Gone Too Soon: Jason Leffler

jason leffler was a nascar driver who competed from the early 2000s to the early 2010s before he made a name for himself in nascar he was known as one of the best in usac he was mentored by the one and only pj jones and as a teenager he would happily sweep floors clean car parts and soaked up everything he could about the sport at the torrance shop it was kind of a rough start in the beginning of his usac career he started off racing [ __ ] cars where he was still learning the ropes early on in 1996 he was named the series most improved driver as well as scoring his first ever win in el cajon california but from 1997 to 1999 his usac career skyrocketed he ended up winning three consecutive [ __ ] championships from 1997 to 1999 as well as the silver crown series championship sandwiched in between in 1998. his success in new sac obviously got the attention of car owners in both nascar and the indie racing league his first irl start for treadway racing in 1999 unfortunately led to his first dnf the following season he made two more starts at las vegas and finished 17th in that season's indy 500 but in the end he decided he wanted to give stock car racing a full-time go for more on pole center jason lefler ken squire yeah liffler held on to that third spot for the first eight laps here let's not forget that he did have a very good run in the arca race in atlanta last fall he finished fifth and he ran it steady all day the three-time usac [ __ ] champion really getting a big initiation here at texas today finally dropping back just a bit here in the standings but we look for him to be a real contender in years to come if you were to hire a guy on st patrick's day to be an elf he would be a real candidate with the success stories of jeff gordon and tony stewart you stack stars were getting more opportunities in nascar than ever before it was only natural that joe gibbs racing would sign jason leffler on for the full bush series season in 2000. he showed flashes of speed and promise throughout the season scoring three poles in his rookie year unfortunately it was mired by inconsistency and resulted in a 20th place points finish but that didn't scare this cup series team from snatching him up for the 2001 season chip ganassi racing needed to replace the late kenny irwin jr with a young up-and-coming full-time driver it was only natural that jason lefler would get the call being that he came from usac just like kenny irwin jr although he showed flash as a promise scoring a poll at kansas his rookie season for chip ganassi racing was honestly one of the worst in nascar history over the tunnel lots of cars everywhere big rig jason leftler steve park that's what happens over that tunnel car just gets loose over the turn over the tunnel turn there happens a lot stays in the throttle smoking the rear tire spinning around around around and of course every time he goes around he's just making more smoke and blocking the racetrack we did see the net come on man shot jones boy lefler just drove right up into the side of buckshot and watch this oh wow oh it's not over and the thing about lefler's car he already had damage and that probably just didn't the car probably took off on him the final tally for his 2001 rookie season with zero wins zero top fives one top 10 a pull and an average finish of 27.7 with a 37th place points finish as well as six dnqs and eight dnfs chip ganassi racing let jason lether go after the 2001 season so it was only natural for lefleur to go down a couple series to help rebuild his career and he did just that in the nascar craftsman truck series from 2002 to 2003 driving the number two dodge for jimmy smith in his first season he scored 11 top fives and 50 top 10s and a whopping 8 pole positions but unfortunately no wins but still finished top 5 in point 2003 saw him compete in most of the truck series races that season scoring 10 top 10's and two poles but he finally crossed that bridge in late may scoring his first career win at dover down the back stretch he goes under a half of a mile to go for jason how about dennis connor coming on board first race calling rick he comes up turn number four and the mbna armed forces family 200 champion crosses the start finish line during that same season he made six starts in the double zero haas automation chevy and was good enough to land a full-time gig for the 2004 season he was up against some pretty serious competition that year in martin trex jr and kyle busch two future cup series champions but jason lether held his own with booty barker by his side he put up one of his best seasons of his entire career eight top fives 17 top tens a third place points finish and his first career bush series win at nashville half a straight away to go for jason leffler they're off at turn number four he's got about 200 yards to go if i was a bad person i would say he's gonna make it and jason leffler has enough fuel to go the distance to score his first nascar bush series win the first win for his owner gene haas his performances in the nascar bush series once again caught the attention of joe gibbs racing only this time he would offer a much bigger gig a full-time opportunity to drive the number 11 fedex express chevy in the nascar cup series for 2005. without a doubt this was jason leffler's best opportunity he had ever gotten in his entire nascar career it was the inaugural season of what we now know as the fedex 11 unfortunately the first driver of this ride did not fare so well he collects jason as they slide through turn three and four left in the uh eleven car had nowhere to go jason leflar up and smoke trouble in turn two jason leffler bounces off the walls and the yellow flag is out already in the food city 500. one of the worst seasons any major team could have without a doubt in 19 starts lefler had zero top 10 finishes with an average finish of 27.5 with lackluster performances in the team's inaugural season naturally joe gibbs was going to look elsewhere so in august a change was made that was pretty frustrating but uh you know that's racing i really look forward to a great future with denny i've had a great experience with joe gibbs racing so far and hopefully this is our last announcement for tens of years the next one hopefully be retirement denny hamlin has not left that ride ever since but this wasn't the end of jason lefler's nascar career not by a long shot in 2006 he went back down to the nascar bush series to drive for braun racing at the time they were a chevy team but come 2007 they would make the switch to toyota in their first season in the beginning the 2007 season was looking like another bad season for jason leffler he was as low as 23rd in the standings to start the season but by mid-summer they were able to get the 38 grey clips toyota all the way to fifth in the standings a massive turnaround but that wouldn't be the end of it the quest to get toyota's first win in the nascar bush series was on and by the time they reached irp jason lefler would do just that let's get more on jason leffler from jackaroo remember guys before that next before technically they weren't new they had four laps in a mock qualifying attack they reasoned that if the last 50 laps if they could gain a half second on the leaders they might just might be able to pilot this great blitz toyota in a victory late hey wow the man in third place