RIP Jason Leffler

I covered a World of Outlaws event at the local track earlier this year and was surprised with the speeds they hit ... much quicker than your typical fairgrounds sprint car. Stewart puts on a charity sprint car race every spring. NHRA driver Ron Capps usually races at the local track one night to prepare for it.

 

Leffler was out of a Sprint Cup ride. His only start this season was just last week when he did a start and park deal. I'd say he was doing it for the money.

As for these guys racing all the time, that's what separates the "racers" from the rest. Guys like Stewart, it's in their blood. They race, and they work on race cars. As talented as Jeff Gordon is, I'd never bestow him the honor of calling him a racer. Gordon is great at driving a Sprint Cup car, but when was the last time you saw him racing other than chasing Sunday money? For the others, it's an addiction, not just their job.

 

Does anyone know what happened with regard to the accident?
I have read multiple stories, but none that actually describe the accident.

 

Leffler was racing a Sprint Car at the track's "Night of Wings" when his car apparently flipped on the front stretch of the 5/8-mile, high-banked dirt oval. "Jason's left rear tire blew coming out of turn 4 and it made his car spin directly toward the wall," Connor Ferrell, who was at the race, wrote to Yahoo! Sports. "He did 3 or 4 flips before his car came to a stop." According to eyewitness accounts, he was extracted from the car on a board and airlifted out of the track via helicopter. The remainder of the night's racing was cancelled.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar-from-the-marbles/jason-leffler-severely-injured-small-track-wreck-015742662.html

RIP

 

RIP, Jason Leffler.
Single father to a 5-year-old son.