at daytona in the coke zero 400, whitt was caught up into a multi-car pileup and he t-boned kyle busch throwing busch onto his roof. at watkins glen in the cheez-it 355 at the glen, whitt crashed early in the race when his car drove straight into a tire barrier in turn 1 in an accident that loosely resembled jimmie johnson's infamous crash at the same spot in 2000. whitt climbed out mostly unscathed. whitt led his first lap in sprint cup competition under caution in the geico 500 at talladega. he would ultimately hang on for his then career-best finish of 15th.