Jason Leffler

Jason Leffler
Jason Leffler
	Party in the Poconos 400 (Pocono)
IRP)
Dover)
Transworld Diversified Services 200 (Disney)
Last race	2000 Indianapolis 500 (Indy)

Jason Charles Leffler (September 16, 1975 – June 12, 2013) was an American professional

open-wheel and stock car racing driver. Leffler began racing in the open-wheel ranks, competing in the 2000 Indianapolis 500 before moving to primarily NASCAR competition. He died from injuries sustained in a 410 sprint car race at Bridgeport Speedway in Bridgeport, New Jersey

.

Racing career

Open wheel career

Leffler began his career racing

Hut Hundred and Belleville Nationals in 1997, and the Turkey Night Grand Prix and Copper Classic in 1999.^[1]

He won his second Turkey Night Grand Prix in 2005.

Indy Racing League at Walt Disney World Speedway in the No. 5 Treadway Racing

machine, but finished last after crashing early in the race.

Leffler 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.

NASCAR career

During the 2000 season, Leffler drove full-time for the No. 18

Jimmy Spencer

for the 2002 season and remade Leffler's former car into the #41 Target Dodge.

Leffler joined

Dover

.

Despite the success, Leffler ended up losing his ride at Ultra in a controversial fashion.

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

Busch Series victory. 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 No. 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 Busch 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 but failed to qualify. He also owned the 2006 USAC Silver Crown championship team.^[2]

During the 2007 season, Leffler won the pole for the

Busch Series

win and first win since the 2004 season. Leffler returned to Sprint Cup in 2008 for a few races in the No. 70 Haas CNC Chevy while driving full-time for Braun Racing's No. 38 Toyota Camry.

In 2009 at the July Daytona race weekend it was announced that the No. 38

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.^[3]

On January 9, 2012, Kyle Busch Motorsports announced that Leffler would drive the No. 18 truck for fourteen races with sponsorship from Dollar General.^[4] However, strings of bad luck and poor finishes plagued the team, and Leffler was released on August 14.^[5]

Leffler also returned to the Cup Series in 2012, driving for

Humphrey Smith Racing at Michigan International Speedway.^[7]

Leffler made a single Cup Series start in 2013, driving Humphrey Smith Racing's No. 19 Toyota Camry at Pocono Raceway in early June, three days before his death; he started and parked, finishing 43rd in the event.^[8]

Death

On June 12, 2013, at 8:30 PM, Leffler was involved in a crash during a 410

heat race at the 5⁄8-mile (1.0 km) Bridgeport Speedway in Logan Township, New Jersey.^[9] Running second with a few laps left, his car suffered a front suspension failure, causing it to crash into a wall and flip several times.^[10]

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

blunt force neck and spine injury.^[13]

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 No. 11 FedEx Toyota in late 2005 had his car repainted to resemble Leffler's livery.^[14]

Personal life

Leffler was the son of Charles and Patricia Leffler. Leffler had a son with Alison East, Charlie Dean, who was five years old at the time of his father's death. He shared his life with live-in girlfriend Julianna Patterson; they resided in North Carolina and were engaged at the time of his death.^{[citation needed]}

Career awards

Leffler was inducted into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2003.^[1] He had 19 USAC national championship midget car wins at that time.^[2] He was inducted in the USAC Hall of Fame in 2018.^[2] He also had six USAC Silver Crown wins.^[2]

Motorsports career results

American open-wheel racing

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

IndyCar Series

IndyCar Series results
Year	Team	Chassis	No.	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Rank	Points	Ref
1999	Treadway Racing	G-Force	5	Oldsmobile	WDW 28	PHX	CLT	INDY	TXS	PPIR	ATL	DOV	PP2	LVS	TX2	48th	2	^[15]
2000			55		WDW	PHX	LVS 15									30th	28	^[16]
2000			50					INDY 17	TXS	PPIR	ATL	KTY	TX2			30th	28	^[16]

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2000	G-Force	Oldsmobile	17	17	Treadway Racing

