Saturday, July 28 O'Reilly Raceway Park Clermont, IN

Jason Leffler climbs from his car in Victory Lane. More pix at the end of this page...

Leffler Scores First NASCAR Busch Series Win for Toyota
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

CLERMONT, Ind. (July 28, 2007) -- Jason Leffler drove Toyota to its first victory in the NASCAR Busch Series with a rousing run from seventh to first in the final 37 laps Saturday in the Kroger 200 at O'Reilly Raceway Park.

It was Leffler's second Busch win in 139 starts. The 31-year-old Braun Racing driver was running fifth when he gambled and stopped for tires under caution on Lap 142 at the .686-mile track. He fell to 12th.

The top four cars of Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, David Reutimann and Ron Hornaday stayed out. Leffler showed his strength by charging back to seventh in nine green-flag laps wrapped around two cautions.

When the race went green with 37 laps to go, Leffler moved up to fourth behind Biffle, Edwards and Reutimann, who were waging a tremendous battle at the front.

Edwards and Biffle, both in Roush Fenway Racing Fords, ran side-by-side for five laps before Edwards pulled in behind his teammate on Lap 170.

Reutimann, in Michael Waltrip Racing's Toyota, passed Edwards five laps later, moving high exiting Turn 4 and carrying the momentum to the inside in Turn 1.

Leffler passed Edwards for third a few laps later and began working on Reutimann. Leffler went into second with 15 laps remaining, moving past on the inside exiting Turn 2.

"I had to get rough there with the 99 (Reutimann)," Leffler said. "He's probably not very happy with me right now, but I had to get past."

That left Biffle, who had led all but one lap -- when Edwards had beaten him by a foot -- since Lap 103.

Leffler had pulled a few feet in front of Biffle when the race's final caution came out on Lap 193, but Biffle still was scored the leader because he was out front at the previous scoring loop when the field was frozen for the yellow flag.

The race restarted with five laps to go. Biffle immediately pulled a few car lengths ahead, but Leffler pulled alongside him two laps later and took the lead on Lap 198 of 200.

Leffler, working on the inside, was able to pull ahead on the inside groove and won by 1.009 seconds.

"What a way to win," Leffler said. "To battle Biffle and Reutimann like that was awesome. To get Toyota its first (Busch) victory is really exciting."

Leffler's crew chief, Todd Lohse, made the call to give up some track position to take tires on Lap 142, and it proved to be the race's turning point.

"The tires really fell off," Leffler said. "It worked out good. We only lost seven spots and it made our car better than everyone else's."

Leffler had won seven races at ORP in USAC Midget and Silver crown races, the last in 2002.

"It feels great to get back to the winner's circle here again," Leffler said.

Reutimann finished third. Edwards, forced to start at the back because of his Nextel Cup duties at nearby Indianapolis Motor Speedway, was fourth and Hornaday was fifth.

Complete race results and point standings in the Event Stats section below...

Checkered Flag Fast Facts

• Jason Leffler won the Kroger 200, his second victory in 140 NASCAR Busch Series races. His last win in the NASCAR Busch Series was Nashville in 2004.
• This is Leffler's first victory and eighth top-10 finish in 22 races in 2007.
• This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in five races at O'Reilly Raceway Park. His previous best finish here was third in 2004.
• This is the first victory for Toyota in the NASCAR Busch Series.
• Carl Edwards retained the lead in the NASCAR Busch Series championship points, leading David Reutimann by 852 points.

Broadcast Times

Final Practice: Saturday, July 28 (ESPN2 at 1:30 p.m./AT, 12:30 p.m./ET)

Qualifying: Saturday, July 28 (ESPN2 at 5:30 p.m/AT, 4:30 p.m./ET

Pre-Race Show: Saturday, July 28 (ESPN2 at 8:30 p.m./AT, 7:30 p.m./ET)

Race: Saturday, July 28 (ABC at 9 p.m./AT, 8 p.m./ET)

Event Stats PDF files unless otherwise noted

Entry List

First Practice

Rookie Practice

Final Practice

Qualifying Order

Qualifying Results

Starting Lineup

Race Results

Point Standings

Green Flag Fast Facts
The Race: Kroger 200 benefiting Riley Hospital for Children
The Place: O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis
The Date: July 28, 20071
The Time: 8:00 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPN2 & TSN-HD , 7:30 p.m. (ET)
Track Layout: .686-mile oval
Race Purse: $1,027,504
2006 Winner: Kevin Harvick
2006 Pole: Denny Hamlin
Year-To-Date Standings: click here

