NASCAR BGN: Leffler leads way for Pontiac in Busch qualifying
25 February 2000
ROOKIE JASON LEFFLER POSTS GREAT QUALIFYING RUN; WILL LEAD GRAND PRIX EFFORT IN BUSCH RACE AT ROCKINGHAM ROCKINGHAM, N.C. (Feb. 25, 2000) - Rookie Jason Leffler was good all morning in practice and backed it up in qualifying for Saturday Busch Series race at North Carolina Speedway, posting the 11th quickest time in just his second trip to the one-mile oval. Leffler, who drives the No. 18 MBNA Pontiac Grand Prix for Joe Gibbs, will lead four other Grand Prix drivers to the green in Saturday's race. Buckshot Jones will pilot the No. 00 Cheez-It Grand Prix from the 31st starting position, while rookie Mike Borkowski will start 37th in the No. 20 AT&T Grand Prix. Jeff Purvis also qualified for the second Busch Series race of the year, and will start from the 42nd starting spot. JASON LEFFLER, NO. 18 MBNA PONTIAC GRAND PRIX: "We just unloaded out of the trailer really quick. This is a brand new car and a brand new motor, and it's just running good. It feels good to be getting the hang of it, and to be getting the hang of working with the crew. I'm just glad I'm in the show. I just want to get some more laps tomorrow. This is a tough place, but I raced here last fall and it really helped. It just gave me the experience to come back and run better. The more laps I get the better I feel, and obviously the better I feel, the better we're all going to run." BUCKSHOT JONES, NO. 00 CHEEZ-IT PONTIAC GRAND PRIX: "We were good in the first practice session and then we started changing some things and it got worse, so we put it back to where we were this morning. We just didn't get it as good as we needed to." (ON TOMORROW"S RACE) "We just won't get any grip. The tires wear out real bad, so you need to have a car that handles really good here. We need to do whatever Mark Martin does. You've got to follow what he does. He just doesn't really push his car that hard at the beginning of the race. That way he's got something left over."