Flat Tire Results in Disappointment for Leffler at the Rock

Jason Leffler

ROCKINGHAM, NORTH CAROLINA (November 8, 2003) – Jason Leffler and the Haas Automation Racing team ran into trouble right off the bat during the running of the Target House 200 at North Carolina Speedway Saturday afternoon. Despite an early setback, Leffler came back from flat tire troubles to finish the event in 22nd.

54 cars competed for 43 starting spots Friday afternoon during qualifying for the Target House 200. Leffler posted a speed of 151.879 miles per hour around the 1.017-mile oval during his two-lap run, which placed the Haas Automation Chevrolet in the 21st spot on the starting grid.

Leffler took the green flag for the start of the event and almost immediately crew chief Robert “Bootie” Barker noticed from the pit area that the left rear tire on the Haas Automation Chevrolet was flat. Bootie, a NASCAR Winston Cup veteran in his first race with the team, had no choice but to call Leffler into the pits for new left side tires. Unfortunately, the team went two laps down during the process and the Haas Automation Chevy returned to the track in 41st. Leffler battled a tight racecar for most of the remainder of the event and raced hard with the leaders in an effort to make up his laps. It was not to be, however, and Leffler finished the event in 22nd place.

“I don’t know what happened to the tire there in the beginning, but there wasn’t much we could do after that,” said Leffler. ”It was a good weekend for the Haas Automation team with Bootie coming on board this week and everyone working really hard, as usual, to put together a good race. We did the best we could with the hand we were dealt. The pieces are starting to fit together for next season, so hopefully we can get all of the bad luck out of our system this season and make a run for the title in 2004.

The Haas Automation team will finish out the 2003 season at Homestead-Miami Speedway for the running of the Ford 300 next Saturday. Qualifying for the event will take place Thursday, November 13, with the drop of the green flag scheduled for 12 PM. (ET). The event will be telecast live on NBC and will be broadcast worldwide by MRN.