dipping to the inside trying to challenge fellow toyota driver is jason leffler guys it was not just the tire choice that has given lefleur this new muscle his spotter noticed that some cars were getting better a little lower in the corner so the spotters said jason wanted to try to go low and shannon that's what he's doing right now take a look he may have him this time rudeman opened the door just enough and boy lefler just slid on by and the crew says come on baby one more to go there you go the old slide job here at irp this time whoa and this time it could be rudimen taking advantage down the front stretch going into one and he does he takes it back you know biff was just loving this yeah yeah biff will say it's not done yet and more contact they're coming right back on each other we promised you some fender banging we didn't know we'd have this much this one's going to the wire rudiment can do nothing but watch right now and leftler gets a nose in front can he make it stick here comes biffle right back i tell you what jason's going to be a whale of a finish he's already is two to go coming right to the line two this time by and leftler leans on him gets loose still can he hold on lefleur may be able to clear him coming out of two he does he could be waving goodbye to him right now he will get his first win here at o'reilly raceway park and he will be the man that delivers toyota its first victory in the nascar bus series there it is the checkers great job good job everybody good call hey boys this is all for you guys man good job lucy you deserve this [ __ ] we're going to victory lane great job this was a significant win in all of nascar's history at the time but it's even more significant when you look at toyota's track record ever since think about all the races they have won and what we now know as xfinity series competition despite all the races kyle busch might have won jason lethler will always be the man who brought toyota their first victory in the now called nascar xfinity series he followed up that win with a third place points finish in 2007 and would end up driving for braun racing all the way up until 2011. in his five seasons with the team he posted points finishes of 3rd 9th 4th 9th and 6th little did we know that his irp victory would be the final of his nascar career 2011 turned out to be jason lefler's final full-time season in nascar he was set to move on from brom racing after the season but the way it ended wasn't the best yeah that's a great move you can see jason really gets loose there down in two elliot's able to make that pass two at a time easy gets into him oh that's terrible and almarola gets contact as well and the caution is out clements gets involved [Music] somewhat subdued gesture [Music] is he uh obviously not happy with jason lefler but as i said i was expecting to see smoke coming out of those ears i'm sure the video shows that the 38 just ran right in the back of us some not much respect for guys running for the championship i thought i was doing the right thing to get away from they both got loose in the middle of one and two i pull up under them get away from them to not crowd them all up because the tracks narrow pull up clear them and then have the line going into turn three and they just he's running the back of me so woody i mean very frustrating very fresh seems like you work all season long to put yourself in a situation and just uh it all goes away at a split second he stopped sooner than i expected but ultimately it's my my responsibility and he slid across the racetrack i think he got in early not to overshoot the corner i was racing eric but i take full responsibility you know i mean i can't i run right in the back of him i was the last thing it wasn't on purpose it was a mistake on my part so i feel bad for him and his guys you at least have to give it to him for admitting he did mess up after 2011 jason lefler joined up with kyle busch motorsports in the nascar truck series for the 2012 season it was supposed to be a full-time gig but it only lasted a total of 10 races strings of bad luck and poor performance plagued the team and come mid-august jason lefler would end up being released by kyle busch motorsport after this there weren't many other offers to go full-time nascar racing while he did make a handful of starts in cup and the nationwide series in 2012 and 2013 his main focus was once again on the dirt that's where leffler's true talent shined and he probably preferred dirt racing over everything else he was beginning to make the transition to once again becoming a full-time dirt racer unfortunately he would never get that opportunity to make the full transition on june 12 2013 tragedy would strike nascar driver jason lefler has died following an accident at a dirt car track in new jersey lefleur ran 294 races in the nationwide series 73 in the sprint cup series including last sunday's cup race in pocono lefler a native of long beach california was just 37 years old he lost his nascar ride after last season primarily drove dirt car races this season ran only the one cup race this season at pocono finishing 43rd for humphrey smith racing i was actually at football camp when i turned on sportscenter and saw that exact same news report it gave me pause for a day or two lefler was involved in a crash during a 4-10 sprint car heat race that took place at bridgeport speedway in new jersey lefler's car had suffered a front suspension failure causing it to crash into a wall and flip several times he unfortunately instantly lost consciousness in the accident the cause of death was later revealed to be severe blunt force trauma to his neck and a backbone injury after his death many drivers and racing associations such as nascar and indycar made statements and gave their condolences nascar drivers competing in the following race at michigan had special stickers placed on their cars in honor of leffler danny hamlin even went as far as running a throwback scheme to the first ever fedex 11 car that was driven by him jason leffler was one of my favorite drivers to watch growing up as a kid his career in the nascar cup series might not have been the greatest in the world but overall when you look at his nascar career in all top 3 series combined he was certainly not a bust you bring up the name jason leffler to you sac fans and you will get a ton of praise immediately in 2018 jason leffler was officially inducted into the usac hall of fame in the 2021 chili bowl nationals the last name leffler returned on the side of damon gardner's entry with the support of jason lefler's son charlie jason leffler was 37. thank you guys so much for watching this is black flags matter catch you next time a native of long beach california was 37 years old [Music]

Channel: Black Flags Matter

Views: 594,000

Keywords: nascar, jason leffler, nascar highlights, jason leffler tribute, jason leffler video, jason leffler wins, motorsport, sports, indy 500, indycar history, motorsports, sport, black flags matter, racing, auto racing, motorsports black flags matter, motorsports youtubers, motorsports youtube, black flags matter nascar, Jason leffler indycar, indy racing league, nascar history, gone too soon black flags matter, nascar gone too soon, jason leffler last race, leftturn

Id: YEEVvYBvitM

Length: 15min 53sec (953 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 15 2021