bob jennings' WORLD O' RACING  08/22/99

Jason Leffler running USAC Midgets at Salem Speedway - June 20, 1999

 Bob Jennings

Sunday June 20, 1999 was the first time I visited Salem Speedway, in southern Indiana. I went to a "twin bill" USAC Sprint and Midget show, which was one of my more enjoyable racing days this season.

The first thing that comes to mind, when I think of Salem Speedway, is danger. 1955 "Indianapolis 500" winner Bob Sweikert was killed, in early June 1956, in a USAC Sprint race, at Salem. Rich Vogler was killed, on the final lap of a race, in which he was declared the winner, during an ESPN Thunder telecast, in July 1990. When I climbed into the bleachers, and had my first look at the high banked one half mile Salem oval, I felt a sense of danger. Even in this day of open wheel racing cars being able to sustain end over end flips without injury to drivers, Salem's high banked corner leading on to the main straight and bumpy worn out asphalt made me fear for the safety of the guys racing that afternoon.

If the track surface is in tough shape, the spectator facilities, at Salem Speedway, are pretty nice. The seats are located in good position for viewing the races. The concession and picnic areas are nice. The infield is spacious and clean. The surrounding countryside is rolling and pleasant. 

The Stoops Freightliner Sprint Car Series portion of the program only saw 15 cars entered, after the previous three days, of racing, at Terre Haute. The MCI WorldCom Midgets had run the night before, at 16th Street Speedway, and the Salem entry only featured 25 cars.

The top Midget guys were there, however, including Jason Leffler, the tough little red head, from California, who, I think (I wish USAC would add some history to their new website), is the defending USAC Midget champion. In fact, Leffler may have won the past two USAC Midget titles. 

Leffler drives the Steve Lewis Beast Ford Midget, perhaps the most famous short track open wheel racing car right now. The car was even featured in a photo feature in a recent issue of Racer magazine. The list of drivers who have driven and won, in one of the Steve Lewis cars, over the past decade, is impressive. It includes Stan Fox, Mike Bliss, Tony Stewart and Kenny Irwin. This season, Dave Darland and Dave Steele have also raced in one of the Lewis cars.   

Beginning with Leffler's win, on July 10, in the "Summer Sizzle 99," at 16th Street Speedway, a Steve Lewis Beast won six of the next seven USAC Midget features. On July 31, Leffler won the feature at Anderson Speedway. Dave Darland won at Eagle Raceway, in Lincoln, Nebraska, on August 3. Two nights later, Darland won the opening night feature, at the Belleville Nationals. On August 7, Darland won again, in the Belleville finale. Then, on August 14, Leffler won the feature, at Mount Lawn Speedway, in New Castle, Indiana. The only other driver to take a USAC Midget feature, during that period, was J.J. Yeley, during the second night of racing, at the Belleville Nationals.

This past Wednesday, I went to Indianapolis Raceway Park, and saw Leffler and Ryan Newman put on an excellent contest in the 40 lap feature. After running wheel to wheel, Leffler was able to pull out a gap to Newman, until a yellow flag bunched up the field. That enabled Ryan to catch Jason with 12 laps remaining, which resulted in Newman's win.  

At Salem, in June, Leffler qualified sixth and finished fifth, in the third heat, which necessitated that he run the semi-feature, which he won over Newman. In the feature, Jason led the opening eleven laps, before Newman passed to take another win.

Leffler leads the Midget standings, after 15 of 26 events, with 317 points. Newman is second, with 238 points. Jason has three feature wins, this season. In addition to his wins, at 16th Street Speedway and New Castle, he also took the Midget feature, at the Copper World Classic, in Phoenix.

Prior to yesterday's USAC Silver Bullet (Crown) race, at Springfield, Jason was seventh in the season point standings. He won the Silver Crown race, last month, at Nazareth.

Jason keeps trying to move up into racing's major leagues, but he hasn't been especially successful in 1999. He did a lot of testing, last year, for Fred Treadway's IRL team. After crashing one of the team's G Forces, on lap two of the IRL opener, at Disney World, last January, he was dropped by Treadway. Then Al Unser Jr. suggested Roger Penske sign Leffler to a testing contract. I don't think Jason ever turned a lap in one of the Penske cars, however. Tony Stewart, who has been one of Leffler's patrons, persuaded Joe Gibbs to run Jason in five NASCAR Busch Grand National events. Leffler crashed, in his Busch debut, in the recent "Kroger 200," at Indianapolis Raceway Park.

I expect Leffler to eventually break through however. He's a fun driver to watch. He races fast and loose and his personality reminds me of Nigel Mansell, a bit. He's only 5' 4" or something like that. When my wife saw him accept his trophy, for winning the "Summer Sizzle," at 16th Street Speedway, she exclaimed "he's so little." With his red hair and baby face, Leffler looks like a mini version of Al Unser Jr. He has a fiery temper and he has been known to trade fists, like A.J. Foyt, with other drivers, regardless of their size.

I wish he would find a place in Indy car racing, because the sport can use a lot of guys like him, with the same talent and competitive nature.