JASON LEFFLER QUICK FACTS
No. 38 Great Clips Impala
Auto Club Speedway
Royal Purple 300
March 26, 2011
No. 38 Great Clips Chevrolet News and Notes
· Leader of the pack… With an eighth-place finish last weekend at Bristol, Leffler took control of the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) point standings. The rest of the top-five in the standings includes Ricky Stenhouse (-2), Justin Allgaier (-18), Reed Sorenson (-21) and Aric Almirola (-23).
· Leffler at Auto Club Speedway… By the numbers… Despite being his home track, Auto Club Speedway (ACS) has rarely been kind to the Long Beach-native. In 14 NNS starts at ACS, Leffler has one pole to his credit (2004) with two top-10 finishes and six top-15 finishes. His best performance at the 2-mile oval came back in 2005 when he started and finished from the seventh position.
· Crew chief, Eddie Pardue, knows the way to victory lane at LVMS… Eddie Pardue is Leffler’s right-hand man and will call the shots for the championship-contending driver in 2011. Though Leffler has never visited ACS’s victory lane, Pardue would have no problem directing his driver how to get there. The veteran crew chief led driver, Greg Biffle, to the win at the Fontana-based track in 2006.
· Home Sweet Home for Long Beach-Native Leffler… You can put money on the fact that Leffler’s first stop when he arrives in California this week to be the nearest In ‘N Out Burger. Next, he may make a stop at one of his favorite stomping grounds, Redondo Beach, to spend time with family friends before hitting the track for Saturday’s NNS race at Auto Club Speedway. Other Cali fave eating spots include LaCapilla in Torrance (http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-capilla-mexican-restaurant-torrance), Paul’s Hamburgers (Paul’s Place) and Steve’s Hamburgers (http://www.yelp.com/biz/steves-char-burgers-no-1-torrance)
· This week’s Impala… The No. 38 Great Clips team will unload chassis TMS-123 this weekend at ACS. This race will be the maiden voyage for this chassis, as it has yet to see on-track action.
· Start of a new era for Turner Motorsports… The 2011 season marks the start of a new era for Turner Motorsports. The team has expanded in 2011 from a two-truck operation in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) to become the largest stand-alone multi-series team in NASCAR’s top-tier touring series, fielding three entries in the NCWTS and four entries in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS). Three of the team’s regular NNS drivers (Jason Leffler, Reed Sorenson and Justin Allgaier) have been pegged as viable contenders to win the 2011 NNS driver championship.
· Happy 10-Year Anniversary, Great Clips… This season marks Great Clips’ 10-year anniversary as a primary sponsor in the NNS. The Minneapolis-based Great Clips, Inc., which is currently the longest-running primary sponsor in the series, came onto the scene in 2001 as a primary sponsor of Akins Motorsports No. 38 entry, then driven by Christian Elder.
· Leffler on SIRIUS’ Morning Drive every Wednesday… Don’t forget to tune in to SIRIUS Radio’s “Morning Drive” with Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone every Wednesday at 10:30am to hear Leffler’s take on recent events in the Nationwide Series and what you can expect from the week’s upcoming race.
Follow the No. 38 team on Twitter!Twitter.com/No38TurnerNNS
Follow Jason Leffler on Twitter! Twitter.com/JasonLeffler
Follow Turner Motorsports on Facebook!Facebook.com/TurnerMotorsports
Leffler on racing at Auto Club Speedway
“This is a really fun race track. It’s wide-open pretty much all the way around and has multiple grooves so there is a lot of two and three-wide racing. You carry a lot of speed down the straight-aways and with the sweeping corners you can run around the bottom or you can run up high. You’re always searching for that groove where your car is the fastest.”
Leffler on making a return visit to his favorite coast
“I always look forward to the chance to get back to the west coast. With the hectic schedule we have all year I don’t get to see my family and friends out here as often as I would like, so this race gives me a chance to do that. To win at this track would be a huge deal for me. Of course, you want to win every race, but you especially want that win in front of the home crowd with your family and friends cheering you on.”
