on february 2, 2017, it was announced that whitt would join tristar motorsports for the entire 2017 monster energy nascar cup series schedule as a chartered team, driving the no. 72 ford fusion. at the daytona 500, whitt qualified 17th, led three laps and finished 18th. over the next four races, he recorded a best finish of 20th at atlanta. before texas, tristar struck an eight-race deal with rtic coolers starting at the track's o'reilly auto parts 500, where whitt finished 30th. during the race at talladega, whitt dodged multiple wrecks and finished a then-season-high 16th. whitt endured various issues with his cars over the following races: at kansas, he had multiple struggles but still finished 26th; in charlotte's coca-cola 600, he had engine problems and finished 34th; two races later at pocono, he was running 25th when the right front tire blew out, causing him to finish 30th. during the first road race of the season at sonoma, he ran as high as 13th, but dropped to 21st after deciding not to pit. in the return to daytona, he had a transmission issue on lap 9, causing the no. 72 to finish 39th, beginning a three-race string of dnfs: at kentucky, he finished 34th; at loudon, he blew an engine on lap 66, finishing 38th. at indianapolis, the team was able to avoid the crashes that gobbled up several racers and keep the engine running to finish 12th. before the bojangles' southern 500 at darlington, it was announced whitt would run his grandfather's "lime green machine" modified scheme sponsored by ted whitt plumbing. he ran the car to a solid 23rd, three laps down.