cole daniel whitt (born june 22, 1991) is an american former professional stock car racing driver. after advancing his way through kart racing, whitt moved up to sprint cars and became a development driver for team red bull. after running in the k&n pro series east, whitt made his nascar debut in 2010. he last competed part-time in the monster energy nascar cup series, driving the no. 72 chevrolet camaro zl1 for tristar motorsports. he is nicknamed "the ginger lion" due to his ferocity behind the wheel of race cars and his red hair.