Ragan Named as Busch's Replacement at Joe Gibbs Racing

David Ragan will fill in for Kyle Busch (Google Images)

Joe Gibbs Racing announced Tuesday that David Ragan will fill in for Kyle Busch as driver of the No. 18 Crispy M&M's Camry beginning this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Busch was released from Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach on Tuesday afternoon and will be transferred to a hospital in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Las Vegas native suffered a compound fracture in his lower right leg and a broken left foot after wrecking late in Saturday's XFINITY Series race at Daytona International Speedway. Defending Truck Series champion Matt Crafton filled in for Busch in Sunday's Daytona 500. He finished 18th on the day.

In eight seasons in the Sprint Cup Series, Ragan has made 291 starts and managed to collect a pair of wins. His first victory came in the 2011 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona and his most recent one came in last year's Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. He has driven a Ford his entire career so this will be his first start in a Toyota Camry, however it will be his first start in winning equipment since leaving Roush Fenway Racing in 2011.

Since 2012, Ragan has driven for Front Row Motorsports and, aside from his win a year ago, outside of plate racing, the team has not had much success. It will be really interesting to see what the Unadilla, Georgia native can do behind the wheel of a JGR prepared machine.

Ragan's sponsor CSX and Front Row Motorsports facilitated the move. No timetable has been given for Busch's return, but Ragan is expected to return to the No. 34 Ford later this year.

Additionally, JGR announced that Erik Jones will drive Busch's No. 54 Monster Energy Camry in the XFINITY Series race in Atlanta this weekend. Jones drives full-time for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series and the No. 20 JGR Camry in the XFINITY Series on a part-time basis. An announcement as to who will drive the Monster Energy car beyond this weekend will be made at a later date.

Will David Reutimann return to the Cup Series this season? (Google Images)

"We appreciate being able to work with Front Row Motorsports and CSX for David's availability," said Joe Gibbs, owner of Joe Gibbs Racing. "We are fortunate to be able to have someone of David's caliber behind the wheel while Kyle recovers. Erik is a big part of our future at JGR and we will be increasing his schedule in the XFINITY Series beginning this weekend in Atlanta and seeking the earliest opportunity to provide him some Cup experience. We appreciate all the support we have received from the NASCAR community including our fans and we look forward to getting Kyle back in the car as soon as possible."

"Everyone at Mars is thankful that Kyle is doing well and we continue to wish him a speedy recovery," said William Clements, vice president of sponsorship and sports marketing for Mars Incorporated." While we can't wait until Kyle returns behind the wheel of the No. 18 M&M's Crispy Toyota, we are excited to work with David and we're pleased JGR was able to work it out for him to step in during Kyle's absence."

In the meantime, Ragan's now vacant No. 34 car needs a driver. Front Row Motorsports has acknowledged that they have spoken to 2000 champion Bobby Labonte about filling in at Atlanta this weekend. Another name mentioned as a potential substitute is David Reutimann. The Zephyrhills, Florida native is a two time Cup Series winner and drove FRM's No. 35 car in three races last season. However, Reutimann will need to renew his NASCAR license and undergo a physical before he can be considered to fill Ragan's seat.

UPDATE: Front Row Motorsports tweeted Wednesday that Cup Series veteran Joe Nemechek will wheel the team's No. 34 Fusion this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.