Brad Coleman
Immediately following an impressive 2007 season with Joe Gibbs Racing where in just 17 starts, the youngest driver in the NASCAR Busch Series posted an amazing three Top 5’s, five Top 10’s, seven Top 15’s and 10 Top 20’s, the 19 year-old Coleman was signed to driver agreements with Baker Curb Racing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and Hall of Fame Racing in the Sprint Cup Series.
At Baker Curb Racing, Coleman will drive the No. 27 Kleenex® Ford Fusion for the full 35 race season, uniting him with his ARCA Crew Chief and NASCAR veteran Shawn Parker. Coleman will represent the Kimberly-Clark family of brands including Kleenex®, Cottonelle®, Scott®, Huggies®, and other trusted products for millions of families around the world.
At Hall of Fame Racing, Coleman will test for the No. 96 DLP® HDTV Toyota Camry team in preparation for his first Sprint Cup races later this season.
Discovered at Indoor Karting Center
Discovered at an indoor karting center by LeMans Champion and driving legend, Price Cobb, then 12 year-old Brad started his racing career in a most unusual way. Brad was invited to live with the Cobbs for the summer and travel with their Toyota Atlantic Race team on the 2001 CART circuit. It is here that Brad lived with the pros day in and day out, traveling to race venues all over the United States and Canada. During this time, he would train with Cobb in preparation for his first competitive karting season.
2002 Karting Success
Brad’s Rookie karting season turned out to be quite prolific, running in 64 races across the country in three different types of karts. He would go on to win 42% of these contests and podium in 65%. His winning ways earned him the SKUSA Red River Regional Season ROTAX Championship, the SWRA/IKF 80cc Formula Junior Shifter Season Championship, the SWRA/IKF KT-100 Yamaha Series Season Championship and 2nd at the 2002 IKF Grand National Championships and SKUSA Red River 80cc Series.
At the end of this spectacular season, he was offered a test in a Formula Fran-Am race car by World Speed Motorsports. It was at this test that Brad would light up the stop watches and earn himself an opportunity to live his dream of driving with the pros.
Professional Racing License at 14 Years-Old
The 14 year-old became the youngest American driver to ever receive a professional open-wheel racing license, and then proceeded on a journey that would include over 10,000 miles of testing prior to his first season. The seat time paid off as he won his first two NASA Regional Races in 2003. He followed that with three consecutive podium finishes in his initial Fran-Am 1600 Pro Series Races, making him the first 14 year-old American to podium in a professional open-wheel race. Brad finished Top 5 in 10 of his 13 races that season in Formula Fran-Am 1600 on his way to a fourth place series finish and second Rookie of the Year Award.
Leaving Home at 14 to Live and Train with His Mentor
At the end of the 2003 season, Brad was invited to rejoin the Cobb family in Virginia to live and train at one of the top race complexes in the U.S., Virginia International Raceway, where he would receive daily race training and education. During his two years with the Cobbs, Brad would run the entire 2004 Pro Formula Mazda Series, train in late model stock cars at many of the areas oval tracks, be named to the CDOC Pro Driving Team, travel with the G&W Motorsports (Synergy) Grand Am team as a crew member, and get his initial training in a Porsche by his mentor.
Setting a World Record at 2005 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona
In November of 2004, Brad was selected to compete in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona by The Racer’s Group owner Kevin Buckler. The young driver brought more than 40,000 miles of big car training and race experience from most all of North America’s major road circuits and many prominent oval tracks to the challenge of being the youngest team in the history of the famed 24 Hour. At 16 years-old, Brad would team with fellow Texan, Colin Braun, and Adrian Carrio of Colorado under the tutelage of driving coach Ross Bentley for four months of intensive training and testing to prepare for the big race.
Branded as Team16, the three teens competed with many of the best professional NASCAR, IRL, CART, and Sports Car drivers in the world at the famed Daytona International Speedway. Many of the entrants to the race do not ever finish because of the grueling challenges facing man and machine. Not only did Team16 finish, but they did so in style by driving the 180 MPH Porsche 911 GT3 across the finish line in 7th place, quieting all doubters and earning Brad and Colin the opportunity to challenge for many of the Grand American Road Racing Championship races at tracks across America.
2005 NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series Rookie Points Champion
During his preparation for the 24 Hour, Brad moved to Martinsville, VA to continue his training for the 2005 NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series and complete his high school education at the Carlisle School. Under the guidance of H.C. Sellers and the Sellers Racing Team, Brad completed a relentless testing schedule in his Late Model Stock Car at South Boston and ACE Speedways in Virginia and North Carolina.
His Rookie season proved to be a successful one, finishing in the Top 10 in 20 of his 21 races against many long-time track veterans. Since August of that season, Brad drove his way to a Top 5 finish in 10 of the last 11 races and Top 3 in two contests. His driving earned him the Rookie Points Championship for the season at ACE Speedway in Altamahaw, NC, fourth in the overall championship, and the respect of all the track veterans.
2005 Daytona Prototype Record
In the same year, Brad teamed with fellow Team16 driver Colin Braun to set a Grand American record as the youngest drivers to ever pilot a Daytona Prototype in a race. Again, they did so in style, finishing 13th at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL, then Top 10 at a VIR race, ahead of many well known drivers in the 40 car field. Brad elected to follow this effort with a focus on his stock car career and Colin went on to successfully finish in the Top 5 of the Grand American Series in 2006, both earning the respect of fellow drivers and fans alike.
2006 ARCA/NASCAR Busch Series Driver Development Program
Following the 2005 race season, Brad was presented with the opportunity to join Brewco Motorsports in an ARCA/NASCAR Busch Series Driver Development program. In just nine ARCA races he posted eight Top 5’s, three poles and a win at Kentucky Speedway. His ARCA success earned him the highest average finishing position (P3) of any ARCA professional in 2006, and was highlighted by holding off eight-time series champion Frank Kimmel for two green-white-checkered restarts to win at Kentucky. Brad’s creative victory celebration at Kentucky, now called the “The Brad Coleman Bow”, earned the admiration of fans as he honored them for their attendance.
At 18, Coleman ran his first NASCAR Busch Series race in 2006 at Nashville, the week after he graduated high school and posted a respectable 29th place finish. The combination of his early ARCA and Busch success, Rookie of the Year Short Track honors, world record-setting run at the Rolex 24 of Daytona, and vast open wheel experience prompted SPEED Channel’s Dave Despain to call Coleman “The prototype NASCAR young gun of the future.”
2007 NASCAR Busch Series Rookie Season with Joe Gibbs Racing
After a successful 2006 season, Coleman was signed to a NASCAR Busch Series Driver Agreement by Joe Gibbs Racing live on Claire B. Lang’s XM Satellite NASCAR show “Dialed In” from the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. Coleman was hired to pilot the No. 18 Carino’s Italian Grill Chevrolet in a partial 2007 NASCAR Busch Series schedule.
In just 17 starts, the youngest driver in the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series posted an amazing three Top 5’s, five Top 10’s, seven Top 15’s and 10 Top 20’s. His successful rookie run included consecutive Top 5’s at Kentucky and Milwaukee, a Top 5 at Watkins Glen, a Top 10 and Pole at Talladega, a Top 10 at Montreal and two Top 15’s at Nashville and Michigan, most all of which were tracks he had never raced at before and against a host of NEXTEL Cup drivers. Coleman’s consistent performance earned him the highest average finishing position of any Non-Cup driver in the series.
