So what if his aggressive driving can at times can be as crazy as his hair, Jason Leffler keeps things interesting in the Nationwide Series.

Not to mention he has the best-dressed infant on pit road and the most awkward NASCAR commercial this season, something about rubbing feet.

Anyway, it's worth your time to know more -- five things more -- about this 33-year-old Long Beach, Calif., native who considers his home to be in the Midwest not the West Coast.

Pride and joy ...

Baby Charlie, sporting skater-chic Vans and a grey velour hoodie, naps before the 2008 finale.

First things first: You must meet Charlie Dean Leffler, Leffler's first-born son. The infant became an instant hit with fans when photographers snapped the 18-month-old infant napping on the hood of daddy's Toyota before the season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway last year.

"We've put him inside the car before, he just sits there because he loves cars so I think it's a great experience for him," Leffler said. "And the photo of him on the car is one of my favorites."

Leffler has become widely known in the Nationwide Series for his entertaining wisecracks in the series' sponsor commercials.

"In the latest commercial for Nationwide, 'you pick 'em' is actually pretty funny," Leffler said. "We try to get the fan to pick us to win the race that weekend through bribery.

"My punch line is 'I'll cut your hair.' "

It's an appropriate offer coming from the driver of the No. 38 Great Clips Toyota. But then Leffler says he crosses the line when the driver promises to 'rub your feet'!

"Yeah that went a little far but it's still funny. Tons of people have laughed about it because it is so out of character for me," Leffler said.

Leffler

Few drivers in NASCAR can be identified by their hair. Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson have been able to shock a few folks with their facial hair in recent months, but no driver is defined by his locks like Leffler.

Not only is his hair fiery red like his driving style but it is cut into a Mohawk or faux hawk for you fashion-forward thinkers.

"It is off the wall but Great Clips loves it and if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be racing. Too often you can't get too radical in our corporate cookie cutter sport so it's nice to be able to express some personal style," Leffler said.

More impressive is the fact that some young NASCAR fans are copying Leffler's hair-do!

"I seem to get a lot of attention from my hair," he added. "It's cool when I meet kids who go to Great Clips and cut their hair like mine."

In that case, the Leffler hawk should be on the menu.

Much like the path his mentor Tony Stewart took, Leffler also came up through the open-wheel ranks starting with quarter midgets in California and onto bigger races in Indiana among other regions throughout the Midwest.

He was inducted into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2003 and holds multiple USAC National Midget championship titles as well as one USAC Sliver Crown title.

"I still run about a half dozen USAC races and keep my own midget in my garage. I have fun turning wrenches and I like to stay active," Leffler said.

His most recent race win came in 2007 at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, his favorite city on the racing circuit.

"I love Indy, it's more of a second home than North Carolina. I grew up racing midgets there," he said. "I love eating at St. Elmo's downtown or Union Jack's pizza in Speedway."

Though it's his native region, there's something about the West Coast and Leffler's luck. Generally, he has seen more of the infield care centers at California and Las Vegas than he would care to admit.

In five Nationwide Series starts in Vegas, Leffler has finished better than 22nd only once -- and that was an 11th place finish in 2006.

However, his other finishes at the track: 39th (2008), 37th (2006), 22nd (2004) and 28th (2000) were all shoved deep into the past when Leffler and his Braun Racing team pulled out a career-best finish of fourth.

"The momentum is really good," he said. "At Daytona we had issues and was penalized, that was kind of bummer but we went to California still finished 11th."

Is it the new crew chief Scott Zipadelli?

"The chemistry is there and we've had no hiccups," Leffler said. "He has a lot of confidence and everyone has embraced him at Braun. We've made a lot of changes over the off season and are now starting to see big improvements."