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series

Sprint Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NSCC	Pts	Ref
2001	Chip Ganassi Racing	01	Dodge	DAY 34	CAR 33	LVS 28	ATL 32	DAR 39	BRI DNQ	TEX 17	MAR DNQ	TAL 20	CAL 18	RCH 26	CLT 30	DOV 13	MCH 19	POC 41		DAY 24	CHI 24	NHA 27	POC 21	IND 26	GLN	MCH 24	BRI 30	DAR 43	RCH 28	DOV DNQ	KAN 28	CLT 43	MAR 37	TAL 15	PHO 41	CAR 30	HOM 10	ATL DNQ	NHA 30	37th	2413	^[17]
2001	Chip Ganassi Racing	04	Dodge																SON DNQ																					37th	2413	^[17]
2002	Ultra Motorsports	7	Dodge	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	CAR	PHO 31	HOM 35	63rd	128	^[18]
2003	Haas CNC Racing	0	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	TAL	MAR	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND 33	GLN	MCH 35	BRI 26	DAR 26	RCH 28	NHA 27	DOV 25	TAL DNQ	KAN 30	CLT 35	MAR 27	ATL	PHO	CAR	HOM	47th	764	^[19]
2004	Haas CNC Racing	60	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	BRI	TEX	MAR	TAL	CAL	RCH	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND 43	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	TAL	KAN	CLT	MAR	ATL	PHO	DAR	HOM	88th	34	^[20]
2005	Joe Gibbs Racing	11	Chevy	DAY 36	CAL 37	LVS 22	ATL 25	BRI 38	MAR 12	TEX 36	PHO 29	TAL 26	DAR 38	RCH 25	CLT DNQ	DOV 20	POC 40	MCH 20	SON	DAY 18	CHI 20	NHA 24	POC 24	IND 33	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	TAL	KAN	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	38th	1538	^[21]
2006	Braun Racing	71	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	DAY	CHI	NHA	POC	IND	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO DNQ	HOM	NA	-	^[22]
2008	Haas CNC Racing	70	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV DNQ	POC 40	MCH DNQ	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI 27	IND 32	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT	MAR	ATL	TEX	PHO	HOM	59th	192	^[23]
2010	Braun Racing	32	Toyota	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	PHO	TEX	TAL	RCH	DAR	DOV	CLT	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL DNQ	RCH 43	NHA	DOV									70th	68	^[24]
2010	Prism Motorsports	66	Toyota																													KAN DNQ	CAL 43	CLT DNQ	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO DNQ	HOM	70th	68	^[24]
2012	Robinson-Blakeney Racing	49	Toyota	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	KAN	RCH	TAL	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	KEN	DAY	NHA	IND	POC	GLN 35		BRI 31	ATL 38	RCH	CHI DNQ	NHA DNQ	DOV DNQ	TAL	CLT	KAN	MAR	TEX			71st	0¹	^[25]
	Humphrey Smith Racing	19	Ford																							MCH 43
		91	Chevy																																			PHO 43
		91	Toyota																																				HOM DNQ
2013		19	Toyota	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	KAN	RCH	TAL	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC 43	MCH	SON	KEN	DAY	NHA	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	NHA	DOV	KAN	CLT	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO	HOM	52nd	1	^[26]

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
2001	Chip Ganassi Racing	Dodge	15	34
2005	Joe Gibbs Racing	Chevrolet	40	36

