LATE-RACE CONTACT WITH WALL IN HOMESTEAD ENDS LEFFLER’S TOP 10 RUN IN ’09 SEASON FINALE

Top 10 finishes earmarked Jason Leffler’s 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series campaign for his Braun Racing team and sponsors Great Clips, Dollar General and Northeastern Supply. Another one loomed late in Saturday’s Ford 300 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, FL with Jason running 7th and less than 20 laps remaining in the season finale.

“I don’t know if I ran over something or ran through some fluid, but just after getting around the 88 (the Chevrolet driven by Brad Keselowski), the car just headed straight towards the wall,” a disconsolate Leffler said after the race and after finishing a very disappointing 18th.

“The car was flying, and the darker it got the better we ran. I definitely had another top 10 in sight and then that happens,” added Jason who ultimately spun his #38 Toyota Camry and ended up pancaking the right side of his machine against the second turn wall. The incident brought out the race’s seventh caution and sent Leffler to pit road for repairs, ending his shot at nailing down what would have been his 21st top ten finish in 2009’s 35 races, the best of Leffler’s 9-season career in the Series.

“I love running Homestead, and Scott (crew chief Scott Zipadelli) and the guys really worked hard getting the car to turn in the corners and able to get better as the race wore on and the nighttime darkness settled in. It’s a bummer to end the season this way but it in no way diminishes the kind of year we had. Todd (team owner Todd Braun) has given us everything we need to run competitively and be in a position to win and I cannot wait for the 2010 season to begin because I believe we will run even better,” Jason added.

Starting 14th in Saturday’s event, Leffler appeared to have a car that would run just outside the top ten during the early going. The worst his Toyota Camry would show on the track was 17th following a re-start from the race’s fourth yellow flag period on lap 84.

Leffler improved two positions to 15th in just one lap, was 13th by lap 95 and then back into 10th place at the race’s midway point.

The #38 vaulted to 8th by lap 120, running between that spot and seventh place over the next 63 laps until the spin and meeting with the outsider retaining wall in turn two.

“I really do not know what the heck happened there,” Jason explained. “I passed Keselowski easily and cleared him by almost two car lengths when the car just got away from me. I didn’t see anything (oil or debris) on the track but who knows. All I know is that I spun and tagged the wall and it killed our day,” he ended.

Kyle Busch held off a fast-closing Carl Edwards to win the race, his 9th of the season, and his amazing 20th top two finish. The Las Vegas native and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series star had clinched his very first major NASCAR Series crown just by starting Saturday’s race and ended up beating runner-up Edwards in the Championship point’s battle by a healthy 210 points. Keselowski, who finished 12th in Homestead was third in overall points with Leffler a solid fourth, one spot back from his career best third place point’s finish in 2007.

Rounding out the five finishers behind Busch and Edwards in the 2009 Homestead Nationwide Series’ finale were Jeff Burton, young Joey Logano and Danny Hamlin.