Same Agenda For Home-Staters

Jason Leffler, a native of Long Beach, is looking for a little redemption in his home state. Although he’s had a solid season – he’s been in fourth place in the standings since the Texas race in April – he’s fallen on hard times lately. His 10th-place finish at Kansas was his first top 10 since finishing fifth at Gateway in mid-July. He was 26th at Auto Club last year, his worst finish in six fall races there, but he finished 11th there earlier this year.

On the flip side, Bakersfield’s Kevin Harvick has just about done it all in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He’s a two-time series champion, is second on the series all-time win list (34) and has successfully transitioned to an owner driver in the series, winning his first races in his own equipment this year.

However, he’s still lacking a major line-item on his racing resume – a win at his home track. He was 11th in this race last year but finished second behind Kyle Busch at Auto Club in February He has a pole, seven top fives and 11 top-10 finishes at the track, which is one of only six active tracks where he hasn’t won in NASCAR Nationwide competition.