NASCAR, IndyCar drivers to display tributes to Jason Leffler
NASCAR’s Brad Keselowski and IndyCar’s Ed Carpenter said their cars would display tributes this weekend to Jason Leffler, the driver killed this week in a racing crash in New Jersey.
Keselowski, the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, will have “LEFturn” -- Leffler’s nickname -- displayed on the rear panel of his No. 2 Ford at Sunday’s race at Michigan International Speedway.
Carpenter also planned a special decal for the Izod IndyCar Series race in Milwaukee on Saturday, with the decal available to all of the series’ drivers.
“I’m still kind of in shock about it all,” Keselowski told reporters at Michigan International on Friday. “It’s hard to believe the next time I go to a racetrack I won’t see Jason.”
Five-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson said, “I lost a friend and our sport lost somebody that really was involved and loved this sport and made it his life. We’re all going to miss him terribly.”
Leffler, who was 37, raced in all three of NASCAR’s national series for more than a decade, including its second-level Nationwide Series where he raced against Keselowski for several years.
Leffler also was an accomplished driver in U.S. Auto Club (USAC) sprint-car and midget-car racing. He died after crashing in a sprint-car race Wednesday night.
“I raced against Jason in USAC and he was an excellent driver,” Carpenter said in a statement. “Our prayers go out to his family and friends in this very difficult time.”
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