NASCAR driver Jason Leffler has been killed tonight at the Bridgeport Speedway tonight in New Jersey. The AP is reporting, along with several Philadelphia area news sources.
The crash happened at about 8:30pm, as @ChristopheTaitt at the track reported to @KendraJJacobs at 8:32. His tweet at : it was a bad bad wreck i knew it wasnt good when they tried to get him on the backboard before getting him out.
@Jim_Gardner, the well-known Philadelphia news anchor at WPVI Channel 6, reports New jersey State Police reporting death of a driver. No name released. @NBCPhiladelphia confirmed Leffler's death.
@jim_utter, NASCAR writer at the Charlotte Observer, says he died at 9:02pm as result of the crash.
@TheDalyPlanet broke this story via a RT from @ChristopheTaitt. This is a picture of the car. He said: "Its not looking good he had a cardic arrest while waiting helicop then rushed him.to another hospital." "track didn't say anything but a friend father told us he is with the fire company."
He left the track via a medical helicopter and is reported to go to a trauma hospital.
There is a state police investigation going on at the moment at Bridgeport Speedway. The track is in Swedesboro, New Jersey. The rest of the racing on this Wednesday night was cancelled. People are saying that races are never canceled down there.
Leffler is at Cooper Trauma Center in Camden, NJ per an @NBCPhiladelphia report.
Leffler is a Nationwide driver, who also races in the truck series and in Sprint Cup. He just raced at Pocono last week. He is well-liked by the racing community. Leffler was a driver since 2000 on the NASCAR circuit. He had his own Winston Cup car in 2001, the #01 Cingular Wireless car. He won the first pole at Kansas Speedway, and the first Nationwide Series race for Toyota in 2007 at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
He won one race in the Truck Series, and participated in all three series until his death. He was 37.