Catchfence

“Joe Gibbs Racing driver qualifies 10th, survives NAPA Auto Parts 200″

MONTREAL, CA. (August 30, 2010) – Brad Coleman took the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 baton from teammate Kyle Busch hoping extend the teams’ Owners’ Championship lead in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in Montreal, but was relegated to a 12th place finish after surviving a day filled with weird racing moments and sheet metal havoc.

After qualifying and starting 10th, Coleman worked his way up and was running in the fifth position by lap 20. After cycling through a pit stop sequence on lap 32, Coleman was trying to avoid a slow-cornering No. 16 when very light contact sent a dislodged bumper bar from the No. 16 into his front left tire like a spear. This forced Coleman to make an unscheduled pit stop.

Once again he worked his way up through traffic and eventually found himself running in the top 15 on a restart with six laps to go. Unfortunately, trouble ensued in front of him when the No. 38 spun collecting a number of cars and leaving Coleman nowhere to go. While trying to avoid the melee Coleman was forced to hit the wall, causing heavy right side damage.

After pitting once again to fix the damaged car and cure nagging alternator problems, Coleman made a couple of passes on the last lap and eventually wound up with the 12th place finish. The No. 18 car maintained the lead in the owner’s standings and has 35 points over the No. 22 Penske Racing car with just 10 races remaining in the season.

“What a day,” said Coleman. “We certainly had a better car than 12th but so did a bunch of others that finished well behind me. It was just a tough day with a lot of crazy wrecks and I am happy we survived the battle and had a respectable finish with all that went on. I don’t think the SafeWay Driving Students learned anything by watching this race!”

For more info visit: www.joegibbsracing.com and www.bradcoleman.us

- Big Picture Thinking Press Release