Joe Gibbs Racing names Erik Jones as substitute for Kyle Busch

Erik Jones, one of NASCAR’s rising stars, will drive the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 car until Kyle Busch returns from injury, the team announced Thursday.

The 18-year-old Jones’ first official race will be May 9 at Kansas Speedway. David Ragan, who drove the No. 18 car in all but one race since Busch’s injury, will make his final start Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway. Matt Crafton filled in for Busch in the season-opening Daytona 500.

Busch sustained a broken right leg and left loot when he crashed in the Xfinity Series race Feb. 21 at Daytona International Speedway. There is no timetable as to when he will return to competition, though he did say two weeks ago during a press conference that he was hopeful to be back by the Fourth of July weekend race at Daytona.

Jones, a full-time driver in the Camping World Truck Series for Busch’s team, turned heads when he won his first Xfinity victory April 10 at Texas Motor Speedway.

When JGR needed a relief driver for Denny Hamlin, who was dealing with neck spasms, at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 19, the team tabbed Jones midrace. Hamlin, though, was considered the driver of record because he started.

“I’m pretty excited and grateful for the opportunity to drive the No. 18 M&M’S Toyota Camry in the Sprint Cup Series and make my debut for Joe Gibbs Racing,” Jones said in a statement. “This is a really good opportunity for me. We are going to try to manage our expectations and if we can go out and get a top-15 run and gain some experience, that would be a great day for us.”

In a move announced earlier this week, Ragan is shifting to Michael Waltrip Racing starting with this weekend’s Kansas race. He will wheel the No. 55 car, normally driven by Brian Vickers, who is out indefinitely with a recurrence of blood clots.