Coleman hopes to boost Hall of Fame Racing back into top 35
By Kris Johnson - Associate Editor
Friday, August 08, 2008
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WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Before bringing Brad Coleman into the fold Wednesday, Hall of Fame Racing did consider other drivers for its No. 96 Toyota after parting ways with J.J. Yeley.
Hall of Fame Racing GM Tyler Epp on Friday mentioned by name Jeremy Mayfield, Mike Skinner and Todd Bodine – veterans who could mentor a young driver – but added the plan all along was to give Coleman some seat time at the Cup level this year. The organization's plan to field a second car, though, never came to fruition.
"The plan has always been to get him in some races at the end of the year, to see if he could potentially run the full schedule next year," Epp said, adding, "Putting him in the race car, I know from outside the sport, it looks a little bit interesting [to say the] least, but it's kind of been on our radar since last August. Ideally, it was gonna be a second car, and to be very frank, we just haven't performed to the level we expected to and it makes that kind of growth not only hard but risky. We're gonna try and scale back here the rest of the season and get focused with him behind the wheel of the car."
The scenario of bringing in a veteran driver was mulled. Skinner successfully tutored Red Bull Racing's AJ Allmendinger earlier this year during a five-race stint with the No. 84 team.
"Some of those guys that performed pretty well in Cup cars, we kind of looked at all those," Epp said. "But for us, it was a pretty easy decision given where we are with this race team. It's still really young and we're still looking forward. We felt like with Brad and our association with Joe Gibbs Racing and his history there, it was a really good fit."
Coleman, a test driver for Hall of Fame Racing since last November, ran 17 Busch Series for Joe Gibbs Racing last season. This year, he is competing on a full-time basis in the No. 27 Baker Curb Racing entry. Notably, he won the pole last year with JGR at Talladega, where he has yet to be approved for Cup competition by NASCAR.
Epp said he spoke with NASCAR Director of Cost Research Brett Bodine this week about approval for Coleman at Talladega.
"He is approved for everything outside the restrictor-plate races," Epp said. "Obviously, he sat on the pole at Talladega last year in a JGR car, and so we fully expect him to be cleared, but we wanted to get a couple of races under our belt and Brett said that shouldn't be a problem."
With road-race specialist P.J. Jones in the No. 96 car at Watkins Glen, Coleman will attempt to make his Cup debut next weekend at Michigan, hoping to get that first one under his belt. His goals, he said, are simple.
"To qualify for every race I do. If we can do that, I think it‚d be a good rest of the year. I wanna try and get this team back in the top 35 in points [the team is currently 196 points shy of the No. 35 position]. I'm sure I'll be a little nervous before the race at Michigan. In the Nationwide Series, I earned all the respect of the Cup guys. I gotta go back out there in the Cup series and gain the respect at that level, which is what my main goal is," Coleman said.
Coleman has a pair of top-five finishes in ARCA competition at Michigan, as well as a 15th-place run for JGR in the Busch Series last year.
Since joining HOF as a test driver, Coleman said he has tested at Pocono, Nashville, Kentucky and Road Atlanta.
He also plans to maintain his full-time schedule with Baker Curb Racing in the Nationwide Series. He‚s 16th in points heading into tomorrow's race at Watkins Glen.
Epp said the decision to part ways with Yeley simply came down to performance.
"I don't have a single bad thing to say about J.J. He's a great guy to be around, he really genuinely cared about what we were doing and he never ever gave us an issue in the car at all. He always gave us 100 percent. Sometimes these situations just don't work out," he said.
Hall of Fame is still entertaining the notion of fielding a second team in the future, according to Epp.
Asked if that could happen for 2009 if sponsorship was landed, he said, "Yeah, absolutely, but that's something I'd have to know in the next four to six weeks [to] give that team a chance to get up and running."
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Brad Coleman
Comments
3 responses to "Coleman hopes to boost Hall of Fame Racing back into top 35 "
Jay said:
Aug 8, 2008 at 3:37 PMShould have stuck with their first instinct, put a veteran in that car. Look what Raines was able to do. Mayfield would have been an excellent choice in my opinion.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportAmanda Brezgel said:
Aug 8, 2008 at 7:00 PMI followed Brad all last season in what was the Busch series, but this season, I'm just not sure. He hasn't done much. I hope that he can prove that he is one of NASCAR's next great star when put in the Sprint series.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportPitFrog said:
Aug 9, 2008 at 10:41 AMI wouldn't give up on Coleman just yet. The team and the equipment has everything to do with his performance this year. All-in-all, he has done well with what he's been provided by the Curb folks. I would even be willing to bet that if you put Logano and Brad in the same equipment that Brad would come out ahead.
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