Leffler's career has taken him all over the garage, but he's happy with Braun
By Lee Montgomery - Associate Editor
Thursday, July 24, 2008
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Jason Leffler was struggling. He was with Joe Gibbs Racing only three years ago, driving the team’s No. 11 Chevrolet as a teammate to Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte.
His career wasn’t quite at a crossroads yet, but he could see it from where he was. This was Leffler’s second chance in the NASCAR Cup series, second chance at JGR. And it was slipping away.
Leffler wouldn’t finish higher than 12th for JGR, and he closed the first half of the season by finishing 40th, 20th, 18th and 20th. He needed a pick-me-up, and soon he would need a team to pick him up.
Todd Braun, an owner in the series that is now called the Nationwide Series, talked with Leffler about driving his No. 32 entry. Shane Hmiel was suspended by NASCAR and Braun’s sponsor was about to disappear, too.
“I just wanted more track time,” Leffler said. “[Braun] said, ‘Come drive my car. I can’t pay you. Not this year. I don’t have a sponsor. We’re just going to go racing.’”
Say what? Can’t pay me?
But Leffler didn’t flinch.
“That was fine with me, it really was,” Leffler said. “I just wanted the extra track time. I knew the car ran good. I knew a lot about [crew chief] Todd Lohse; never worked with him before, so it was pretty cool. I just fell right into the situation.”
Leffler’s first start with Braun was at Daytona, and he finished ninth. A month later, Gibbs let him go. Suddenly, a non-paying job was the best job he had.
“I wasn’t hurting by any means,” Leffler said. “It worked out good because I had a place to keep racing and keep going and it’s built into what we have now.”
His wife, Allison, didn’t mind too much because a Cup salary can be stretched a long way.
But Leffler’s agent minded, of course.
“They didn’t like that at all,” Leffler said. “But I don’t think it would’ve worked any other way. Todd had no sponsor. They had to lay off a lot of people there. We ran good, but financially we all struggled. He dipped into his pocket. His dad helped out, his mom helped out.”
Leffler posted seven top-10 finishes for Braun over the final 15 races of 2005, and he returned for the next year. Sponsorship was still up in the air for 2006, but a merger with Akins Motorsports solved that, as Great Clips joined Leffler, who would also move to the No. 38.
And Leffler, the No. 38 and Great Clips have been a constant since. The 2007 season was a solid one for Leffler and included a third-place championship finish and a victory at O’Reilly Raceway Park – Leffler’s second home.
Leffler was born in Long Beach, Calif., but as any up-and-coming open-wheel driver knows, Indiana is the place to be. So Leffler moved there, living with Tony Stewart for a spell before ending up in Brownsburg, Ind.
Leffler raced many times on the short track in Clermont, Ind., learning every nuance. That knowledge paid off with last year’s win, Toyota’s first in the series.
And when Leffler is asked about it, his eyes light up and his smile widens.
“I love Indianapolis,” Leffler said. “I go up there and go to Sprint Car races. I have a lot of friends up there. I love downtown. To win in that area where I’ve got a lot of friends, where I think I’ve got a lot of fans, was really awesome.”
Leffler’s career took some strange turns after he left open-wheel racing to join Gibbs’ team in 1999. JGR was grooming the young driver, but he spent barely a year in the No. 2 series before Chip Ganassi Racing snatched him for a Cup ride.
An ill-advised Cup ride, as it turned out.
“That was definitely a wrong choice,” Leffler said. “I wasn’t ready for Cup at the time. From there, it’s just kind of snow-balled.”
Leffler ran 30 races in 2001 for Ganassi before being replaced. He bounced around a year or two before going to Haas CNC Racing, earning his first Busch Series victory in 2004.
But Gibbs wanted him back for a new, third team for 2005.
“I always kicked myself for leaving Gibbs in the first place, and that didn’t work out,” Leffler said. “The bright spot of all that was landing here at Braun.”
Leffler’s career has stability at Braun Racing – and though he still has his eyes on Cup – he’ll try to qualify Haas CNC’s Cup car at the Brickyard this weekend – he still likes where he is.
“I want to win a Nationwide championship,” Leffler said. “But I would like to get another shot at Cup in a competitive situation and try that week in and week out and try to win some races there. I feel like I can run really competitive with a lot of guys here, so there’s no reason why I can’t do it over there. With Haas, I’m kind of getting that shot again.
“Yeah, I’ve made some mistakes. I had some good opportunities, I’ve split on some people, I’ve been fired probably. I’ve seen it all. But I’m still here.
“You see these kids, and they get fired from their development deal, and you never hear from them any more. I always try to stay racing, no matter what it is. That’s what I do for a living. I’m a race-car driver, whether I’m racing a Midget or a Nationwide car.
“I’m pretty proud where I’m at. I’m happy to be in the Nationwide Series, happy to be here at Braun and have a great sponsor like Great Clips. It’s a pretty good deal.”
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Jason Leffler
Comments
1 response to "Leffler's career has taken him all over the garage, but he's happy with Braun"
Anonymous said:
Jul 24, 2008 at 4:10 PMthis guy is a young Jimmy Spencer
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