Green Flag Notes

• INSIGHT FROM JOE BALASH, NASCAR BUSCH SERIES DIRECTOR...“ORP is going to race a lot like The Milwaukee Mile. Teams will be using their flat-track setups with softer springs and will really be working hard on their coil bind setups, too. ORP also has the potential to be a fuel strategy race. A unique aspect of our series at this track is that we base pit selection for the top 30 cars on qualifying from last week’s race at Gateway because of the tight time frames we’re under there. The balance of cars will pick pits after qualifying at ORP.”
• Edwards OK For ORP: Despite dislocating his right thumb as a result of an accident during a Late Model race last Sunday at the I-80 Speedway dirt track in Greenwood, Neb., series standings leader Carl Edwards will be ready to participate in Saturday’s Kroger 200 at ORP according to Roush Fenway Racing officials. After an overnight stay in a West Omaha hospital on July 22, Edwards was released and consulted a physician in his hometown of Columbia, Mo., who confirmed the original diagnosis. Edwards had been participating in the race at I-80 on “Carl Edwards Night,” where he was running against his younger brother, Kenny, among others. Edwards finished sixth the night before at Gateway International Raceway in NASCAR Busch Series competition.
• McCaskill Debuts For Evernham: Deac McCaskill, the reigning Late Model Stock Division champion at Southern National Raceway Park in Lucama, N.C., is scheduled to make his NASCAR Busch Series debut for Evernham Motorsports at ORP in the No. 9 Puryear Tanklines Dodge. McCaskill, a 29-year-old native of Raleigh, N.C., has won two track tiles over the last three years in Late Models and finished fifth in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series in 2006.
• Shepherd Returns To ORP: With the influx of new names into the NASCAR Busch Series, it’s easy to overlook some of the mainstays of the series, like Morgan Shepherd (No. 89 Victory in Jesus Racing Dodge). Shepherd, 65, has 15 wins in series competition with three of those coming at ORP where he is the all-time leader in victories.
• Leffler Back To Roots: Jason Leffler (No. 38 Great Clips Toyota) is not only the hottest driver in the NASCAR Busch Series over the last six races (775 points, two top-fives, three top-10s) and comes in on a four-race streak where he’s been no lower than sixth in the point standings, but he’s had great results at ORP. Leffler made his first career series start at the track in 1999, won his second career Busch Pole there (2000) and has two top-five finishes in his four races. Add to that he’s won seven times at the track from 1998-2003 in USAC Silver Crown and National Midget competition.
• Bires Has Found ORP Victory Lane, Too: Rookie Kelly Bires (No. 47 Clorox/American Red Cross Ford) hasn’t had the opportunity to gain much experience on NASCAR Busch Series tracks, but similar to Jason Leffler’s experiences, ORP is an exception. Bires won the 2006 American Speed Association (ASA) Late Model race at the track en route to the series national championship and has gained most of his experience to date on short tracks around the Midwest.
• Keselowski Connection: There will be a family reunion at ORP this weekend when the Keselowski brothers – Brad (No. 88 U.S. NAVY Chevrolet) and Brian (No. 19 Dodge) – will run against each other in NASCAR Busch Series competition for the first time. Brad will drive for his father, Bob Keselowski, a long-time owner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Brian has one NASCAR Busch Series start to his credit, last November at Phoenix International Raceway where he subbed for Brad in order to maintain his brother’s Raybestos Rookie status for the 2007 season.
• ORP ETC: Reigning series champion and last year’s race winner Kevin Harvick is the only repeat winner in the last 10 at races ORP – in 2001 and 2006, which were his last two appearances at the track. … The winner of five of the last six events at ORP has gone on to win the NASCAR Busch Series championship while the winner of the other race, Kyle Busch (2004), went on to capture the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award that season. … The Kroger 200 is the only race on the NASCAR Busch Series schedule that has had the same sponsor for each of the series’ 26 seasons.

Photo Gallery


Jason Leffler crosses the finish line to give Toyota their first win the NASCAR Busch Series...


Leffler gets the trophy...

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