Leffler gets first Busch win

Jason Leffler won the first NASCAR Busch Series race of his career early Sunday morning in a wild ending to the Federated Auto Parts 300 following a nearly 3-hour rain delay at Nashville Superspeedway in Gladeville, Tenn.

Leffler won under caution caused when Kyle Busch ran out of gas with four laps to go. Busch had led 60 laps and looked ready to run away with his third victory of the year, but wound up spinning into the infield grass.

That allowed Leffler to inherit the lead as the caution flag came out, and he was able to nurse his Chevrolet through the final laps for his first victory in his 56th start.

“I thought Booty was crazy,” Leffler said of the advice of crew chief Booty Barker to save gas because Busch would not be able to make it to the end.

“It’s not the way I wanted to win,” Leffler said. “But I knew I couldn’t catch the five (Busch).”

Busch wound up 17th, failing to finish in the top 10 for the first time in 11 races and lost the points lead to Martin Truex Jr.

Polesitter Truex finished second in his Chevy and now leads Busch by 45 points. Third was Clint Bowyer, followed by Mike Bliss and Ron Hornaday, giving Chevy a top-five sweep.

“It was just my fault. I ran out of gas,” Busch said. “It was just a matter of time until Jason Leffler got to Victory Lane.”

Leffler, a three-time USAC midget champ, hadn’t finished better than fourth this year.

Kahne in top form

A day after winning his fourth pole of the year, Kasey Kahne was first again at Pocono Raceway. He turned the fastest practice lap Saturday at 167.657 mph for today’s Pocono 500.

“We were really loose, so we’ve got to work on that,” Kahne said. “If we’re in the top-10 all day long, we’ll be good to go for the last two laps.”

It’s been a year of mixed results for Kahne. The rookie has a NASCAR-best four poles, but has yet to win. He finished second three times, but hasn’t finished any better than 12th in his last six races.

Kahne’s getting antsy for a trip to the winner’s circle.

“We have a good race car and a lot of good things going on, so hopefully we get it soon,” he said.

Jeremy Mayfield had the second-best time during the third practice session at 167.274 and Elliott Sadler was third at 167.159.

How about the Pocono 400?

Some drivers have complained that the 500-mile race at Pocono Speedway is too long, and would be more exciting at 400 miles. Also, drivers said, fans wouldn’t lose interest during the middle of the race when little is happening on the 2 1/2 -mile triangular track.

“Cut it back,” Jeff Gordon said. “I think 500 in this place is way too long. I think it would be more entertaining for the fans and easier for the equipment. Five hundred miles here is like 600 in Charlotte.”

The average Pocono 400 lasts about 3 hours, 45 minutes. Dover International Speedway reduced its race from 500 miles to 400 in 1997 – a move that paid off after last week’s caution-plagued race lasted almost 5 hours.

Shortening the race would save wear and tear of the cars.

“Everybody’s on the 400 side,” Rusty Wallace said.

Wallace cranks it up

Rusty Wallace turned some heads this week when he hit 228 mph at the end of the straightaway during a test run without a restrictor plate at Talladega Superspeedway.

Driving without the plates, though, doesn’t seem to be in NASCAR’s future. Nor should it.

“We should never race it. You could never race a car that fast,” Wallace said. “That’s going too fast.”

Points leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he wouldn’t want to go that fast during a race, but wanted to try it on an empty track like Wallace did.

“I’m sure we could make it work,” Earnhardt said, smiling. “It would probably be a blast.”