TriStar Motorsports Announces 2018 Cup Series Plans

TriStar Motorsports announced it's plans for the No. 72 entry in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series on Tuesday. Cole Whitt will share the entry with Corey LaJoie throughout the 2018 season.

Corey Lajoie will kick off the season with the 60th running of the Daytona 500. On top of that race, Lajoie will also pilot the No. 72 in 24 more races over the MENCS schedule. Last season Lajoie competed in 32 of the 36 events on the schedule. He earned his career best finish of 11th at Daytona in July.

"It's such a great opportunity to work with TriStar Motorsports," said Corey LaJoie in the press release. "I hope to use the learning experiences from my 2017 Rookie Season and work hard for some great finishes this year.  It's my goal to continue building a successful team with Bryan, while honoring the legacy his dad, Mark left behind."

While Lajoie will be the majority driver of the No. 72, Cole Whitt returns to run a partial schedule which was by his request. Whitt drove the full-season last year and earned three top-20 finishes and one top-15. He was just a position off of his career best finish with his 12th place finish at Indianapolis last year. Whitt still has a career-best finish of 11th coming at Daytona with Premium Motorsports in 2016.

"I want to thank TriStar and the Smith family for allowing me to do something I feel is the right decision for me and my family," said Whitt. "I am excited and a little nervous to say that I will be racing a limited schedule this year.  I am looking forward to taking the next step in my life and trying to spend most of my time with my family. Stepping back from racing is a hard choice but I strongly believe this is the right path. TriStar has been an amazing blessing to me and my family and I look forward to what the future holds for both of us."

TriStar Motorsports has acquired a charter from Front Row Motorsports, reportedly the No. 38's charter. Frankie Kerr will continue to lead the team as crew chief for the No. 72 entry. Sponsorship announcements and plans for the XFINITY Series program will be released at a later date. (Koelle,2018)

Photo Credit - NASCAR Media

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