LEFFLER SOLID WITH 8TH PLACE ATLANTA RACE FINISH; VICKERS LOSES A LAP AND FINISHES IN 22ND POSITION

Finally running without issues, Jason Leffler ran consistently and solidly in Saturday afternoon’s Nicorette 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway and earned his first top 10 finish of the 2008 season.

Leffler’s eighth place effort in his #38 Great Clips/Dollar General/Northeastern Supply Company Toyota Camry vaulted him six spots in the championship driver’s points standing to 12th after the year’s first four races.

Leffler’s Braun Racing teammate, NASCAR Sprint Cup regular Brian Vickers, lost a lap in the middle of the race in his #32 ABF U-Pack Moving/Dollar General/Northeastern Supply Company Toyota and finished 22nd.

“The car ran well most of the day, and it was great to finally have a race where we didn’t have any major problems,” Leffler said of his effort. “The track was slick, and some teams had tire issues, but we were fortunate enough to escape that and pretty much ran in the upper half of the field all day. I’m pleased with the effort,” he added.

Leffler started the race in the eighth position when qualifying on Saturday morning was cancelled due to wet track conditions caused by light snow showers that hit the Hampton, Georgia area overnight. The field was this lined up by 2007 owner points.

Leffler did drop back in the field some at the outset trying to sort out his machine on the virtually green race track and chilly temperatures that made the early racing somewhat scary. However, he and Vickers, who started the race in the 16th spot, ran together for a span of 50 laps until a caution flew for a 2-car wreck involving the cars driven by Robert Richardson, II and Brett Rowe. At the time, Leffler was running 15th and Vickers 14th.

After the re-start on lap 53, Vickers charged forward to 10th while Leffler fell back to 23rd after being forced to slow down to avoid the wreck.

Thirty laps later, Leffler had charged back to 15th and Vickers was still showing in the top ten when teams began making green flag pit stops. Vickers pitted on lap 88 for fresh tires and fuel while Leffler stayed out for six more laps to lead a lap before making his stop on lap 94. After everyone had made their stops, Leffler was 17th and Vickers 20th.

Vickers eventually would lose a lap to the dominant Toyota from Joe Gibbs Racing driven by Kyle Busch, and when another yellow flag was displayed for debris on the track on lap 103, Leffler was ordered to pit road for a splash of gas only but only lost a handful of spots back to 17th when the race was re-started on lap 107. Vickers was now showing 26th on the scoreboard and a lap behind.

Leffler then ran hard and consistently over the remaining 80 laps, cracking into the top ten for the very first time with just 12 laps remaining following an excellent pit stop.

Jason narrowly escaped a big wreck involving the cars of Eric McClure and rookie Bryan Clauson in turn 2 that occurred directly in front of him with just 6 laps to go that ended up forcing NASCAR to red flag the race on lap 193 of the 195-lap event. The Chevrolet driven by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. also sustained damage from the accident, moving Leffler up a spot to 9th when the race was re-started after a 20-minute delay.

Leffler was able to pick up yet another spot on Marcos Ambrose and into the 8th position with two laps remaining during the green/white/checker finish that extended the race by three laps and then held off the late charge of Kasey Kahne to secure the eighth place finish.

Vickers, who was able to get as high as 18th in the running order at one late stage of the race, slid back a couple of spots to settle for his 22nd place finish.

Sprint Cup Series veteran Matt Kenseth held off a late charge by Kevin Harvick to win the race after Busch, who led the most laps and was dominating the racing, cut down a tire and lost a lap in finishing 24th.

The Nationwide teams return to action next Saturday afternoon at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, TN with the running of the Sharpie Mini 300. That event will be televised live on ABC network TV beginning at 2 p.m.