Leffler Is a Worthy Indy 500 Successor

Between Johnnie Parsons of Van Nuys in 1950 and Parnelli Jones of Torrance in 1963, Southern California drivers dominated the Indianapolis 500, winning seven times and filling the leader board at nearly every race.

Troy Ruttman of Ontario in 1952, Pat Flaherty of Glendale in 1956, Sam Hanks of Alhambra in 1957, Rodger Ward of Highland Park in 1959 and 1962 were all winners.

Since then, however, only Rick Mears of Bakersfield, among Southern Californians, has won the world’s biggest race, although he did it four times.

And the pendulum may be swinging back our way.

Jason Leffler, only 23, has already won two U.S. Auto Club midget car championships and one USAC Silver Crown title, drawing comparisons to Winston Cup champion Jeff Gordon and former Indy Racing League champion Tony Stewart, who won the same titles early in their careers.

When Leffler, a 5-foot-3, 135-pound Long Beach native, signed to test cars for Fred Treadway last year, it seemed that he might become the team driver when two-time champion Arie Luyendyk retired this year.

Sam Schmidt got the assignment, however, and when sponsorship money did not materialize, Leffler was let go after running one race, the TransWorld Indy 200 at Walt Disney World Speedway.

And that was a bad day for the Treadway team. Leffler crashed in the first turn on the second lap, then Schmidt crashed on the third lap.

“I tested more than 3,000 miles in Treadway’s Indy car, about 1,000 of them at Indianapolis, so it was a great learning process for me,” Leffler said. “I’m still looking for a deal to drive there this year, but finding a sponsor is difficult. There are plenty of rides available, but you’ve got to bring money, or a sponsor.

“In the meantime, I’m going to defend my USAC titles.”

Leffler will be in one of Steve Lewis’ midgets when the Irwindale Speedway opens with an open wheel program March 27. Leffler tested the new half-mile paved oval last month.

“It’s a great facility, maybe the finest in the country,” he said. “They did a great job of building it, both for the spectators and the drivers. There should be some great racing there. The surface is wide and passable and with the banking, you can run high on the track.

“I can’t wait to get on it in a race, and I’m glad the Turkey Night Midget Grand Prix is going to be there. I think I’m due to win that race. I was second [to Jay Drake of Val Verde] last year and I want to get my name in the record book alongside guys like A.J. Foyt and Parnelli Jones. Especially Parnelli.”

The USAC Turkey Night race, which originated in 1934 at Gilmore Stadium, is scheduled Thanksgiving night, Nov. 25, at Irwindale.

Leffler has been a protege of Parnelli Jones since he started hanging around the shop in Torrance, working on cars driven by P.J. and Page Jones.

“I was about 14 when I first went over there,” Leffler said. “I had a friend, Larry Howard, who was working on Page’s midget. At first I swept out the place, washed the trailer, stuff like that, until they let me work on the car.

“Just being around Parnelli taught me a lot, both how to act on and off the track. When he said something, I listened. I also met Dean Thompson there, and he’s been sort of a coach to me.”

Thompson won California Racing Assn. sprint car championships in 1981-82-83 and his 103 main event victories constitute the CRA record.

Leffler, who has moved to Indianapolis to be nearer racing headquarters, is off to a fast start this season.

In two Silver Crown races--for open-wheel cars with front-mounted engines and now called Silver Bullet for its series sponsor, Coors Light--he ran eighth at Orlando, Fla., and third at the Copper World Classic in Phoenix, driving for car builder Bob East.

In two midget car races, he crashed at the Chili Bowl in Tulsa, Okla., then won the Copper Classic. It was Lewis’ seventh win as a car owner since Stan Fox won in 1990.

“People ask me what I like best to drive, and I tell them whatever I’m driving that day,” Leffler said. “It’s always a pleasure to get in a race car.

“Silver Crown cars are the heaviest open-wheel cars, sort of like an extra-long sprint car. It’s good training for stock cars because they’re so heavy you have to learn how to conserve tires.

“Midgets are better training for Indy cars because they’re so light and quick. I want to be ready for whatever the future brings.”

As insurance, Leffler attended the Skip Barber Racing School at Sebring, Fla., and plans to drive at Bob Bondurant’s road racing school next month.

“You never know when an opportunity may crop up, and I want to be ready for anything,” he said. “My main hope is to drive at Indy in the 500, but if an offer came from CART or NASCAR, maybe a truck or a Busch ride, I want to be ready.”

Lewis, who won USAC midget championships with Stevie Reeves, Stewart and Kenny Irwin Jr., last year’s Winston Cup rookie of the year, sees Leffler as worthy successor to that group.

“Jason’s a hot little property,” he said. “He’s focused, dedicated and all he wants to do is race.”

NECROLOGY

Eric Hauser, a pioneer sports car personality best known as the driver of Ol’ Yaller at Riverside, Pomona, Santa Barbara and other tracks during the ‘50s and ‘60s, died in his sleep Feb. 28 at his home in Corona del Mar. He was 76.