Erik Jones Meets Joe Gibbs About Filling In For Injured Kyle Busch

Erik Jones has emerged as the leading candidate to replace injured Kyle Busch in the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, NASCAR Talk has learned.

Jones, who drives for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the Camping World Truck Series and is under contract with JGR, met Monday morning with team owner Joe Gibbs to discuss taking over the ride. Busch is out indefinitely after suffering a compound fracture in his right leg in an Xfinity Series crash Saturday at Daytona International Speedway. JGR could make an announcement on an interim driver as early as Monday afternoon.

The team is expected to receive approval from NASCAR to put Jones in a Sprint Cup car. He wasn’t approved for the Daytona 500 as NASCAR typically doesn’t allow drivers to make their Cup debut in a restrictor-plate race at Daytona or Talladega Superspeedway without having raced at a lower-tier event at those tracks. (NASCAR Talk)