Nationwide Series

Nationwide Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	NNSC	Pts	Ref
1999	Joe Gibbs Racing	18	Pontiac	DAY	CAR	LVS	ATL	DAR	TEX	NSV	BRI	TAL	CAL	NHA	RCH	NZH	CLT	DOV	SBO	GLN	MLW	MYB	PPR	GTY	IRP 41	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH 22	DOV DNQ	CLT	CAR 24	MEM 20	PHO	HOM				74th	331	^[27]
2000	Joe Gibbs Racing	18	Pontiac	DAY 20	CAR 19	LVS 28	ATL DNQ	DAR 37	BRI 25	TEX 22	NSV 21	TAL 28	CAL 39	RCH 35	NHA 24	CLT 21	DOV 28	SBO 32	MYB 7	GLN 28	MLW 15	NZH 15	PPR 24	GTY 15	IRP 4	MCH 41	BRI 36	DAR 28	RCH 15	DOV 10	CLT 36	CAR 30	MEM 16	PHO 2	HOM 12				20th	2956	^[28]
2003	Haas CNC Racing	00	Chevy	DAY	CAR	LVS	DAR	BRI	TEX	TAL	NSH	CAL	RCH	GTY	NZH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY	CHI	NHA	PPR	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	KAN 16	CLT 11	MEM	ATL 22	PHO 11	CAR 22	HOM 4		52nd	739	^[29]
2004	Haas CNC Racing	00	Chevy	DAY 8	CAR 32	LVS 22	DAR 14	BRI 32	TEX 6	NSH 9	TAL 5	CAL 34	GTY 6	RCH 11	NZH 7	CLT 4	DOV 14	NSH 1^*	KEN 7	MLW 15	DAY 13	CHI 7	NHA 3	PPR 3	IRP 3	MCH 7	BRI 17	CAL 10	RCH 4	DOV 4	KAN	CLT	MEM	ATL	PHO	DAR	HOM		12th	3661	^[30]
2005	Braun Racing	32	Chevy	DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	NSH	BRI	TEX	PHO	TAL	DAR	RCH	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	DAY 9	CHI 23	NHA 29	PPR	GTY 18	IRP	GLN	MCH 14	BRI 20	CAL 7	RCH 5	DOV 3	KAN 19	CLT 6	MEM 24	TEX 8	PHO 7	HOM 27	30th	1829	^[31]
2006		32		DAY 6	CAL 22	MXC 17	LVS 11	ATL 6	BRI 32	TEX 17	NSH 35	PHO 22^*																											13th	3554	^[32]
2006		38											TAL 18	RCH 24	DAR 10	CLT 18	DOV 34	NSH 43	KEN 40	MLW 4	DAY 18	CHI 19	NHA 14	MAR 8	GTY 33	IRP 19	GLN 35	MCH 13	BRI 5	CAL 24	RCH 20	DOV 5	KAN 31	CLT 28	MEM 34	TEX 43	PHO 14	HOM 19	13th	3554	^[32]
2007			Toyota	DAY 22	CAL 38	MXC 6	LVS 37	ATL 41	BRI 34	NSH 4	TEX 13	PHO 18	TAL 35	RCH 37	DAR 6	CLT 31	DOV 11	NSH 3	KEN 14	MLW 3	NHA 12	DAY 9	CHI 33	GTY 4	IRP 1	CGV 26	GLN 27	MCH 12	BRI 2^*	CAL 14	RCH 11	DOV 30	KAN 21	CLT 19	MEM 5	TEX 12	PHO 8	HOM 14	3rd	3996	^[33]
2008				DAY 19	CAL 11	LVS 39	ATL 8	BRI 6	NSH 13	TEX 9	PHO 14	MXC 21	TAL 4	RCH 16	DAR 9	CLT 32	DOV 27	NSH 26	KEN 16	MLW 10	NHA 32	DAY 23	CHI 27	GTY 4	IRP 16	CGV 7	GLN 8	MCH 8	BRI 15	CAL 26	RCH 30	DOV 7	KAN 8	CLT 18	MEM 12	TEX 17	PHO 25	HOM 4	9th	4086	^[34]
2009				DAY 33	CAL 11	LVS 4	BRI 10	TEX 13	NSH 6	PHO 2	TAL 6	RCH 10	DAR 2	CLT 6	DOV 8	NSH 5	KEN 6	MLW 10	NHA 10	DAY 19	CHI 4	GTY 14	IRP 8	IOW 3	GLN 15	MCH 11	BRI 6	CGV 29	ATL 20	RCH 32	DOV 6	KAN 11	CAL 30	CLT 32	MEM 3	TEX 3	PHO 27	HOM 18	4th	4540	^[35]
2010		10		DAY 33			BRI 9						DAR 5	DOV 5	CLT 7												BRI 2		ATL 7										9th	3941	^[36]
		38			CAL 14	LVS 12		NSH 39	PHO 19	TEX 12	TAL 41	RCH 16				NSH 34	KEN 33	ROA 8	NHA 14	DAY 14	CHI 5	GTY 23	IRP 30	IOW 3	GLN 35	MCH 34		CGV 21		RCH 14
	Turner Motorsports	38																													DOV 8	KAN 10	CAL 37	CLT 15	GTY 4	TEX 6	PHO 33
		10																																				HOM 10
2011		30	Chevy	DAY 6			BRI 8		TEX 15				DAR 9															BRI 7	ATL 9			DOV 19		CLT 11					6th	1028	^[37]
2011		38			PHO 11	LVS 9		CAL 11		TAL 15	NSH 15	RCH 10		DOV 11	IOW 33	CLT 21	CHI 5	MCH 10	ROA 20	DAY 2	KEN 13	NHA 30	NSH 18	IRP 6	IOW 13	GLN 18	CGV 9			RCH 29	CHI 12		KAN 13		TEX 15	PHO 26	HOM 12		6th	1028	^[37]
2012		30		DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	RCH	TAL	DAR	IOW	CLT	DOV	MCH	ROA	KEN	DAY	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW 8	GLN	CGV	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	CLT	KAN	TEX	PHO 12	HOM			120th	0¹	^[38]

