Biffle and Brewco Record
Season Best Second Place
Finish at Texas Motor Speedway
FORT WORTH, TX
(April 16) - Greg Biffle,
driver of the #66 Duraflame
Ford, started 8th
and finished 2nd in
the O'Reilly 300 at Texas
Motor Speedway. Biffle led an
impressive thirty-two laps, en
route to his best NASCAR Busch
Series finish of 2005.
Without a doubt the class of
the field throughout the race,
Biffle fell just short of
capturing his seventeenth
career NBS win due to a series
of untimely cautions late in
the race.
Unloading the
same car Greg Biffle raced to
a sixth place finish at
Atlanta Motor Speedway last
month, Team Brewco expected
nothing less than a victory at
the "Great American
Speedway." With practice and
qualifying scheduled for
Thursday afternoon, Team
Brewco wasted little time
setting the pace for the rest
of the field. Consistently in
the top-five, Biffle felt
confident heading into Busch
Pole Qualifying.
Despite having
an early draw in qualifying
Biffle managed to secure a
solid top-ten starting spot.
"I think you definitely have
to be brave here- especially
when you are qualifying in
race trim. My car was really
loose, but Newt Moore and the
guys did a good job bringing a
good car here and getting it
ready. I'm really excited
about that starting spot. It
was a little bit too loose to
be faster than that, but that
makes me excited for the
race."
With qualifying
behind them, Team Brewco was
able to enjoy a day off on
Friday before returning to the
track Saturday morning for the
O'Reilly 300. Having improved
their golf games and more
importantly getting some much
needed R&R, Team Brewco
anxiously awaited the start of
the two hundred lap event.
"This schedule is a little
different than what we are
used to, but I think it will
be nice for everyone to have a
day off. This year has
started off so fast- it's good
to get a little breather every
once in a while," crew chief
Newt Moore added.
At the drop of
the green flag, 2002 NASCAR
Busch Series champion, Greg
Biffle quickly showed that he
was a force to be reckoned
with. Moving into the
top-five by lap thirteen,
Biffle had no complaints
except a slight "push" in the
middle of the turn. By lap
twenty-six, the driver of the
#66 Duraflame Ford took over
the lead before pitting on lap
twenty-nine. Crew chief Newt
Moore made the call to drop
one pound of air pressure out
of all four tires to help
"overall grip." Biffle would
restart the race on lap
thirty-two from third place.
It didn't take long for Biffle
to race his way to the front
and re-assume the lead on lap
forty-seven.
When asked how
his car was handling Biffle
radioed, "Newt, this car is
awesome- so much fun to
drive. If anything, I'm a
little tight on exit. The
track is really slick." Team
Brewco made their third pit
stop of the day on lap one
hundred and fourteen.
Electing to take on four tires
while several other cars
decided to take fuel only,
Biffle would return to racing
action in third place. By lap
one hundred and thirty-five,
Biffle would once again take
over the race lead.
With fifty-two
laps remaining, Greg Biffle
headed to pit road for his
final stop of the day. A
"hung" lug nut on the left
front wheel slowed down the
stop and ultimately cost Team
Brewco several spots.
Disappointed but not
discouraged, Greg Biffle
calmly reminded his guys that
he was not going to let this
one slip away. "No worries
guys, no one has anything for
us. I'm getting ready to
drive the wheels off of this
thing," Biffle added. Despite
trouble on the pit stop, Team
Brewco still managed to loosen
up the #66 Duraflame Ford.
"I'm just a little free in the
center, but this late in the
race, I wouldn't want it any
other way," a confident Biffle
radioed.
With forty laps
left, Biffle had his work cut
out for him restarting from
sixth place. To make matters
more difficult, the #66
Duraflame Ford popped out of
gear forcing Biffle to
physically hold it in gear
while steering with his left
hand. Gear trouble or not,
Biffle was heading to the
front of the field.
Two-tenths faster than any
other car on the track, it
looked like Biffle was going
to record his first Busch
Series win of the season.
Unfortunately, a late race
caution would cost Biffle
valuable time as he chased
down race leader Kasey Khane.
Under a green-white-checkered
finish, Biffle was able to get
around second place driver
Reed Sorenson, but didn't have
enough time to catch Khane.
"The guys did a
great job. This was a really
good race car here. Newt and
all of the guys did a good job
on the Duraflame car, but we
just ran out of time. One
more lap and we would have
been able to get up there and
race with Kasey.
Congratulations to Kasey; it
was a big win for him. We
were happy to come home
second. We had a good run
today and I think we have our
program right where we need
it. Our teammate ran great, so
we're pretty excited. It's
such a pleasure to race with a
group of guys who want to win
as much as I do. I'm having a
lot of fun out there," Biffle
added after finishing second
in the O'Reilly 300 at Texas
Motor Speedway.
Next up, Team
Brewco heads to Phoenix
International Raceway for the
Bashas' Supermarkets 200 on
Friday, April 22nd.
FX and MRN will provide live
coverage of the event
beginning at 8:30pm ET.
