Truck Series Champion Crafton to Replace Kyle Busch for Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – After a vicious crash left Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch with a right lower leg compound fracture and a left mid-foot fracture, the team has decided to put defending Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton in the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota for the Daytona 500.

The source is a person close to the team and wished to keep their anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the situation.

Crafton and Busch have familiarity among the Toyota Racing family in the Truck Series, Busch with his own outfit, Kyle Busch Motorsports, and Crafton with ThorSport Racing.

Rumors ran that Xfinity Series driver Erik Jones, a driver that raced for Busch in the Truck Series, would replace the Joe Gibbs Racing driver, but NASCAR overruled it due to his lack of experience.

Sunday will mark Crafton’s Sprint Cup debut on NASCAR’s biggest stage.

About Joey Barnes 600 Articles
Joey Barnes is the Founder of Motorsports Tribune, an outlet that began with the goal of helping aspiring journalists break into and grow the industry. A regular on the racing scene since 2013, the journey for Joey started by covering a Grand-Am event at Circuit of The Americas in his home state of Texas. He has since primarily focused on the IndyCar Series, with appearances in the garages of NASCAR, paddocks of Formula 1, IMSA and World Endurance Championship, while also occasionally engulfing clouds of dust at the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals and select Supercross rounds. With previous stops at Autoweek, IndyCar.com, Motorsport.com and RACER, among others, Joey evolved from the singular task as a freelance writer to advanced roles behind the copy desk and alongside some of the best editorial teams in the business. Recognized as a multi-time award winner by the National Motorsports Press Association, Joey currently resides in Dallas-Fort Worth with his trusty four-legged canine companion, Rocket.

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