Front Row denies Cole Whitt moving to team

BK Racing co-owner believes move still likely to happen

A representative for Front Row Motorsports denied rumors that Cole Whitt would join the team in 2015, saying that social media and reports about a potential move were untrue. But a team co-owner with close ties to Whitt said the transition is all but certain.

A Tuesday night tweet from Anthony Marlowe, co-owner of BK Racing, seemed to indicate that Whitt had left his team to join Front Row. Via Twitter, Marlowe congratulated Whitt on securing a ride in the No. 34 Ford, which has been driven the past three seasons by David Ragan.

@colewhitt congrats on landing the #34 ride @frontrownascar!! Happy Thanksgiving! See you at the track 🙂

— Anthony Marlowe (@AnthonyMarlowe) November 26, 2014

Wednesday morning, Front Row Motorsports reps said that reports that Whitt was shifting to the Statesville, North Carolina,-based team were “not true.” Reached Wednesday afternoon, Marlowe said such a move might still become reality.

“I think Cole is a very talented driver. I don’t think Front Row Motorsports has much of a choice but to say what they’ve said or respond the way they’ve responded pursuant to certain agreements. Cole is still under contract with BK Racing,” Marlowe said from his Iowa home. “Am I 100 percent certain he’s going there? No. If you would’ve asked me a few months ago if I would be surprised, I would say absolutely yes. If you’d have asked me a few weeks ago if I was surprised, I’d say no, probably not.”

Marlowe confirmed that Whitt had informed the BK team that he didn’t intend to exercise a contract renewal for next season.

“Maybe I’ve made a mistake in (that) he’s going to the 34,” Marlowe said of Whitt, “but I’m like 98 percent certain he’s going to Front Row Motorsports, and if not, the bellwether on garage rumors and Gmail is [that] my pulse is off on that. I think 99 out of 100 times, those rumors tend to be true and an overwhelming amount of people, including your colleague team owners, are kind of unofficially confirming it.”

Whitt, 23, recently completed his first full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, finishing 31st in the overall standings as a Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate. He began the year with Swan Racing, which was sold and merged with the BK Racing team in the spring. BK fielded entries for Whitt’s No. 26, plus full-time entries for the No. 23 and 83 cars.

Ragan, 28, brought Front Row and car owner Bob Jenkins their only victory in NASCAR’s premier series at Talladega Superspeedway in May 2013. Ragan struggled last season, though, winding up tied for 32nd in the final standings, a single point behind Whitt. He recorded his lone top-10 finish of the season at Martinsville Speedway in the fall with a paint scheme honoring 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee Wendell Scott.

Jenkins also fields the full-time No. 38 entry driven by David Gilliland.

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