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Affectionately called “LEFturn,” Leffler. Jason Leffler began his career racing midget cars in the USAC series, where he won three consecutive midget championships from 1997 and 1999, as well as the Silver Crown series championship in 1998. He was the third driver to win three consecutive midget car championships. He won the Hut Hundred and Belleville Nationals in 1997, and the Turkey Night Grand Prix and Copper Classic in 1999. He won his second Turkey Night Grand Prix in 2005. Roger Penske met Leffler at the 1998 Hut 100. Leffler's success also caught the attention of Joe Gibbs Racing, a team which had previously signed Tony Stewart from the USAC ranks. Leffler joined the team in 1999 and made four starts in the Xfinity Series during the season with moderate success. His first Xfinity series start came at IRP where he started 14th, crashed and finished 41st. At the same time, he also started a race in the Indy Racing League at Walt Disney World Speedway in the #5 Treadway Racing machine, but finished last after crashing early in the race. 2000 saw him make his first Truck Series start at IRP started seventh, blew a motor and finished 29th. Leffler also made his first, and only, start in the Indianapolis 500 in 2000. This effort was put forth by Treadway Racing with backing from Roger Penske's United Auto group. Leffler qualified in the 17th position, which was also where he finished. During the 2000 season, Leffler also drove full-time for the #18 MBNA sponsored Joe Gibbs Racing team in the Xfinity Series. He finished twentieth in the final standings,

earned three pole positions during the year, and finished second at Phoenix. After that season he moved up to the Cup Series to become the driver of the #01 Cingular Wireless Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing as the permanent replacement for Kenny Irwin Jr., who was killed in a practice crash while driving for the same team at New Hampshire in 2000. Leffler's car retained sponsorship from BellSouth through its Cingular Wireless property, and with Ganassi's purchase of a stake in Felix Sabates' former team came a switch in manufacturer as Leffler became one of several drivers to drive Dodge Intrepids in the brand's

return to NASCAR. It was a controversial decision, as Leffler performed poorly the season prior in excellent Joe Gibbs equipment in the Xfinity series. During his inaugural Cup season, he had only one top 10 finish and four failures to qualify. He was, however, the inaugural pole setter at Kansas Speedway. After his 37th-place finish in the 2001 championship, Ganassi replaced him with Jimmy Spencer for the 2002 season and remade Leffler's former car into the #41 Target Dodge. Leffler joined Ultra Motorsports in

2002 to drive the #2 Carquest/Team ASE Dodge Ram in place of the departed Scott Riggs and had great success early on with the team. In his first year, he tied a single season Truck Series record by scoring eight pole positions, and qualified no worse than eighth at any race during the season. Despite not winning a race, he had six second-place finishes and a fourth-place finish in the championship. He also won the Night Before the 500 midget race and got to drive Ultra's #7 car in the final two races of the Cup Series season after the team fired Casey Atwood. Leffler finally broke through in 2003 when he scored his first career victory at Dover. Despite the success, Leffler ended up losing his ride at Ultra in a controversial

fashion. Haas CNC Racing, which was fielding its first full-time Cup Series team, had fired its driver Jack Sprague after the Tropicana 400. Team owner Gene Haas named John Andretti as his replacement, but he was unavailable for the Brickyard 400 due to a prior commitment with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Haas approached Leffler to drive the #0 NetZero Pontiac Grand Prix in the race and he agreed to do so. Ultra, which had warned Leffler that such a move would be in violation of his contract, responded by firing him.

Leffler made ten starts in the #0, becoming the permanent driver after the Sirius Satellite Radio at the Glen. The team then signed Ward Burton away from Bill Davis Racing to take over the car, and he joined the team before the season was over to get a head start. Leffler was moved to the #00 Haas Automation car in the Xfinity Series for the remainder of 2003, with the idea that he would remain there for 2004. At Nashville Superspeedway in 2004, Leffler scored his first career Xfinity Series victory as he beat Martin Truex to the checkers. He also was involved in a controversial finish at the Winn-Dixie 250; he was penalized by NASCAR for "over-aggressive driving" on the final lap, that saw Michael Waltrip get spun, and then Dale Earnhardt Jr. get wrecked, both by Leffler. He was running third in the points when the team released him from his contract. He

ended up finishing twelfth in the championship despite missing the last seven races. Shortly after his dismissal, Leffler signed a deal to re-join Joe Gibbs Racing for 2005, taking over a newly created Cup team sponsored by FedEx. The #11 Chevrolet was regularly outside of the top 35 in points, meaning that it was not guaranteed a starting spot for all races; Leffler was unable to qualify for the Coca-Cola 600 because of it. He was replaced by Terry Labonte for the two road-course races and, eventually, was fired from JGR after nineteen starts in which he failed to record a top ten finish. He was replaced by a mix of Labonte and JGR developmental drivers J. J. Yeley and Denny Hamlin, the latter of whom took over the car full-time the following season. While racing with Gibbs, Leffler briefly raced with Braun Racing in the Xfinity Series, a team that had lost