Camping World Truck Series

Camping World Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	NCWTC	Pts	Ref
2000	Ultra Motorsports	5	Ford	DAY	HOM	PHO	MMR	MAR	PIR	GTY	MEM	PPR	EVG	TEX	KEN	GLN	MLW	NHA	NZH	MCH	IRP 29	NSV	CIC	RCH	DOV	TEX	CAL		103rd	76	^[39]
2002	Ultra Motorsports	2	Dodge	DAY 11	DAR 30	MAR 6	GTY 2	PIR 2^*	DOV 9	TEX 27	MEM 4	MLW 2	KAN 4	KEN 5	NHA 27	MCH 2	IRP 2	NSH 28	RCH 12^*	TEX 8	SBO 9	LVS 5	CAL 2	PHO 16	HOM 3				4th	3156	^[40]
2003	Ultra Motorsports	2	Dodge	DAY 30	DAR 6	MMR 7	MAR 11	CLT 21	DOV 1	TEX 27	MEM 6	MLW 2	KAN 7	KEN 5	GTW 2	MCH 4	IRP 15	NSH 24	BRI 9	RCH	NHA	CAL	LVS	SBO	TEX	MAR	PHO	HOM	16th	2209	^[41]
2004	Morgan-Dollar Motorsports	47	Chevy	DAY	ATL	MAR	MFD	CLT	DOV	TEX	MEM	MLW	KAN	KEN	GTW	MCH	IRP	NSH	BRI	RCH	NHA	LVS	CAL	TEX	MAR	PHO	DAR 24	HOM	95th	91	^[42]
2007	Red Horse Racing	1	Toyota	DAY	CAL	ATL	MAR	KAN	CLT	MFD	DOV	TEX	MCH	MLW	MEM	KEN	IRP	NSH	BRI	GTW	NHA	LVS	TAL 4	MAR 23	ATL	TEX 9	PHO 4	HOM 5	41st	707	^[43]
2009	Stringer Motorsports	90	Toyota	DAY	CAL	ATL	MAR	KAN	CLT	DOV	TEX	MCH	MLW 29	MEM	KEN	IRP	NSH	BRI	CHI	IOW	GTW	NHA	LVS	MAR	TAL	TEX	PHO	HOM	99th	76	^[44]
2012	Kyle Busch Motorsports	18	Toyota	DAY 36	MAR 8	CAR 34	KAN 18	CLT 4	DOV	TEX 6	KEN 8	IOW 6	CHI 8	POC	MCH	BRI	ATL	IOW	KEN	LVS	TAL	MAR	TEX	PHO					23rd	294	^[45]
2012	Hillman Racing	27	Chevy																						HOM 19				23rd	294	^[45]

¹ Ineligible for series points

ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series