ESPN Craftsman Truck Series

AROUND THE GARAGE

As Travis Kvapil, Rick Crawford and Johnny Benson fanned out three-wide at the finish line at Talladega, the No. 1 Toyota of Red Horse Racing trailed closely behind in fourth place.

That wouldn't be cause for celebration in most Toyota garages in the Craftsman Truck Series, but it was for a team that has endured a particularly long 2007 season.

Through the first dozen races of the year, the third-year one-truck operation thrived with a rookie-of-the-year front-runner in Aaron Fike. After a career-best fifth-place finish at Memphis in late June, Fike and Red Horse found themselves eighth in points.

But truck fans know how that story ended; Fike was arrested one weekend after Memphis at a Cincinnati-area amusement park. He and his fiancée were charged with heroin possession and NASCAR swiftly suspended Fike.

The team continued on and didn't miss a race, putting Kentucky native David Green in the seat for the Kentucky race, where he finished fifth. But that momentum slowed as Green failed to return to the top 10 over the next six races.

So imagine the enthusiasm when Jason Leffler, the team's third driver of the season, was hired and finished fourth right out of the gate.

"We were very pleased; it was nice [to hear] the excitement coming over the radio from the driver," Red Horse Racing general manager and co-owner Tom DeLoach said. "It was a good shot in the arm for us. We had been on the frustrating side."

It could have been a frustrating day for Leffler, who punched a hole in the front of the Tundra on the first lap at Talladega when a few trucks bunched up on the backstretch. For the rest of the race, his truck couldn't lead the draft, but it could run in the middle. So Leffler stayed there until the end, following fellow Toyota driver Benson and trying to push him to the win, though Kvapil prevailed.

Leffler, fourth in points in his full-time Busch ride with Braun Racing, will drive four of the five remaining races for Red Horse (Brandon Whitt, the team's first driver in 2005, will drive at Atlanta), which hopes to continue the Talladega momentum.

"It's a good situation, I'm helping them and they're helping me," Leffler said. "Anytime you run good, it helps both parties."

It also helps for the team to move further away from a difficult summer. Fike's arrest caught everyone on the team by surprise; DeLoach didn't even know until he got a phone call from NASCAR.

"Then we were off to crisis management," he said. "A young man made a bad decision. It's unfortunate -- it's one that your heart goes out to him, but you also have a race team that's going racing. We had to do something."

The short-term answer was easy; Green had been Fike's driving coach. But when Green's results became stagnant, the next answer was not so easy. Leffler's name soon surfaced from a number of sources, including Aaron's father, Don. Leffler and Fike raced USAC cars together.

"I was familiar with the whole race team through Don and Aaron; I know they were pretty excited about the year. Aaron was running good -- it was just unfortunate there," Leffler said.

DeLoach said Fike is in a rehabilitation program, and discussions of his returning to racing are well down the road. (Fike still has court dates pending.) For now, the team hopes to line up sponsors for 2008 and find a new full-time driver. Leffler won't be the man because of his Busch deal, but he can continue to help make Red Horse Racing look attractive to potential suitors and drivers.

"It's a great team to be involved with," Leffler said.

John Schwarb is a freelance journalist covering motorsports and a contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at johnschwarb@yahoo.com.