Leffler and the Red Horse Racing team unloaded fast and were in the top-five in both practice sessions leading up to qualifying for the 94-lap shootout.  It was no surprise when Leffler paced qualifying on Friday with a lap of 53.337 seconds at a speed of 179.538 miles per hour which was good for ninth place on the starting grid.

When Leffler strapped into the RFMS/Red Horse Racing Toyota on Saturday, his first goal was to win.  His determination didn't waver when the green flag flew for the start of the Mountain Dew 250.  "The first lap there, someone got out of shape and I thought I was going to wreck Ted Musgrave and that the guy behind me was going to wreck me," he explained.  Despite the near miss, Leffler battled hard on the high line and maintained ninth spot until he was dropped from the draft and thrown into the middle of three-wide door-to-door and bumper-to-bumper battle.

When the event's first caution was displayed on lap eight for a two-truck wreck off turn two, Leffler keyed the radio to talk to the crew.  "Handing-wise, we're wide open," explained Leffler.  "I just got out of line trying to go to the top," he said.  When the race restarted on lap 12, Leffler battled on the low line and moved into 11th spot.  "It's pretty good," said Leffler when the second caution flew for debris on lap 17.  "But I think I got into the back of Ted (Musgrave)."

Crew Chief Jamie "JJ" Jones brought Leffler to pit road under the caution for fuel only.  When the No. 1 Toyota hit the pit stall, it was clear that the grill was pushed in but the damage did not require repair.  Leffler returned to the track in ninth position and began a hard-charge to the front of the field.  Leffler was glued to the low line which was clearly the faster lane around the Superspeedway.  Leffler got a good push with 10 trucks stuck to his bumper and moved into sixth spot by lap 29.

But just as quickly as he got to the front, he fell back to 21st.  "I can't lead," said Leffler on lap 43.  "It's like I've got a hole in the nose or something."  "JJ" replied, "The nose is pushed in a little bit, just remember that."  Leffler continued to battle two and three wide before the next caution flew on lap 55.  Even though pit road was closed, Leffler was tight on fuel and "JJ" called him to pit road for four tires and fuel.  NASCAR penalized the team for pitting too early, but the penalty was easier to serve than running out of fuel.  Leffler hit pit road one final time to top off on fuel and restarted the race in 15th position on lap 61.

Leffler slid to 18th on lap 63 before keying the radio to tell the crew, "I think I'll ride right here for awhile.  Leffler was 16th on the scoring monitor when the infamous "Big One" occurred on lap 75.  Leffler dodged the wreck by cutting through the grass and down pit road.  Leffler pitted one final time on lap 77 for four tires and fuel, returning to the track 14th.  Leffler stayed stuck to the bottom in the preferred line and wasted no time moving into the top-five.  Leffler managed to avoid the event's final two cautions to claim fourth place in the Mountain Dew 250 -- the best finish of his NASCAR career at Talladega.

"The guys at Red Horse Racing gave me a great truck," said Leffler after the race.  "I've got to thank Tom DeLoach, Jeff Hammond, Jamie Jones, Toyota and everybody on this race team.  It's a pleasure to drive for them.  They did a great job and we got up there when it counted.  Our Toyota Tundra was really fast.  I'm looking forward to going to Martinsville; hopefully we'll get a win there."

Leffler and the Red Horse Racing team will take a weekend off before returning the No. 1 RFMS/Red Horse Racing Toyota Tundra to racing action at Martinsville Speedway for the running of Kroger 200 on Saturday, October 20th.  Live television coverage from the .526-mile short-track will be provided by SPEED at 3 p.m. ET with radio coverage coming to you live from MRN Radio.