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Jason Leffler's highly anticipated Winston Cup debut was expected to be next season, after Leffler signed a contract for 2002 with team owner Chip Ganassi. But when Leffler's Busch Series owner, Joe Gibbs, responded by releasing his second-year driver from his 2001 contract, Ganassi went ahead and put the 25-year-old Long Beach, Calif., native in his No. 01 Dodge in time to test at Daytona in January.
Leffler had a solid rookie season in the Busch Series in 2000, starting 31 races, finishing 20th in the point standings and fifth in the rookie of the year standings. He tied the record for most poles by a rookie with three. He ended the season by notching his third pole, at Phoenix and came home a career-best second place. He led three times in the season for 47 laps and scored two top-5s and four top-10s.
Leffler, who has made only 35 stock car starts in his career, all in the Busch Series, made his first start in the series on familiar ground at Indianapolis Raceway Park in 1999. He proved he is a quick study by winning his first pole in only his 10th start.
Gibbs signed Leffler on the recommendation of another former USAC open-wheel standout, Tony Stewart. Ganassi cited his success in USAC open-wheel cars as a big reason why he signed a driver with so little stock car experience. Leffler continued to race open-wheel cars in 2000. In USAC Midgets he placed 25th in the national standings with two wins in four starts. In USAC Silver Crown cars he was 14th in the standings with two wins in eight starts.
From 1997 to 1999, Leffler established himself as driver whose reputation was on a steep growth curve. He won three straight USAC national Midget championships, becoming the first driver in 37 years to accomplish that feat. Leffler also won the 1998 Silver Crown title in his first year in the series. In 1999, he won 11 races in a variety of USAC divisions. Leffler was the "Most Improved Driver" in the 1996 USAC Western Midget Car Series before he took the national series by storm in 1997, stringing together 21 consecutive top-5 finishes en route to the championship in his first full season.
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