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 three-hour rain delay.
Leffler won under caution at Nashville Superspeedway, caused when Kyle Busch ran out of gas with four laps to go. He 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, and he was able to nurse his Chevrolet through the final laps under caution for his first victory in his 56th start.
Crew chief Bootie Barker advised Leffler to save his gas because Busch wouldn't be able to make it to the end.
"I thought Bootie was crazy," Leffler said. "It's not the way I wanted to win, 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 to Martin Truex Jr.
Polesitter Truex finished second in his Chevy and 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."
Truex led 39 laps, but struggled after the heavy rain washed the track clean and left his car loose. That left him very happy with his finish.
"It's funny. We've been joking the last two weeks between me and Kyle that if you don't win the race, you can't leave with the points lead ... Tough break for him," Truex said.
Leffler, a three-time USAC midget champ, hadn't finished better than fourth this year. He wound up leading 61 laps, including the final laps for the victory.
"I've won a lot of dirt races slowing down. When the track gets slick, sometimes you have to slow down to go faster. I've never had a crew chief tell you, `You're going too fast. Slow down.' I'm just glad it all worked out," Leffler said.
It was a fitting end to a race that waited out a 2-hour, 48-minute rain delay at the 2.14km concrete oval.
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