No. 70 Team Experiences
Highs and Lows at Pocono

LONG POND, Pa. – Emotions ran the gamut for Jason Leffler and the No. 70 Haas Automation team at Pocono Raceway, from the high of qualifying for the race on Friday, to the low of hitting the wall during the race on Sunday. When all was said and done, the result was a 40th-place Pocono 500 finish.

“Coming off of a DNQ (did not qualify) at Dover, it really gave the team a confidence boost to make the show at Pocono,” Leffler said. “It’s a tough deal to have to go through every week (qualifying on time). We have a younger team and it takes a toll.”

After starting the race from the 26th position on the grid, Leffler’s team worked to ease the tight handling condition his Chevrolet Impala SS was experiencing through the center of the turns.

“Overall we had a pretty good car,” Leffler said. “We had some trouble on pit road that cost us track position, and track position is critical at Pocono.”

Leffler reached the 16th position at one point in the race, but when a spin occurred in front of him on Lap 121, the rear of his car locked up and sent him crashing into the wall. He returned to the track on Lap 169 and finished the race 60 laps down.

“I hate to come in here (Haas CNC Racing) and wreck someone else’s car,” Leffler said. “I’m disappointed that I didn’t finish the race. Like I said, the car was really good at times and that just makes a bad situation worse. It seems like you never wreck when your car’s junk.”

Leffler will have the opportunity to improve on his Pocono result when he gets behind the wheel of the No. 70 next week at Michigan International Speedway.