cole whitt, born to tobin and kim whitt, was inspired to race when he saw one of his cousins with a go-kart. after winning championships in go-karts, whitt moved up to sprint cars in 2004. whitt was quickly noticed by red bull and was in the semifinals for red bull's driver development search. after winning the hoosier sprint rookie of the year award in 2006, whitt traveled around the united states the next year, running 60 races and gaining top tens in 34 of those starts. to continue his racing career, whitt and his mother moved to lebanon, indiana. in 2008 whitt became the youngest winner of the usac national midget championship, while winning the hut hundred. the next year whitt raced in silver crown, sprints, and midgets, earning 17 wins driving for keith kunz.