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HUNTERSVILLE, N.C., (March 5, 2007) – After receiving a birthday cake in the face on ESPN from his Joe Gibbs Racing crew, 19 year-old rookie Brad Coleman was ready to complete his celebration with a strong finish in the No. 18 Carino’s Italian Grill Chevrolet. He was well on his way to seeing his birthday wish come true, running in eighth position and posting some of the fastest lap times on the track when his gear box failed on lap 60 of the 82 lap event, ending his successful debut weekend.
Appearing in his first of 17 races for JGR, the highly touted rookie came out blazing at the 2.5 mile Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course, recording the sixth-fastest time in Friday’s final practice. He followed that up by earning a qualifying spot on the outside of Row 7 in 14th position, and as soon as the green flag dropped Sunday, Coleman picked up three positions immediately. By lap six, Coleman had made another pass, putting him in the top ten.
Following his first pit stop on lap 10, Coleman again stalked the race leaders, charging his way back from 29th to the 10th position by lap 26. But Coleman’s right side tires began to fade as he wound up pitting too close to the wall to allow his crew to change all four tires. By lap 38 he had faded to 18th until he found an opportunity to pit again in three laps to take on four new tires. Following the pit stop he came out in 29th position, but rapidly worked his way through the field to 11th place with 30 laps remaining. With 25 laps to go, Coleman was in eighth position, running some of the best lap times on the track, and looking for a solid top ten finish when his transmission failed.
“I was determined to put the Carino’s Italian Grill Chevrolet in the top five and feel like we were well on our way when that gear box just went blank on me. It was like all of a sudden there were just no gears left at all so I steered the car into the grass to stay out of everyone’s way. It was disappointing to say the least, but we still had a very strong weekend and I am already looking forward to Las Vegas next week,” said Coleman.
Juan Pablo Montoya took the checkered flag, his first victory in seven Busch Series starts. Montoya, from Columbia, is the first non-U.S. driver to win a NASCAR Busch Series race since Canadian Ron Fellows won at Watkins Glen in 2001.
Next Up
Coleman will take the No. 18 Z-Line Designs Chevrolet to Las Vegas next Saturday, March 10th as he and his Joe Gibbs Racing team prepare for the Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Coleman tested well at the Vegas NBS test in early February.