Martin will sub for Hamlin in the JGR Toyota
The veteran driver will fill in for at least six weeks.
Mark Martin
Eric Gilbert
Mark Martin has been named by Joe Gibbs Racing as the driver of the #11 Toyota. The move for Martin to take over for the injured Denny Hamlin had to be agreed upon by both Gibbs and Michael Waltrip.
Hamlin sustained a fractured vertebra in a crash with Joey Logano at the end of the NASCAR Sprint Cup race on the Auto Club Speedway and the injury will sideline the JGR Toyota driver for at least six weeks.
"I just hate not being able to be in the car right now, but I really appreciate Mark being able to fill in for me," Hamlin said in a statement. "Like everyone in NASCAR, I have a tremendous amount of respect for Mark and I know he will keep that FedEx Camry up front until I get back behind the wheel."
Martin had already been scheduled to contest selected events in a Toyota for Waltrip's team. MWR's Crew chief Rodney Childers tweeted: "This will be like me loaning my girlfriend to my best friend for 4 weeks to see if I like this other girl moving fwd.."
Added Childers, "But overall, this will show a lot of people that we work a lot closer with JGR than most people think we do."
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