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IRWINDALE, Calif., Nov. 24 - Jason Leffler, a two-time
USAC Turkey Night Midget Grand Prix winner, savored his 100-lap
victory Thanksgiving evening at the banked, half-mile paved
Irwindale Speedway Thursday in front of 6,500 spectators. The
three-time USAC National Midget champion (1997-99) and 1998 USAC
Silver Crown champion won $6,000 from the $33,000 purse. It was the
only USAC Midget race of the year for the 30-year old former
resident of nearby Long Beach. The NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch
Series stock car and Craftsman Truck Series veteran also is a
one-time starter in the Indianapolis 500.
Leffler relished his stunning triumph perhaps
even more than his 1999 victory in the Thanksgiving midget
racing classic. As the 35th driver to qualify in a 61 car field,
Leffler drove his No. 32L Todd Braun/Team ASE K-K/Esslinger-powered
car to fast qualifying time of 17.160 (104.895 mph). The 65th
running of the prestigious event dates to its formation to 1934 at
Gilmore Stadium in Hollywood. This year marked the 50th consecutive
Turkey Night Midget classic presented by the late J. C. Agajanian
and his family and the seventh in a row at Irwindale Speedway.
Following his dramatic victory Leffler told the
crowd, "This is really cool. It's a race I watched as a kid.
It's my Indy 500 in the best place in the USA, Southern California.
I called around for a ride and guys I raced for said I wasn't good
enough in a midget anymore, so I had to build my own ride. Todd
Braun, my Busch Series car owner (No. 32 Chevrolet), is my winning
car owner tonight and he even came out here to watch tonight."
Leffler explained he bought a 2003 chassis in Indiana a few weeks
ago from Brad Kuhn and put an Esslinger engine in it. Making his run
to victory from the pole remarkable is the
fact Leffler blew his engine shortly after practice began. He
borrowed a spare Esslinger engine from the Gerhardt Western Speed
Racing team. My Dan Esslinger motor ran great tonight," Leffler
said.
STEELE IMPRESSIVE
Dave Steele, from Tampa, looked dominant as he
tried to win his third Turkey night GP 100-lap main in the last five
years. He won the 2001 and 2003 races and was fresh from winning the
TNGP USAC Western Series sprint car 40-lap feature that preceded the
midget main. Third fastest qualifier Steele, 31, started his
Nicholas Motorsports Beast/Mopar third, took the lead in turn two
and led the first 52 laps. He held a 30-yard advantage over Leffler
by lap 25. Leffler gradually cut the lead in half.
On lap 34 Bobby East, in the Klatt Enterprises
Beast/Ford, blew a brake rotor entering the first turn and without
brakes slid into the crash-wall with impact on the right side. His
car ground to a halt next to the wall, ending his hopes of repeating
his 2004 TNGP triumph. East was uninjured. Steele reopened a 15-yard
lead by lap 48, but two laps later his car slowed noticeably.
Leffler passed Steele for the point on lap 53 as he continued to
fade to fourth position by lap 55 with a misfiring engine. Steele
pulled to the infield and
parked the car a lap later.
LEFFLER SCARE
Leffler, the fourth place finisher in the 2004
TNGP, had to survive his own mechanical problem that caused sparks
to fly during the final half of the race as his car made contact
with the pavement entering turns. Leffler told the media, "My
left front spring was backing off and the suspension was shooting me
up the track. It was a problem at the end, especially getting into
the corners under braking, but my Esslinger motor was running so
good that I just made sure I didn't over-charge the entry, and I got
it turned in the center so I could shoot off the corners."
Kyle Nicholas, 17-year old second year Turkey
Night GP starter from Florida, started 17th in a Nicholas
Beast/Mopar team car to Steele's. He charged into second place on
lap 67. However, a lap later he spun into the infield grass in the
first turn after running over oil. Seventh place TNGP rookie Ryan
Kaplan, a USAC Ford Focus graduate, blew his engine and dropped oil
on the track from a hole in the block as he exited the track to the
pits from the first turn. Nicholas restarted but finished 22nd with
99 laps completed, although he
passed 16 cars during the final 30 laps and finished right behind
the sixth place driver.
Drivers completed laps 68-74 under caution, with
Illini Aaron Fike (RFMS Beast/Ed Pink Ford) and Arizonan J. J. Yeley
(Beast/Ed Pink Ford) on Leffler's back bumper. Both NASCAR Busch
Series drivers wanted to win their first Thanksgiving classic and
have their name added to the "Aggie" trophy named for the
late promoter. Yeley is a 29-year old five-time USAC champion and
the club's 2003 Triple Crown champion in the Silver Crown, National
Sprint and Midget series. He wheeled the Steve Lewis car driven to
the Thanksgiving GP victory by East last year. Yeley passed Fike for
second at the lap 75 green with an inside move in the fourth turn.
