1. Jason Charles Leffler was an American professional open-wheel and stock car racing driver.
40 Facts About Jason Leffler
1. 2.
Jason Leffler died from injuries sustained in a 410 sprint car race at Bridgeport Speedway in Bridgeport, New Jersey.
3.
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.
4.
Jason Leffler was the third driver to win three consecutive midget car championships.
5.
Jason Leffler won the Hut Hundred and Belleville Nationals in 1997, and the Turkey Night Grand Prix and Copper Classic in 1999.
6.
Jason Leffler won his second Turkey Night Grand Prix in 2005.
7.
Jason Leffler's success caught the attention of Joe Gibbs Racing, a team which had previously signed Tony Stewart from the USAC ranks.
8.
Jason Leffler joined the team in 1999 and made four starts in the Busch Series during the season with moderate success.
9.
Jason Leffler made his first, and only, start in the Indianapolis 500 in 2000.
10.
Jason Leffler finished twentieth in the final standings, earned three pole positions during the year, and finished second at Phoenix.
11.
Jason Leffler made two IRL starts, among them a start for Treadway in the Indianapolis 500 where he started and finished seventeenth.
12.
Jason 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 Jason Leffler became one of several drivers to drive Dodge Intrepids in the brand's return to NASCAR.
13.
Jason Leffler was the inaugural pole setter at Kansas Speedway.
14.
Jason Leffler finally broke through in 2003 when he scored his first career victory at Dover.
15.
At Nashville Superspeedway in 2004, Jason Leffler scored his first career Busch Series victory.
16.
Jason Leffler 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.
17.
Jason Leffler was running third in the points when the team released him from his contract.
18.
Jason Leffler ended up finishing twelfth in the championship despite missing the last seven races.
19.
Shortly after his dismissal, Jason Leffler signed a deal to re-join Joe Gibbs Racing for 2005, taking over a newly created Cup team sponsored by FedEx.
20.
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; Jason Leffler was unable to qualify for the Coca-Cola 600 because of it.
21.
Jason Leffler 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.
22.
Jason Leffler was replaced by a mix of Labonte and JGR developmental drivers JJ Yeley and Denny Hamlin, the latter of whom took over the car full-time the following season.
23.
Jason Leffler had scored four top ten finishes with Braun in nine starts for the team.
24.
Jason Leffler attempted to qualify for the second to last race of the chase at Phoenix in the No 71 for Braun Racing but failed to qualify.
25.
Jason Leffler owned the 2006 USAC Silver Crown championship team.
26.
Jason Leffler would make NASCAR history on July 28,2007, as he passed Greg Biffle with two laps remaining to win the Busch Series Kroger 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park.
27.
Jason 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 the Nationwide Series.
28.
Jason Leffler still drove full-time, as he would pilot the No 10 Toyota in races Kahne was in the No 38.
29.
Jason Leffler continued driving full-time in the Great Clips No 38 for TMS in 2010 and 2011 with select races in the No 10 and 30.
30.
On January 9,2012, Kyle Busch Motorsports announced that Jason Leffler would drive the No 18 truck for fourteen races with sponsorship from Dollar General.
31.
Jason Leffler 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.
32.
Jason 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.
33.
On June 12,2013, at 8:30 PM, Jason Leffler was involved in a crash during a 410 sprint car heat race at the.
34.
When it was found that Jason Leffler was not breathing, the rest of the race was cancelled and victory lane ceremonies did not take place.
35.
Jason Leffler was transported by ambulance to Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Chester, Pennsylvania, where he was pronounced dead at 9:00 PM EDT, 30 minutes after the accident.
36.
Jason Leffler had a son with Alison East, Charlie Dean, who was five years old at the time of his father's death.
37.
Jason Leffler shared his life with live-in girlfriend Julianna Patterson; they resided in North Carolina and were engaged at the time of his death.
38.
Jason Leffler was inducted into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2003.
39.
Jason Leffler had 19 USAC national championship midget car wins at that time.
40.
Jason Leffler was inducted in the USAC Hall of Fame in 2018.