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Leffler and the Great Clips team finish 14th at the Auto Club Speedway
FONTANA, Calif. (February 22, 2010) – Jason Leffler returned to the seat of the No. 38 Great Clips Toyota this weekend at his home track, Auto Club Speedway. In the company of family and friends, the Long Beach, Calif.-native looked to conquer the two-mile track that has not been particularly kind to him over the years. After a tough day in which Leffler struggled with the handling of his car and fought heavy traffic, he brought the No. 38 Great Clips Camry home with a 14th-place finish.
After starting from the 20th position, Leffler began working his way toward the front. By lap 25, he was knocking on the door to the top-10, despite reporting a tight condition in his race car. When the field was slowed by caution on lap 33, Leffler told crew chief, Scott Zipadelli, that he needed more right rear grip. Zipadelli instructed his driver to bring the No. 38 Great Clips Camry to pit road for service. The Great Clips crew changed four tires, made a track bar adjustment and filled the car with fuel. Quick work by the crew gained Leffler three positions, allowing him to restart from the eighth position on lap 37.
Over the course of the next run, which went caution-free, Leffler fought hard to maintain his position. After reporting at the beginning of the run that the car felt too free, he briefly dropped back to the 11th spot. As the run progressed, the handling of his car improved slightly. By the time the field began making their next round of pit stops under green-flag conditions, he had moved back up to the ninth position.
On lap 78, Zipadelli called his driver back to pit road for their second pit stop of the day. After changing four tires, adding fuel and making an air pressure adjustment, the Great Clips crew sent Leffler back out onto the track. Once the pit stops cycled through, Leffler was back inside the top-10. Soon, he reported that his car continued to be too loose. On lap 86, the caution was thrown for debris. Zipadelli took the opportunity bring Leffler back to pit road to work on the car’s handling. The Great Clips crew quickly changed four tires, added fuel and made several adjustments per Zipadelli’s instruction. With many other teams opting not to pit, Leffler found himself deep in the field and in the 17th position for the restart.
Having his work cut out for him, Leffler fought heavy traffic as he tried to work his way back to the front. Despite reporting that his car wasn’t handling well in traffic, he managed to maneuver his car into the 14th position by lap 114. When the caution was displayed on lap 119, Zipadelli told Leffler to bring the No. 38 back to pit road for one final stop, hoping that another set of tires would help Leffler throughout the final laps of the race.
With two laps to go on the race, the caution was thrown and set the field up for a green-white-checker finish. Leffler restarted ninth but was forced to make an evasive move to miss a near accident that slowed his forward progress. In the end, the No. 38 Great Clips team came away with a 14th-place finish.
“It was tough day for us. The car didn’t handle well in traffic and once I got mid-pack I was unable to get back toward the front. Still, I think a top-15 finish is decent for how our day went. This is a track I always seem to struggle at and it is frustrating. The Great Clips crew did a good job on pit road for me today and I am always proud of them. We will turn our focus now to Vegas. We ran good their last year and I expect another good run this weekend.”
Next Stop: The NASCAR Nationwide Series heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next weekend for the Sam’s Town 300. Saturday’s race will be broadcast LIVE on ESPN2 starting at 4:00 p.m. EST. The green flag is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. EST.
