Southern 500 - Jason Leffler Notes

Jason Leffler will make his 36th NASCAR Winston Cup start and fourth for the NetZero HiSpeed racing team this weekend in Darlington. Currently, Leffler is scheduled the drive all of the remaining races on the 2003 scheduled for the Haas CNC Racing team.

JASON LEFFLER ON RACING AT DARLINGTON…”Tire management is a key at Darlington. The track surface is so rough it just eats away at the tires as soon as you leave pit road. The driver has to find a line where he is comfortable, but also where he can take care of his tires as much as possible. The more consistent the tires are throughout the runs, the better off you’ll be. That’s one of the main things we’ll work on in practice.

“One of our main goals right now is to get through a race without any problems. We’ve got good cars, but we’ve got terrible luck. Getting through any race without incident is tough enough, but getting through Darlington free and clear is a pretty tall order. You’ll see guys that have been there 30 times make one tiny mistake and wind up with a pretty good looking Darlington stripe. We just need to get in some laps with this NetZero Pontiac. Laps where the car is actually still in one piece, we aren’t 40 laps down, and I don’t have to get out of the way every time somebody on the lead lap comes up behind me. We’ll see what we can do with this NetZero HiSpeed Pontiac this week. We’ll just keep working through the growing pains and keep our chins up. This is a good race team. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t.”

DARLINGTON FAST FACTS ( Jason Leffler has made two NASCAR Winston Cup starts at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
( Leffler’s best finish at the 1.366 -mile track came earlier this season in the Truck Series.
( Leffler finished sixth after starting fourth in the Craftsman 200 in March.
( Leffler has scored one pole position at Darlington Raceway. Leffler started from the pole in the 2002 Truck Series event.
( Leffler has earned one pole position (Kansas Speedway, 2001) in 35 NASCAR Winston Cup starts.
( The Haas CNC Racing team will utilize chassis No. 11 this weekend in Darlington. This car was previously run in the first event at Pocono Raceway.

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