Biffle Drives 3M Ford to Best-Ever Talladega Finish; 3M Team Moves Up to Seventh in Standings
November 2, 20098:34 AM
Talladega, Al. (November 1, 2009) – Most of the time Greg Biffle’s goal at Talladega is just to get out of there with the car in one piece. This weekend he far surpassed those expectations when he was able to hang on for his first-ever top-five finish at Talladega in a Sprint Cup car. After starting by points, Biffle hung with the lead pack early on then dropped back about midway through the race. He was running 15th when a multi-car incident with only six laps remaining brought out the red flag. However, during the caution laps before green-flag racing resumed, several drivers ran out of fuel and Biffle was third on the board for the green, white, checker restart. He was fourth when the drivers took the white flag just as a final caution came out and that would be the final result. The top-five finish moves Biffle and the 3M team up to seventh in the point standings.
Following the two practice sessions on Friday, Biffle seemed happy with the 3M Ford. At that point, he would have been content with a top-10 finish but he and crew chief Greg Erwin planned to do their best with pit strategy to try to better that expectation. On Saturday the rain came and caused the cancellation of qualifying for the sixth time this season. Biffle would start in the eighth position on the outside of row four.
Biffle hung with the lead cars early in the race and ran as high as second on lap 17 before getting shuffled back. He was running 21st when a round of green-flag stops began on lap 41 and brought the 3M Ford to the pits on lap 43 for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. He was running 17th when Kurt Busch spun on lap 50 and brought out the caution before the green-flag stops were complete.
Several drivers took the opportunity to pit but Biffle opted to stay out to gain track position and restarted fifth on lap 55. He again hung with the frontrunners until a second round of green-flag stops began on lap 42. On lap 43 Biffle pitted for four tires, fuel and another wedge adjustment as the 3M Ford was just a little too tight. Unfortunately, NASCAR determined that during the pit stop the left rear tire had gone too far into the pit box behind the 3M pit box and Biffle would have to serve a pass-through penalty.
Biffle returned to the track in the 35th position and had just gone a lap down when a caution came out on lap 104 for debris. Biffle was the Lucky Dog and pitted on lap 107 for four fresh tires and fuel before the restart on lap 108. He spent the next 30 laps running in the middle to rear of the pack and was 24th when Denny Hamlin brought out the caution with an engine failure on lap 137. Biffle took the opportunity to pit for four tires and fuel and then come in again just before the restart to top off with fuel.
When the field restarted on lap 143, Biffle was 30th on the board. He was running just inside the top 30 when a multi-car incident happened in the middle of the pack on lap 182. Biffle avoided the wreckage and when the smoke cleared, he was in the 15th position. The red flag was put out but when the cars got rolling again, it was clear that some would not make it on fuel. During the next three laps of caution before green-flag racing resumed, 12 cars in front of Biffle ran out of fuel.
Biffle restarted third on lap 189 for the green, white, checker finish and was running fourth when the field came to the white flag. As cars were wrecking a little further back, the yellow flag was also displayed at that time. Biffle would be credited with a fourth place finish as long as he had enough fuel to make it back to the start/finish line. He was able to make it with fuel to spare and scored his first-ever top-five finish at Talladega.
“It all depends on where you’re at and where you’re running,” said Biffle. “We got our track position at the end and we knew they were all gonna wreck, so we just played it smart and got through that stuff. I’m excited for Jamie McMurray. Those guys ran well. Our restrictor plate program has been getting better and better. We had a good car, but we just lost our track position there that one time and we were fighting to get it back, but it was a good run. I’m glad we avoided the big wreck.”
Greg Biffle and the 3M team moved up to seventh in the point standings with their fourth-place finish in Talladega. They are currently 340 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson but only 28 points behind Kurt Busch in sixth. The 3M team will return to the track on Sunday, November 8th at Texas Motor Speedway.
About Roush Fenway Racing
Roush Fenway Racing operates nine full-time motorsports teams, five in NASCAR Sprint Cup with drivers Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; Three in the Nationwide Series with Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards, McMurray, Ragan, Erik Darnell, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and Colin Braun; and one in the Camping World Truck Series with Braun. For more information on any of the Roush Fenway Racing teams, log onto www.RoushFenway.com. For sponsorship inquiries, please contact Robin Johnson at 704.720.4645.
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