Cole Whitt retires at age 27

Cole Whitt

TriStar Motorsports driver Cole Whitt has retired, the team announced late Sunday night.

Whitt, 27, started 34th and finished 25th in Sunday’s NASCAR Playoffs Round of 8 race at ISM Raceway in Phoenix. It was his 13th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start of the season, with a best finish of 19th at Texas in the spring.

Whitt has 161 Cup starts under his belt, racing full time at NASCAR’s top level in 2014-15 and 2017, finishing 31st in points in his first two full seasons. In his 2012 Xfinity Series rookie season, he placed seventh overall, with four top-five finishes.