Jason Leffler, NASCAR Driver, Dies In Crash
NASCAR driver Jason Leffler has died of injuries sustained in a crash, police in NJ have confirmed.
Initial reports about Jason Leffler’s fatal accident are just trickling in, but SI.com reports that the 37-year-old NASCAR racer was airlifted to a local hospital in New Jersey following the accident, saying:
“Leffler was involved in an accident while competing in a heat race in the 410 Sprints division at the Bridgeport (N.J.) Speedway’s 0.625-mile dirt oval. The remainder of the racing scheduled for Wednesday night was postponed because of the accident.”
SportingNews.com reports that Leffler was involved in the accident earlier this evening and pronounced dead shortly after 9 PM.
According to the site, the NASCAR racer had a good year and strong career in motorsport, and they explain:
“Leffler, 37, had 73 career Cup starts, including one last week for Humphrey Smith Racing at Pocono. He finished 10th in the 2001 season finale driving for Chip Ganassi Racing at Homestead-Miami Speedway. His one pole came earlier that year at Kansas.”
Eyewitness Christopher Taitt tweeted the above image and, at 9:08, posted about Leffler’s fatal accident, saying over on the microblogging service:
@bobpockrass im at bridgeport speedway Jason Leffler just took a bad crash praying he is ok twitter.com/ChristopheTait…
— Christopher Taitt (@ChristopheTaitt) June 13, 2013
From the track and clearly upset by what he had witnessed, Taitt continues:
@nateryan jason leffler just took a really bad crash in a sprint car he had a cardic arrest waiting helicop
— Christopher Taitt (@ChristopheTaitt) June 13, 2013
@nascarnoll @thedalyplanet its not looking good he had a cardic arrest while waiting helicop then rushed him.to another hospital
— Christopher Taitt (@ChristopheTaitt) June 13, 2013
He later retweeted:
@nateryan RT @jasonbly: It is confirmed that we lost Jason Leffler tonight. God Speed Jason. Thoughts and prays with the family.
— Christopher Taitt (@ChristopheTaitt) June 13, 2013
Regarding what may have precipitated Jason Leffler’s fatal crash, the witness said:
@rrogers512 rear locked up i think hit the wall and flipped
— Christopher Taitt (@ChristopheTaitt) June 13, 2013
Fellow NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski tweeted:
Thinking about Jason Leffler.Hope the stories I’m hearing about his wreck tonight aren’t as bad as they sound.
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) June 13, 2013
He then tweeted and retweeted:
Rest peacefully, #lefturn… twitter.com/nascarcasm/sta…
— nascarcasm (@nascarcasm) June 13, 2013
Really sad for Jason Leffler and his family. Thinking about his little boy…
— Brad Keselowski (@keselowski) June 13, 2013
Jason Leffler was taken by medevac to Cooper Trauma Center, where he was pronounced dead at 9:02.
