Gibbs unsure when Busch will return following injury
Daytona Beach, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Team owner Joe Gibbs said on Sunday that he is unsure when driver Kyle Busch will return to racing after he suffered multiple injuries during an accident in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway.
Busch, the driver of the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Sprint Cup Series and the No. 54 car in Xfinity, sustained a compound fracture of his right lower leg and a mid-foot fracture of his left foot. He underwent successful surgery on his right leg on Saturday night. Busch remains hospitalized at Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach.
Gibbs said that Dr. Robert Anderson of OrthoCarolina will examine Busch’s foot when he returns to Charlotte, North Carolina later this week. When Busch will be able to return to competition remains unknown at this time.
“I think what will happen there is the doctors, after they have a chance to look at his foot and everything and we get it all squared away, I think they will give us a good opinion,” Gibbs said during a press conference on Sunday.
Matt Crafton, the two-time defending champion in the Camping World Truck Series, will drive the No. 18 car in place of Busch in Sunday’s Daytona 500 — the season-opening race for Sprint Cup. JGR has yet to name an interim driver for the following event on March 1 at Atlanta Motor Speedway or for any future races.
Gibbs did note that Busch is in good spirits.
“Kyle, to be quite truthful, was kind of light-hearted and joking around with me and talking about wanting to get back in the car right away before surgery,” he said. “Afterwards, the doctors came in and Samantha (Busch’s wife) stayed there with Kyle last night and for us. We waited to get a report from the doctor. He said everything went very well.”
Crafton has 339 career starts in the Truck Series, including 15 at Daytona, but he has yet to compete in Sprint Cup. The Daytona 500 will mark his debut in NASCAR’s premier series. Crafton finished eighth in Friday night’s truck race at Daytona.
“We were thrilled to get Matt,” Gibbs said. “Matt is driven some of Kyle’s stuff. He’s a veteran guy, and we felt it was a perfect fit. We sent him over to the race shop (in Huntersville, North Carolina) last night. He met with our person in charge of seats, and he sat in all of our cars. He’s real comfortable with Kyle’s seat. Then we brought him down here (to Daytona) last night. He climbed into the car today and told me, ‘Hey, everything is perfect’.”
Categorized in: NASCAR