The top three drivers dueled for the victory
during the final 26 laps, interrupted by a lap 85-91 caution for a
single car spin by Garrett Hansen. As Leffler retained the lead
trailing sparks periodically, Fike passed Yeley for second position
on lap 93 high in the fourth turn. Fike and Yeley continued to vie
for second place as Leffler extended his lead to a victory margin of
35-yards (1.476 seconds) over Fike, who collected $3,200 on his 23rd
birthday. It was Fike's second consecutive Turkey Night GP second
place finish. Yeley, who will replace Bobby Labonte next season in
the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Chevrolet on the
Nextel Cup circuit, settled for third place. He was 1.932 seconds
behind Leffler and earned $2,100. Yeley finished TNGP 100-lap mains
second in 2001 and fifth in 2002-03.
Teddy Beach and Jerome Rodela finished fourth and
fifth, two seconds in back of Leffler. Beach also finished fourth in
2003 and Rodela earned fifth in the GP last year. Rodela, a 24-year
old owner/driver from nearby El Monte, entered the race
seven-points behind four-time USAC Western Midget champion Robby
Flock. Rodela had to use his backup Beast/Ed Pink Ford that he had
2004 Western Midget champion Johnny Rodriguez qualify. His intended
Beast ride broke a rocker arm on his second qualifying lap and he
had to race his Rodriguez-qualified car in one of the Last Chance
races to make the feature.
MIDGET CHAMPS
Rodela charged from 23rd starting spot to finish
fifth, while Flock came from 31st in the 32-car field to finish
15th. Rodela finished second and third twice in final USAC Western
Midget Series standings during the last three seasons. He won
his first USAC championship by 18-points (808-790) over Flock, who
congratulated him at the finish line after they stopped their cars
for interviews. Josh Wise, a 22-year old former Riverside resident
now living in Indianapolis, was honored after the main as USAC
National Midget Champion. He clinched the title last month. Wise
qualified his Tony Stewart Beast/Mopar fifth quickest. He started
fifth and raced into third position by lap 40. He experienced a
problem and faded to 17th, seven seconds behind the winner. Wise won
his first USAC National Midget title by 172-points over Jerry Coons,
Jr., from Tucson. Stewart, the 2005 Nextel Cup Champion,
attended Wednesday TNGP practice and Thursday racing and watched his
two-car team perform in an event he won in 2000.
Tracy Hines, Jay Drake, Cole Carter, 2002 TNGP
winner Michael Lewis and Billy Wease completed the top ten.
Twenty-three of the 32 starters finished and 21 drivers ran all 100
laps. Four cautions slowed the 38-minute race, which concluded at
10:28. The race included six drivers racing in a TNGP for the first
time. They were (with starting/finishing positions in parenthesis)
Kevin Swindell (29/11), Bryan Clauson (4/12) Scott Pierovich
(24/16), Tyler Brown (32/23), Ryan Kaplan (22/26) and Darren Hagen
(15/32).
ROOKIE OF RACE
Swindell, 16-year old son of long-time World of Outlaws star Sammy
Swindell, made his second USAC Midget start. He started 29th and
drove a second Tony Stewart Beast /Mopar to 11th place, 4.740
seconds behind Leffler. He beat fellow 16-year old TNGP rookie
Clauson by one position and (0.205 seconds). Sammy was in the pits
with his son, who received the "Don Basile Rookie of the
Race" plaque and cash award as the highest finishing rookie in
the race. Bob Basile, son of the late right-hand man for race
organizer J. C. Agajanian, presents the award each year in memory of
his father, a 1999 inductee in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame
at Knoxville, Iowa. Past winners of the TNGP rookie award are Kasey
Kahne (1998), Steele (1999), Aaron Pollock (2000), East (2001),
Rodela (2002), Ryan Durst (2003) and Brad Loyet (2004).
The fastest 14 qualifiers advanced directly to
the feature. Two 12-lap "Last Chance" races transferred
the first eight finishers to the 100-lap main with the first race
comprising the inside row and the second race comprising the outside
row. Hagen led all the way in the first 20-car race and won by 3.975
seconds over Nicholas. Nineteen of 20 drivers finished, with 18 on
the lead lap. Cole Carter, son of Indianapolis 500 veteran Pancho
Carter, passed Michael Lewis on lap four and paced the final nine
laps. He won the second qualifying race by 0.630 seconds over Beach,
as 21 of 22 starters finished. All finishers completed 12 laps.
The Summary: (use box score and points from USAC
HQ).
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