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Jason Leffler is third in points behind Cup regulars Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards.Leffler looks for a hit as he streaks toward Nashville
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Jason Leffler finished sixth at Nashville Superspeedway when the Nationwide Series was there less than two months ago. That began a string of top-10s, numbering seven, he currently brings into this week's return trip to the 1.3-mile, D-shaped oval of concrete.
Leffler posted the first of his two career wins in the series at Nashville in 2004 in just his second start at the track. He has three top-fives and five top-10s in nine starts there.
Joey Logano won the first race this year at Nashville in April. BTN takes a look back at the top 10 from that race:
1Joey Logano started second and led 95 laps in his second start at Nashville. In his first race at the track a year ago this month, and making just his second career start, Logano started on the pole and led 64 laps before getting caught up in a wreck.
2Kyle Busch posted his first top-five and second top-10 in seven starts. He led 77 laps.
3Brad Keselowski scored this third consecutive top-five. He is this race's defending winner.
4Kelly Bires posted his third consecutive top-10. In four races at Nashville he has an 8.0 average finish.
5Carl Edwards started on the pole and recorded his seventh top-five in eight races. The only time he has failed to finish in the top 10 at Nashville was in this race a year ago when he was 13th. Before that, he won this race in 2006 and '07 as part of three in a row.
6Jason Leffler rebounded from his third-worst finish a year ago when he was 26th. It was his worst finish without a DNF at Nashville.
7David Ragan posted his third top-10 in five starts. His only top-five came in this race last year when he finished fifth.
8Mike Bliss has five top-10s in 10 starts with an average finish of 13.2. He has only two finishes worse than 16th.
9Steve Wallace posted his first top-10 in seven starts. He earned his second career pole in June 2007 at Nashville.
10Scott Lagasse Jr. was making his first start. He improved 28 spots through the course of the race after starting 38th.
• Race Story | Complete Results
Coverage of the Federated Auto Parts 300 (Entry List | Tickets
) begins at 7 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN2.
Logano is not entered in this week's race, nor is Ragan. Full-time Nationwiders Busch and Edwards are the only two Cup Series regulars making the trek from Pocono to race at Nashville.
THE WOW FACTOR
10Races won at Nashville, out of 16, by a driver who wasn't a Cup regular at the time.
The List
| Year | Driver | Cup Starts | Year | Driver | Cup Starts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Greg Biffle | 0 | 2004 | Jason Leffler | 1 | |
| 2002 | Scott Riggs | 0 | 2005 | Reed Sorenson | 2 | |
| 2002 | Jack Sprague | 3 | 2005 | Clint Bowyer | 1 | |
| 2003 | David Green | 2 | 2008 | Scott Wimmer | 0 | |
| 2003 | Scott Riggs | 0 | 2008 | Brad Keselowski | 2 |
Note: Full-time Cup drivers to win at Nashville: Michael Waltrip (2004); Kevin Harvick (2006); Carl Edwards 3 (2006-07); Joey Logano (2009).
THE SUPER LOOPER
99.1Driver Rating for Kyle Busch at Nashville following his runner-up finish in April. Before that it was 90.6
Driver Rating of top-10 drivers entered (since 2005, nine races)
| Pos. | Driver | Rating | Starts | Pct. Laps / Top 15 | Avg. Run Pos. | Avg. Fin. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Carl Edwards | 118.2 | 8 | 96.3 | 5.4 | 4.1 |
| 2. | Scott Wimmer | 106.2 | 5 | 78.2 | 10.0 | 9.4 |
| 3. | Kyle Busch | 99.1 | 5 | 62.5 | 12.2 | 19.8 |
| 4. | Kelly Bires | 94.6 | 4 | 70.1 | 11.2 | 8.0 |
| 5. | Stephen Leicht | 93.1 | 4 | 92.7 | 10.7 | 16.0 |
| 6. | Michael McDowell | 91.9 | 1 | 77.8 | 10.3 | 15.0 |
| 7. | Mike Bliss | 89.8 | 6 | 72.1 | 13.2 | 13.8 |
| 8. | Brad Keselowski | 85.2 | 5 | 59.8 | 18.8 | 17.2 |
| 9. | Jason Leffler | 84.6 | 7 | 58.9 | 16.8 | 18.6 |
| 10. | Scott Lagasse Jr. | 84.6 | 1 | 41.8 | 16.5 | 10.0 |
• Loop Data Statistics: Season-to-Date Box Score
BLAST FROM THE PAST
1Career series wins for Jack Sprague, in June 2002 at Nashville. Sprague finished fifth in points that year, his last in the series and his only full season. In 108 career starts he had 12 top-fives (nine in '02) and 24 top-10s (15 in '02).
| POPULAR ALERTS | ||||
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Nationwide Series
Standings
| Pos. | +/- | Driver | Points | Behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | -- | Kyle Busch | 1,836 | -- |
| 2. | -- | Carl Edwards | 1,796 | -40 |
| 3. | -- | Jason Leffler | 1,683 | -153 |
| 4. | -- | Joey Logano | 1,670 | -166 |
| 5. | -- | Brad Keselowski | 1,663 | -173 |
| 6. | -- | Jason Keller | 1,434 | -402 |
| 7. | +1 | Brendan Gaughan | 1,364 | -472 |
| 8. | -1 | David Ragan | 1,358 | -478 |
| 9. | -- | Mike Bliss | 1,355 | -481 |
| 10. | -- | Justin Allgaier | 1,344 | -492 |
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