somebody clearly has a plan for young Mr. Whitt.

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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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