Leffler released by JGR.

The Joe Gibbs Racing team has announced that Jason Leffler has been released from his driving duties with the #11 FedEx Express Chevrolet in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series.

Leffler, who slipped out of the Chase for the Championship race following his 33rd place finish in the Allstate 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway at the weekend, will be replaced for a number of the remaining events by two-time NASCAR Cup series champion Terry Labonte, while the teams Busch Series drivers JJ Yeley and Denny Hamlin will share driving duties in the meetings where Labonte isn't due to compete.

"This was a difficult decision," team president JD Gibbs said. "Everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing had high hopes for Jason and the #11 team, but our performance wasn't meeting the expectations all of us set forth at the beginning of the year.

"It hasn't been for lack of effort, as Jason is a talented race car driver who worked incredibly hard and was terrific with our sponsor.

"With an experienced veteran in Terry Labonte, the #11 will benefit from his 25 years of Nextel Cup racing, and ideally, climb higher in points. In looking toward next year, JJ Yeley and Denny Hamlin will get some valuable seat time at the Nextel Cup level that will allow us to build the #11 into a race-winning contender for 2006 and beyond.

"We want to thank Hendrick Motorsports for allowing Terry to assist us with the #11 team. In planning the future of the #11 team, we looked around the Cup and Busch Series garages and decided that the two best talents were already driving for us. JJ and Denny are exceptional race car drivers, and we felt it was important to give each of them a shot at Nextel Cup."