RIP Jason Leffler

[Uncle.Ruckus]

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/NASCAR-Driver-in-Critical-After-Crash-at-Local-Speedway-211313661.html

 

[KYSportsWriter]

Wow. RIP.

 

[User 1019]

Was that a sprint car? I know he came up that way, but what in the world are you doing in one of those things once you've made it?

 

[Batman]

Was that a sprint car? I know he came up that way, but what in the world are you doing in one of those things once you've made it?

Lots of guys run small dirt tracks like that during the week. Tony Stewart, for one, is famous for just showing up and racing at random tracks. Kenny Wallace and Ken Schrader, too.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Was that a sprint car? I know he came up that way, but what in the world are you doing in one of those things once you've made it?

Lots of guys run small dirt tracks like that during the week. Tony Stewart, for one, is famous for just showing up and racing at random tracks. Kenny Wallace and Ken Schrader, too.

I was going to mention Stewart doing it. Part of the culture.

 

[User 1019]

Yeah, but that doesn't make it smart.

 

[playthrough]

But it's what they DO, no different than Tiger Woods playing golf on his days off. Or a professional pilot taking out his two-seater.

Sadly, racing as a hobby is much more dangerous than the pro ranks. NASCAR is darn near bulletproof now with the Brinks trucks they drive, but the local dirt track can still be deadly if just enough crap goes wrong.

RIP.

 

[User 1019]

But it's what they DO, no different than Tiger Woods playing golf on his days off. Or a professional pilot taking out his two-seater.

Sadly, racing as a hobby is much more dangerous than the pro ranks. NASCAR is darn near bulletproof now with the Brinks trucks they drive, but the local dirt track can still be deadly if just enough crap goes wrong.

RIP.

It's a ****load different. As illustrated tonight. Tiger Woods isn't going to die playing a round on his day off.

And I wouldn't even consider flying a little recip helicopter at the local airport during my off time. Not even ****ing close.

 

[Batman]

But it's what they DO, no different than Tiger Woods playing golf on his days off. Or a professional pilot taking out his two-seater.

Sadly, racing as a hobby is much more dangerous than the pro ranks. NASCAR is darn near bulletproof now with the Brinks trucks they drive, but the local dirt track can still be deadly if just enough crap goes wrong.

RIP.

It's a ****load different. As illustrated tonight. Tiger Woods isn't going to die playing a round on his day off.

And I wouldn't even consider flying a little recip helicopter at the local airport during my off time. Not even ****ing close.

Tiger Woods also doesn't have to deal with the local yokels trying to prove they're better golfers by body-checking him into a tree. The big-time drivers probably get a lot of respect, but I wonder how often they have to deal with idiots trying to make a name for themselves.

That said, these guys are pros. They know what they're doing. It's just an unfortunate fact of life that stuff like this happens from time to time.

 

[imjustagirl]

Jason didn't have a full-time NASCAR ride. Sprint cars WERE his full-time job now.

RIP, LefTurn.

 

[Bubbler]

It's just an unfortunate fact of life that stuff like this happens from time to time.

I don't know. I think it happens in sprint car racing a lot more than it does in other forms of racing, even the so-called "lower" forms at the local dirt ring. If it isn't someone getting killed, it's someone more often getting maimed. I've covered a few of those myself. I saw Jay Drake's career end in a near-death wreck. Sprint car racing is extremely dangerous.

Leffler wasn't full-time, so he's an exception I suppose, but I'm surprised the teams and the sponsors let guys like Stewart, et al, race sprints. I would think it would be akin to a baseball team not allowing a player to play basketball in the off-season.

 

[bbnews60]

Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart both own sprint car teams. Stewart is his NASCAR team owner, so permission is not an issue for him.
However, I believe at one point he was restricted from doing as much sprint car racing when he drove for Joe Gibbs Racing, which is part of why he wanted to own his own team.
Stewart takes a racing vacation with his sprinter during the off week for NASCAR each summer.
Kyle Larson, the guy whose crash put his engine in the stands at Daytona, is a standout sprint-car racer as well. He's barred from racing wingless sprints after a crash at Eldora last year I believe.

Racing is what they love to do.

 

[HanSenSE]

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.

 

[Shoeless Joe]

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.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

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

 

[Machine Head]

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

 

[Sam Mills 51]

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