Smith: Leffler not allowed to drive No. 0 Cup car

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The saga of Jason Leffler's search for Winston Cup seat time has deepened on the verge of Saturday night's race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

	Jim Smith

Haas CNC Racing has entered Leffler in its NetZero Pontiac for the Sharpie 500, but the driver's status as a factory Dodge driver in the Craftsman Truck Series may prevent it, as neither his truck owner nor Dodge want to permit it.

Leffler is a consummate racer, in the mold of fellow open-wheel graduate Tony Stewart, and in his heart all he wants to do is race, which led him to explore a limited program of up to 10 races this season in owner Gene Haas' car.

The problem is Leffler's primary role is driving Ultra Motorsports' factory-supported ASE/CARQUEST Dodge in the Craftsman Truck Series for owner Jim Smith.

"As of right now, Jason Leffler's under contract with me and he does not have permission to drive anything but this (No. 2 Dodge) truck," Smith said Wednesday night before the O'Reilly 200 Truck Series race. "And he has been told he's not to drive the 0 car. . .as of right now.

"If the 0 car was a Dodge, we wouldn't have an issue with it. We'd all love him to do more racing, but from Dodge's perspective, if he goes out there and does real well, it would make us look kind of crazy."

At Watkins Glen, Smith said he did not care if Leffler drove another car, but he said he was sensitive to Dodge's feelings, and Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, the head of Dodge's motorsports program, John Fernandez, made his feelings crystal clear.

"They're (Haas CNC) looking at a lot more than I'm willing to look at," Fernandez said. "I told Jason we were willing to get a ride here because it helps us evaluate him and gives him some seat time, but I am in no way committed to doing anything beyond that."

"I know (Dodge isn't thrilled about this)," Leffler said after the race Sunday, but he shook his head when asked about Dodge's displeasure with the scheme. "I want to do it, but I don't want to jeopardize anything with my truck program. If we can get it done, it would be awesome -- it would make me a better driver.

"If not, I'm grateful for the opportunity."

	Jason Leffler is entered in Saturday's Sharpie 500. He may not run the race, however. Credit: Autostock

"Jason has said that he'd like to do it," Haas CNC Racing's general manager Joe Custer said Wednesday afternoon. "We're just taking this one step at a time."

Leffler has continuously stressed his number one priority is his truck deal with Smith. At WGI, Smith said he had offered a new contract to Leffler. At Michigan, Leffler said there was no issue with that, except he had just changed agents.

"We're in good standing with Jim, and I'm totally comfortable there," Leffler said. "There were some things behind the scenes that delayed us working on the contract, because I'm with Cary Agajanian and his group, now.

"I've got a ride over there (at Ultra), but this (Winston Cup) is going to do nothing but help make me a better truck driver. It gets me seat time and experience and helps my confidence.

"I think, all the way around, it's a good deal but the problem over here is that's it's obviously a GM product -- a Pontiac -- and my truck is a factory sponsored Dodge with Team ASE and CARQUEST, so I can certainly understand where they're coming from."

"We're certainly not interested in losing Jason as a driver and I don't think he's interested in leaving us as a Dodge driver," Fernandez said. "His affiliation with us right now is in the truck program and I think he understands that we have plans for him going out into the future and I don't think he's going to do anything to jeopardize that."

JASON LEFFLER  •  Driver Page  •  2003 Truck Series Stats  •  Driver vs. Driver

Leffler's situation resembles other manufacturer "spats" with drivers that involved cross-pollinating brands.

In May, Ford refused to allow Greg Biffle, who drives for factory-supported Roush Racing in the Winston Cup Series, to drive a Dodge truck at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Biffle has done a couple Busch Series races in Evans Motorsports' Kleenex Chevrolet, including last weekend's Cabela's 250 at Michigan International Speedway.

Wednesday night, Dodge was not keen on having one of its factory-supported Winston Cup drivers, Christian Fittipaldi, drive a Ford truck, and ultimately Johnny Sauter was named as Billy Ballew's driver in the No. 9 F-150.

For better or worse, the scenario with Leffler showed that NASCAR racing at the national level is an identity-driven market economy.

"We hoped that everyone was benefiting from it, with us getting a chance to look at Jason -- even Dodge getting a chance to look at Jason; and Jason getting a chance in the Pontiac brand to see what it has to offer," Custer said. "Our perspective was that we were hoping it would be a benefit to everybody.

"He (Leffler) has a contract with Jim Smith and we respect that and we're not trying to cause problems with that."

"It's really no big deal," Leffler said. "If it (Winston Cup rides) happens it will be great but if it doesn't, then I'll go race my truck and be just as happy doing that."