their regular driver, Shane Hmiel, to a drug suspension. After leaving Gibbs, Leffler joined Braun Racing on a full-time basis for the remainder of the season. Leffler had scored four top ten finishes with Braun in nine starts for the team. For the 2006 season, Leffler was signed to return to Braun Racing to drive the #32 Chevrolet. The team carried sponsorships from Lucas Oil, Fraternal Order of Eagles, and ABF U-Pack Moving. The #32 team became the #38 team with sponsorship from Great Clips after it merged with Akins Motorsports. Jason also attempted to qualify for the second to last race of the chase at Phoenix in the #71 for Braun Racing but failed to qualify. He also owned the 2006

USAC Silver Crown championship team. During the 2007 season, Leffler won the pole for the Winn-Dixie 250 at Daytona International Speedway. He finished ninth. Leffler would make NASCAR history on July 28, 2007 as he passed Greg Biffle with two laps remaining to win the Xfinity Series Kroger 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park. The win marked the first race victory for a Toyota Camry in Xfinity Series competition, and the first win for a foreign manufacturer in a top-tier NASCAR series since Al Keller won in a Jaguar in

1954. The win also marked Leffler's second career Xfinity Series win and first win since the 2004 season. Leffler returned to Cup in 2008 for a few races in the #70 Haas CNC Chevy while driving full-time for Braun Racing's #38 Toyota Camry. In 2009 at the July Daytona race weekend it was announced that the #38 Toyota car would be shared with Kasey Kahne for the 2010 NASCAR Xfinity Series season. Leffler remained in the Great Clips Toyota in 2010 and 2011. In late 2011 he was informed that he was free to pursue other opportunities for the 2012 season. During the second-to-last race of the 2011 NASCAR Xfinity Series season at Phoenix International Raceway, Leffler was racing with Elliott Sadler, who was 17 points back of first place in the standings coming into the race, and Aric

Almirola for 10th; when Leffler bumped into the rear bumper of Sadler in turn 3 turning Sadler around and collecting himself, Almirola, Jeremy Clements, and Morgan Shepherd. The wreck ended up costing Sadler the championship as Sadler lost the championship by 45 points to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Leffler in his interview took full responsibility for what happened between him and Sadler saying that it was his own fault. On January 9, 2012, Kyle Busch Motorsports announced that Leffler would drive the #18 truck for fourteen races with sponsorship from Dollar General. However, strings of bad luck and poor finishes plagued the team, and Leffler was released on August 14. Leffler also returned to the Cup Series in 2012, driving for Robinson-Blakeney Racing at Watkins Glen International, and for Humphrey Smith Racing at Michigan International Speedway. Leffler made a single Cup Series start in 2013,

driving Humphrey Smith Racing's #19 Toyota Camry at Pocono Raceway in early June, three days before his death; he started and parked, finishing 43rd in the event. On June 12, 2013, Leffler was reportedly running second with a few laps left, at the 5⁄8-mile Bridgeport Speedway in Logan Township, New Jersey. In the event’s first heat race in a 410 sprint car; he lost control on the high-banked dirt oval track. His car suffered a front suspension failure, causing it to crash into a wall and flip several times on the

front straightaway. The track is dubbed “The Fastest Dirt Track in the East.” The accident took place about 8:30 pm. Leffler instantly lost consciousness in the accident. When it was found that Leffler was not breathing, the rest of the race was cancelled and victory lane ceremonies did not take place. He was transported by ambulance to Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Chester, Pennsylvania, where he was pronounced dead at 9:00 PM EDT. An autopsy report stated that the cause of death was a severe blunt force neck and spine injury. After his death, many drivers and racing associations such as NASCAR and IndyCar made statements on the death and gave their condolences. NASCAR drivers competing in the 2013 Quicken Loans 400 had special stickers placed on their cars in honor of Leffler. Denny Hamlin, who replaced Leffler in the #11 FedEx Toyota in late 2005 had his car repainted to resemble Leffler's livery Jason was a devoted single father who adored his son and had an unshakable passion for going

fast. His determination to win was incorruptible and even through all the hardships, he pushed on, he persevered, he refused to give up. This phenomenal talent could push a car to the absolute limit, teetering on the edge of disaster with no fear or trepidation of what could happen should something go wrong. His tenacity behind the wheel was awe-inspiring and his goofy, yet friendly personality will be remembered with smiles and with tears. Leffler, who was from Long Beach, Calif., is survived by a son, Charlie Dean.

Fantasy NASCAR Racing

JASON CHARLES LEFFLER - 09/16/1975 - 06/12/2013