Leffler Returns to Pilot the Great Clips #38 Chevrolet and Finishes 12th Saturday Afternoon in Chicagoland

After a 2-week hiatus as driver of the #38 Great Clips/Northeastern Supply Chevrolet, Jason Leffler returned as pilot Saturday afternoon and posted a routine-like 12^th place finish in the Dollar General 300, NASCAR Nationwide Series race at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, IL.

Leffler, who led a lap during the day and ran mostly between the 8^th and 12^th positions on Chicagoland’s fast and sweeping, 1.5-mile layout, ran consistently despite a tight-handling race car.

Jason started the 200-lap event in the 16^th position but quickly moved forward from the drop of the green flag. He was in 14^th place after just five laps, 12^th by lap 17 and then broke into the top ten for the first time on a lap 50 re-start.

After the race’s first caution period pit stop on lap 66 when Leffler’s Turner Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne scraped the turn four outside retaining wall, the #38 dropped back a couple spots to 12^th. He remained there for the next 84 laps. That is when the lead-lap cars began making green flag pit stops.

Before everyone had pitted, the #38 remained in the top ten, holding down the 10^th position. During the series of stops, Leffler put the #38 in the lead position for a lap before finally making his green flag stop with 38 laps to go. When the pit stop cycle had been completed, the #38 was still showing in the 10^th position.

Another yellow flag slowed the action on lap 175, and the leaders, led by defending Nationwide Series driving champion Brad Keselowski, again pitted for a final adjustment and fuel. After these stops, Leffler had fallen back to 15^th on the track from where Jason got up on top of the steering wheel and proceeded to pick up three spots over the final 24 laps to take the checkered flag in 12^th.

Keselowski, who led all but a handful of laps in a dominating performance, earned his third Nationwide Series victory in limited action this season. Carl Edwards, pole-sitter Brian Scott, Aric Almirola and Sam Hornish, Jr. rounded out the top five finishers.

Series’ point’s leader Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. finished 8^th,  two spots behind his closest competitor in the championship battle, Elliott Sadler, who now trails Stenhouse by just 14 points with just six races remaining. Leffler’s Turner Motorsports teammate Reed Sorenson remained 3rd in driver points with his 10^th place Chicagoland effort but lost several points to Stenhouse. Sorenson will enter the next Nationwide Series race at Dover International Speedway in Delaware on October 1 47 points behind Stenhouse, Jr.

Leffler’s 12^th place effort failed to move him up the point’s ladder and he trails Stenhouse by 127, 46 behind 5^th place Justin Allgaier, another Turner Motorsports chauffeur in the battle for 5^th place in the championship point’s hunt.

Kahne will be back behind the wheel of the #38 Great Clips/Northeastern Supply Company at Dover while Leffler moves over to the #30 AccuDoc Solutions/Northeastern Supply Company Chevy in which Jason has posted top 10 finishes the last two times in those colors.

The Northeastern Supply will provide added support at Dover for both the #38 and #30 machines as the company will entertain more than 400 customers at a series of pre-race and hospitality events at the track.

Race time at Dover is 3:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, October 1 with ESPN2 televising the race live beginning with the pre-race show at 3.