KBM names Harold Holly as crew chief for Coulter

Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) announced today that veteran crew chief Harold Holly has joined the organization and will lead Joey Coulter in his quest for the 2013 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship. Additionally, the team announced that Coulter will pilot the team's flagship truck, the No. 18 Tundra, while team owner Kyle Busch will run a partial schedule in the team's second entry, the No. 51 Tundra. Busch's schedule and the rest of the driver lineup that is being formed to compete for the Truck Series owner's championship will be announced at a later date.

Kyle Busch

Photo by: Action Sports Photography

With Holly calling the shots in 2012, Coulter earned his first Truck Series win at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in August and captured three pole awards. Under the veteran's guidance, the talented youngster posted eight top-five and 15 top-10 finishes en route to a third-place finish in the final driver's point standings in his sophomore Truck Series campaign. Coulter's 749 driver's points accumulated over the final 20 races this season were more than any other Truck Series driver during that span.

Overall in two Truck Series seasons together, the duo has accumulated one win, 14 top-five and 28 top-10 finishes over 47 Truck Series starts and one top-10 finish in two Nationwide Series starts. Holly also served as the crew chief for Coulter's two full-time seasons in the ARCA Racing Series (2009 and 2010), during which they registered one win, two poles, 14 top-five and 23 top-10 finishes across 41 events.

"Being able to join Kyle Busch Motorsports and continue to help Joey grow at the same time is a pretty special thing," said Holly, who will begin his fifth consecutive season as Coulter's crew chief. "Kyle brings a lot to the sport and a lot to the Truck Series, so I'm looking forward to the opportunity to work for his organization. Joey and I have spent the last couple years learning this series and what it takes to points race with these guys. We've gotten better each year and I think we have a good plan going into next season. The biggest thing is that we need to come out of Daytona with a solid finish. Last year, we got so far behind at the beginning and had to make up so much ground at the end."

"When we signed Joey, we made a promise to him that we would do everything that we possibly can to put him in a position to win the championship in 2013 and we made bringing in Harold Holly as his crew chief our top priority this offseason," KBM General Manager Rick Ren said. "After we signed Joey in early November, I listened to some of their radio communication during practice those last few races and they really work well together. With having such a short schedule in the Truck Series, you can't afford to get off to a slow start and we feel like this move will help ease the transition of moving to a new organization for a young driver."

A fixture in the Nationwide Series garage during the late 1990's and 2000's, Holly led Jeff Green to the 2000 series championship. Green collected six wins, seven poles, 25 top-five and 27 top-10 finishes over 32 races en route to his crown. Overall in 301 races as a crew chief in NASCAR's second division, the Alabama native's drivers combined for 19 wins, 18 poles, 88 top-five and 134 top-10 finishes.

Since debuting in the Truck Series in 2010, the No. 18 Tundra has compiled 17 wins, 38 top-five and 54 top-10 finishes across 72 starts. In 2010, KBM became the first team since the Truck Series originated in 1995 to win the owner's championship in its inaugural season.

Coulter and Holly will make their KBM debut Feb. 22 in the season-opening NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.

Kyle Busch Motorsports