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LEFFLER GETS CAUGHT UP IN LATE RACE ACCIDENT; FEDEX TEAM FINISHES 36TH IN DAYTONA 500
"That's okay guys, let's take our time and we'll get right back up to the front," said Jason Leffler after a minor incident on pit road late in the race. His confidence was indicative of the day the #11 FedEx Chevrolet was having. Able to gain spots in the draft, Leffler and the #11 team's day was cut short only by one of the many accidents that marked the 2005 running of the "Great American Race."
While entering his pit stall during the seventh caution on lap 161, Leffler was clipped from the rear, spinning him sideways and out of his pit stall. He corrected it, made another lap and pitted the #11 FedEx Chevy for four tires and fuel and returned to competition. He took the next green flag on lap 165 and was clearly making a run toward the front, but unfortunately he was caught up in an unavoidable accident on lap 168 that eliminated him from the event. Until lap 168 and the wreck that shortened an otherwise promising day, Leffler and the team ran in the top 20 for a majority of the race, and they had a car capable of finishing in the top 10 of the Daytona 500. Leffler started the 200-lap event in 40th, but he wasted no time showing that he had a strong car. By the end of the first lap he was in 27th, and on lap three, he motored into the top 20. Other than getting shuffled around in the draft from time to time, Leffler was able to maintain position in the lead group until taking the first caution flag on lap 14 in 18th place. He radioed in that the car was sliding the nose exiting the corners, and crew chief Dave Rogers called him onto pit road for four tires and fuel along with air pressure and track bar adjustments to free up the chassis. The crew performed the service and sent him out 19th. The green flag was in the air again on lap 18, but only for a few laps before the second caution on lap 26. Still concerned with the lack of grip, Leffler pitted for four tires, fuel and more air pressure adjustments. The #11 FedEx Chevy took the next green on lap 30 in 22nd place. Leffler quickly made a run up to the 17th spot by lap 37 and then as high as 14th on lap 52 before pitting for a scheduled green flag stop on lap 60. Prior to the stop, Leffler commented that the car had become "really tight," so during the stop Rogers called for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. The crew clicked off a solid stop, and Leffler cycled out in 15th after the round of pit stops. On-track activity settled down considerably, and the Nextel Cup competitors remained under green for an extended period. During the run, Leffler was able to hold position in the top 15, but just before the third caution on lap 85 he radioed in that the FedEx Chevy had developed a loose condition. He brought the car onto pit lane during the caution for tires, fuel, wedge and air pressure adjustments. It seemed as though no matter what the FedEx crew threw at the chassis they were unable to find the balance Leffler and Rogers wanted. Soon after the stop, Leffler said the car was tight again, but not enough to keep him from running in the top 25 until the fourth caution period on lap 104. Leffler entered pit road for tires and adjustments and exited in 28th. Racing resumed on lap 108 and stayed caution free until lap 142. During the run, Leffler said the car felt it had no front-end downforce. He believed that some contact he made with another car while bump drafting may have pushed in the right front fender enough to cause the condition. His intuition was correct as the team identified some minor damage to the fender during a green flag stop on lap 138. They pulled the fender out along with a full service stop that included air pressure adjustments to hopefully improve the car's handling. The #11 FedEx Chevy returned to the track in 19th, where it would remain until the fifth caution on lap 142. Rogers made the call to stay out during the caution period after Leffler radioed in that the car felt much better in the handling department. It appeared to finally be gripping the track as Leffler was able to race up to 13th before the 6th caution on lap 153. "The car is pretty good right now Dave," Leffler said. "Okay, let's pit for four tires, fuel and no adjustments this time," commanded Rogers. After the stop, Leffler lined up 20th because a few teams opted to either stay out or take only two tires. Shortly after the next green flag another caution came out, placing many teams within or close to their fuel window, which would allow them to finish the race without having to make another stop. Leffler and the FedEx crew were confident they would be able to go the distance, so they pitted for what could possibly be their final stop of the day. As Leffler was entering his pit stall, another competitor exiting his pit made slight contact with the back end of the #11 FedEx Chevy. The exchange resulted in Leffler spinning and sitting sideways in the pit area. Unable to reach his stall at this point, he corrected the car and went back out for another lap. Leffler pitted the next time around for four tires, fuel and a look over the car by the crew to make sure there was no damage. He returned to the track in 28th. Leffler was very confident in his car and crew, and he knew he had plenty of time to race back to the front before taking the checkered flag. He wasted no time in doing so when the green flag flew on lap 165. He quickly moved up to 25th on lap 167 and was ready to make a move on more positions before getting caught up in an accident on lap 168. The #14 car made contact with the #77, in turn sending the #14 down the track in front of Leffler and there was no way for the #11 to avoid the wreck. The contact was severe enough to end the FedEx team's day. The FedEx #11 team heads out West this week for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Auto Club 500 at California Speedway. This will be driver Jason Leffler's first race in his home state of California behind the wheel of the FedEx Chevy. The first practice is set to begin on Friday at 1:20 PT. Qualifying is on Saturday at 12:10, and the green flag is set to wave at noon on Sunday, Feb. 27. Leffler's Quotes: "It's unfortunate that we got caught up in that wreck because we had just gotten the car handling pretty well, and I think we could've made it into the top 10 before the end of the race. This is definitely not the finish we were hoping for, but overall I'm very pleased with how Speedweek went for the FedEx team. We made it in the show, which was our primary goal, and other than a few minor handling problems on the track, the car ran great all week. "I'm so proud of this team, and I'm looking forward to getting out to California next week and giving it another go. We had a solid test there a couple of weeks ago, and we should be pretty good as soon as we unload on Friday. Hopefully we can put together a top-10 run and move ourselves up in the points." Check out the Daytona testing report in Team News. 
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