Leicht returns to site of win - looking for a full-time Nationwide opening
By Lee Montgomery - Associate Editor
Thursday, June 12, 2008
David Griffin / NASCAR Scene
Two years ago, David Gilliland turned his one and only victory in what is now known as NASCAR’s Nationwide Series – at Kentucky Speedway – into a full-time ride with a Cup team.
Last year, Stephen Leicht turned his one and only victory in NASCAR’s No. 2 series – at Kentucky Speedway – into … well, nothing.
Leicht returns to Kentucky this weekend without a full-time ride in any series and with barely a ride at all.
“Plain and simple, it’s not going to be a good feeling when that race starts, knowing I’m not in the race,” Leicht said. “Anyone that’s won at a track and then has to go sit and watch the same race, knowing they won and they can win again, is not going to be good.”
What can Leicht blame it on? Misfortune? Bad timing? Poor luck? Slipping economy?
Perhaps all those things.
Leicht drove Robert Yates Racing’s No. 90 Ford to victory lane in last year’s Meijer 300, beating close friend Brad Coleman to the checkered flag. But unlike Gilliland, the Cup offers didn’t come pouring in.
Later that year, RYR announced it was closing its Busch Series team. Patriarch Robert Yates was to retire, and son Doug would take over the renamed Yates Racing team. Its two drivers would be Gilliland and Travis Kvapil.
By the time December rolled around, Leicht was still without a job for 2008. Finally, he hooked up with Richard Childress Racing to share the team’s ultra-successful No. 21 Chevrolet with Cup veteran Bobby Labonte.
The problem was, the No. 21 didn’t have a sponsor. And it still doesn’t.
“Look at David Gilliland. He won that race two years ago, and now he’s in a full-time Cup ride,” Leicht said. “I won it last year, and here I am, and I don’t even have a full-time [Nationwide] ride. It’s not one person’s fault, it’s nobody’s fault. It’s just the way sponsorships have been working out and the way the economy is right now. Everyone’s struggling. Wrong place, wrong time.”
Leicht will drive in Kentucky, but only as a fill-in for Clint Bowyer in RCR’s No. 2 entry in practice. Sure, he knows any seat time is good, but he’ll still be frustrated when the green flag drops on the race.
“I knew Robert was going his own way and Doug was going his own way, and I was going to go in a different direction,” Leicht said. “I never in a million years thought that by the beginning of this season that I wouldn’t have at least a sponsor. When I got hooked up with Richard, it was a dream come true. I always wanted to run for Richard. I still have all the confidence ion the world in him and his team and his marketing people to find a sponsor.
“But here we are, 12 races in, and still don’t have a sponsor – for the [No.] 21 car. That’s the winningest car in the series, and they cannot find a sponsor for it. It’s unreal. It’s almost like bad timing on my part. I’m here, and they can’t find a sponsor for it.”
Leicht said he and Childress have been talking to other Chevy teams about getting Leicht in a car, but so far there have been no takers. Meanwhile, he’ll try to help Bowyer and the No. 2 win this weekend.
Should Bowyer be able to win, Leicht said he’d get some satisfaction in knowing he had a hand in the victory, but it wouldn’t be the same.
“It’s disappointing not being able to race, especially having to sit and not being able to defend my title at Kentucky next weekend,” Leicht said. “There’s something that doesn’t seem right about it.”
That wasn’t the case last year. Leicht had run well the week before at Nashville Superspeedway before blowing an engine, so he knew the No. 90 Ford could run well.
The chemistry between Leicht and crew chief Cully Barraclough was improving, and Leicht carried confidence to Kentucky because of numerous laps on the 1.5-mile track testing a Cup car.
Plus, it didn’t hurt that Barraclough was part of the team that led Gilliland to a victory in 2006.
“Everything just seemed to be in place,” Leicht said. “I said, ‘If we’re going to win, it’s going to be this weekend.’ Sure enough, we went there, and the car off the trailer was awesome. It felt good. We qualified fifth, and in the race, I was in a position to win, and I got it done.”
Leicht seemed stunned after the race, perhaps unable to believe he had actually won. He didn’t win the rest of the year and said recently that only now has the Kentucky victory fully registered with him.
“I think it’s sunk in now more than ever because now that I’m not racing, and we don’t have a sponsor, and I’m on the sidelines watching,” Leicht said. “That to me is when it really sinks in. You’re like, ‘Man, right now I’m not racing but I know if I could race, I can win races. We’ve already shown that.
“It’s just a shame that this 21 team can’t find a sponsor. These guys deserve to be racing. That 21 car is the best team out here. … We need a sponsor so we can prove that.”
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