Catchfence

No. 38 Great Clips Toyota Camry - Photo Credit: Getty Images for NASCAR

July 9, 2010

· Minneapolis Motorsports Day THIS Thursday… Four prominent Minnesota-based companies, a touring late model series featuring at least 15 cars and thousands of Minnesota race fans will come together on Thursday, July 8 on Elko Speedway’s freshly laid Dirt Track for the first ever Minnesota Motorsports Teams Give Back charity event benefiting five nonprofit organizations! Jason Leffler will be joined by AJ Allmendinger (Best Buy), Greg Biffle (3M) and Clint Bowyer (General Mills) at the event.

The day kicks off with a FREE meet and greet session from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the Mall of America in the Best Buy Rotunda before the drivers head to Elko Speedway. Each fan will be greeted with a merchandise stuffed gift bag, free Great Clips haircuts, General Mills Characters and much more.

The drivers will then head to Elko Speedway, which has been transformed into a dirt track for the month of July. The 3/8 mile, high banked asphalt track will be covered in 12 inches of clay and will be the new dirt grid iron for the Wisconsin, Iowa, MN Invitational Championship Race featuring at least 15 late model drivers from across the Midwest brought to race against Leffler and his fellow NASCAR drivers.

· It’s official! Eddie Pardue joins Braun Racing… Veteran crew chief, Eddie Pardue, will call the shots for Leffler and the No. 38 team on a fulltime basis. Pardue comes to Braun Racing after spending the last ten years at Roush Racing where he moved quickly through the ranks, serving as crew chief since 2006 for the team’s Nationwide Series program.

· Chicagoland Speedway, by the numbers… In six NASCAR Nationwide Series starts at Chicago, Leffler has logged one top-five and two top-10 finishes. His best performance at the 1.5-mile track occurred just last season when he drove to a fourth-place finish after starting 12th.

· Get Fired Up with Great Clips… Great Clips is launching the second round of the Fire Me Up contest. Customers can enter two ways: either by texting “Fire” to Whale (94253) or by visiting www.greatclips.com and choosing the Fire Me Up Sweepstakes. The code is: Fire. The grand prize winner will receive a once in a lifetime trip for two to the Great Clips 300 in Atlanta.

In addition, the winner will be able to watch the race from the pits, have a meet and greet with Kasey Kahne and Jason Leffler, ride in the pace car and receive a personalized fire suit. Registration starts on June 7th and ends on August 7th.

· Did you know? Great Clips is the longest-running sponsor in the Nationwide Series…Minneapolis-based Great Clips, Inc. came onto the scene in 2001 as a primary sponsor of Akins Motorsports No. 38 entry, then driven by Christian Elder. Kasey Kahne drove the car from 2003-2005, before Leffler took over the wheel in 2006.

· Leffler on SIRIUS’ Morning Drive every Wednesday… Don’t forget to tune in to SIRIUS Radio’s “Morning Drive” with Mike Bagley and Pete Pistone every Wednesday at 10:30am to hear Leffler’s take on recent events in the Nationwide Series and what you can expect from the week’s upcoming race.

Follow the No. 38 Great Clips Team on Twitter! http://twitter.com/No38BraunRacing

Become a Braun Racing fan on Facebook! http://facebook.com/BraunRacingFans

Jason Leffler

“Chicagoland is a fast track with multiple grooves so it’s pretty easy to pass. You can run the high groove or the bottom groove and move around as much or as little as you need to based on how the car is handling. Generally, you don’t see a lot of cautions during this race so don’t be surprised if it comes down to fuel mileage and pit strategy in the end.

The Great Clips team has grown stronger and stronger at these 1.5-mile tracks and with the addition of Eddie Pardue to the team, we feel pretty sure that we can go in this weekend and be a top contender for the win.”

Equipment Information

The No. 38 Great Clips team will hit the track with chassis #BR023 in this weekend’s Dollar General 300 Powered by Coca-Cola. This chassis last saw track time at Auto Club Speedway

- Braun Racing Press Release