Blake Feese, who is part of Hendrick Motorsports’ driver development program, was named to drive Gene Haas’ Busch Series car this weekend at Kansas Speedway. Feese replaces Jason Leffler, who has driven Haas’ #00 Haas Automation Chevry into third in the Busch standings on the strength of a Bud Pole, a victory and 17 top-10 finishes in 27 starts. “Jason is still under contract and has not been released,” Haas CNC Racing’s marketing director Carl Cline said. “Jason has simply been removed from the car for this weekend’s event and we’ll evaluate things on Monday. “We’re happy to help Hendrick Motorsports with their development program.” Feese drove a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to victory last Saturday in the ARCA Series race at Talladega Superspeedway, his second ARCA victory this season for HMS in four starts, all of which have been top-10 finishes.
Of late, Leffler’s name has been active in the rumor mill as a possible driver for Joe Gibbs Racing’s third fulltime team for 2005 in the Nextel Cup Series, a #11 Federal Express Chevy. Tuesday, Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs was unavailable to comment on his organization’s plans for the 11 car, which used Ricky Craven as its driver at Talladega in its second race this season. Joe Gibbs Racing and Federal Express have scheduled a news conference for Oct. 13 at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport in North Carolina to announce their 2005 plans.(NASCAR.com/FoxSports Totally NASCAR)(10-5-2004)
UPDATE – Leffler back in: Haas CNC Racing’s efforts to put newcomer Blake Feese in its #00 Chevrolet for Saturday’s NASCAR Busch Series race at Kansas Speedway has apparently hit a last-minute snag. Jason Leffler, who has driven the #00 all season, obtained a temporary restraining order Late Thursday, preventing Haas from putting any other driver in the car, ThatsRacin.com has learned. The court order remains in effect until a hearing Friday morning, when Leffler’s attorneys are expected to argue for a permanent injunction. That would allow Leffler to remain in the #00 car this weekend and for the remainder of the season, sources confirmed Thursday night. Leffler has a contract to drive for Hass’ Busch program for the 2004 season. He is expected to be named to drive Joe Gibbs Racing’s third Nextel Cup entry, which is to debut next season. An formal announcement about Gibbs’ third team is planned for Wednesday. It has been widely reported that Federal Express will sponsor the new team and Wednesday’s announcement is scheduled at the FedEx ramp at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport. Earlier this week, Haas officials announced they were putting Feese, who has two Automobile Racing Club of America victories this season, in their #00 Chevrolet. The move would effectively end Leffler’s opportunity to compete for the 2004 Busch Series title, unless he could find another team for the remainder of the season. He is currently third in the standings.(ThatsRacin.com)(10-8-2004)
