Brad Coleman to practice, qualify Kyle Busch entry at O’Reilly
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Brad Coleman is scheduled to practice and qualify the organization’s No. 18 Toyota for Kyle Busch this weekend at O’Reilly Raceway Park in preparation for Saturday’s Kroger 200 NASCAR Nationwide Series race.
Coleman is one of several stand-in drivers being retained by teams for Cup drivers that will be attempting to run this weekend’s Nationwide and Cup series races.
Sprint Cup qualifying for Sunday’s Brickyard 400 is scheduled to begin at 10:10 a.m. EDT Saturday, shortly after Nationwide teams will have begun their first practice session at ORP.
Nationwide qualifying is scheduled for 5:10 p.m., approximately 40 minutes after the completion of the final Cup practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Coleman has made four starts in the Nationwide Series for the JGR team this season. He qualified second at ORP a year ago while driving the team’s No. 20 entry.
“Last year we qualified outside pole and I will do everything I can to give Kyle a great starting position for the Kroger 200 this year,” Coleman said in a statement provided by the team. “You always want to be the guy behind the wheel when they drop the green flag but it is also an honor anytime you are in a JGR car and able to work with one of the best all-time drivers in the sport.”
Busch will be competing in all three series this weekend, piloting his Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 18 truck in Friday night’s AAA Insurance 200 at ORP in addition to competing in the Nationwide and Cup races. Busch hopes to be able to participate in all of the truck activities and does not have a fill-in for Friday.
Parker Kligerman will fill in for Penske Racing’s Brad Keselowski on Saturday at ORP, although team officials say they have transportation in place to allow Keselowski, the Nationwide Series points leader, to be on hand as much as possible.
Reed Sorenson is expected to qualify and compete in the No. 32 Braun Racing entry, although James Buescher will handle the driving duties for the team during the two practice sessions. As of Tuesday morning, officials with the team had not announced driver plans for the organization’s No. 10 entry at ORP.
Roush Fenway Racing officials will have Erik Darnell filling in for Carl Edwards, and Matt Crafton shaking down the No. 98 Ford of Paul Menard.
