Whitt Set For Double Duty at Talladega

Hillman Racing today announced that Cole Whitt will drive the No. 27 Hillman Racing entry this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. Whitt, the 21-year-old development driver for the Dale Earnhardt Jr.-owned JR Motorsports in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, will pilot the No. 27 www.LittleJoesAutos.com Chevrolet Silverado in Saturday’s Fred’s 250. Whitt enters the weekend event with 26 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts to his credit, in addition to 31 NASCAR Nationwide Series and six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts.

Whitt, who will make his first start for Hillman Racing, also will compete in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega in the No. 33 www.LittleJoesAutos.com Chevrolet Impala for Circle Sport. In 25 truck series starts in 2011, Whitt recorded 11 top-10s with a season’s-best second-place finish at Dover in addition to a pole at Darlington. Whitt returns to truck series at Talladega behind the wheel of a proven winner, piloting chassis MHR-004. This is the same truck that Ward Burton drove to an eighth-place finish in the season-opening event at Daytona and has visited Victory Lane on four separate occasions: Daytona (2008 & 2009); Talladega (2007 & 2008). Veteran crew chief Jason Overstreet has also joined the organization to help call the shots this weekend.