LEFFLER’S TOP 10 STREAK CONTINUES IN NASHVILLE WITH 5TH PLACE FINISH IN FEDERATED AUTO PARTS 300

Jason Leffler battled through a steering problem Saturday night to post a very strong 5th place finish in the Federated Auto Parts 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the Nashville Superspeedway. The performance extended Leffler’s current streak to eight consecutive races in which the #38 Great Clips/Dollar General/Northeastern Supply Toyota Camry has scored a top ten finish and the tenth time in the last 11 events.

Qualifying 12th in a car that had posted the fastest time during Friday’s only practice session, Leffler believed he had the car capable of scoring his first Nationwide Series victory since the 2007 season only to have an unexpected problem occur in his car’s steering system. The team never could figure out the problem leaving the diminutive Leffler no choice but to ride out the race with a race machine mostly devoid of its power steering capability.

“Every time I would go hard into the corner it was like the steering wheel was being jerked out of my hands. It was tough,” Leffler explained after the race. “We’re going to have to go back to the shop to see what caused the problem, but I’m proud of how we battled the problem to make the best of a bad situation and it feels great to come away with another top five finish,” Jason added.

The #38 led the race twice for a total of 24 laps, second only to race winner Kyle Busch who easily ran to his fourth victory of the 2009 campaign. It took Leffler just 50 laps to move into the top ten for the first time, a position he never would fall from during the remainder of the 225-lap affair on Nashville Superspeedway’s 1.33-mile concrete oval.

He grabbed the top spot on lap 73 when the leaders, including point man Busch, began making their first pit stops under green flag conditions. The worst the 38 would show on the scoreboard over the remaining 152 circuits was 10th on lap 95 following a pit stop Leffler made during a caution period when the car was running really tight and needed some adjustments.

With just 25 laps remaining and everyone eyeing the checkers, Leffler held the fourth position only to lose one spot to veteran Mike Bliss on lap 213. That was as far back as the #38 would fall in chalking up another impressive finish. Following winner Busch across the line at the end was red-hot Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards while Bliss and Leffler rounded out the top finishers.

“We’ll go back to the shop to see just what caused the steering problems tonight and fix it to get ready for Kentucky,” Leffler said. “There’s a $50,000 bonus from (Series sponsor) Nationwide Insurance in next week’s race, so we’ll work hard to be really ready for this one and see if this is where we can finally get that first win,” Jason added.

Jason maintained his hold on third place in the Championship Driver’s Point’s Standing with the Nashville run but suddenly has the red-hot Keselowski breathing down his neck as action moves to Sparta, KY and the Kentucky Superspeedway for this Saturday night’s Kentucky 300. Leffler’s point’s advantage, with his string of top ten finishes, gives him a 5-point edge over Keselowski after the latter’s runner-up effort this past weekend and his victory at Dover two weeks back.

Busch still leads in points followed by Edwards, 65 points back, while Jason sits third for the fifth consecutive week, 188 tallies behind.

Television coverage for the Kentucky 300 is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. EDT Saturday night on ESPN2.