Debris On Track Ends Biffle's Shot
at Three-Peat
FONTANA, CA---
Coming off of an eighth place
finish in the NASCAR Busch
Series season-opener at Daytona
International Speedway, Greg
Biffle, driver of the #66
Duraflame Ford, and his Brewco
Motorsports teammates were
optimistic heading into this
weekend's three-hundred mile
event at California Speedway.
Having swept both NBS events at
the two-mile facility last
season, Biffle was picked as a
favorite to win this year's
Stater Bros. 300.
Unfortunately, history would not
repeat itself.
After a lengthy
technical inspection process
Friday morning, Greg Biffle and
forty-seven other drivers hit
the track for the first of two
practice sessions. With
qualifying scheduled for
Saturday morning, crew chief
Newt Moore spent the majority of
Friday's practice time working
on "race set-up." "We had a
very good test out here a few
weeks ago, and really haven't
changed much since then. Right
now, we are just fine-tuning are
race package and trying to get
some more information on
tire-wear and fuel mileage,"
Moore added after Biffle posted
the seventh fastest lap in
Friday's opening practice
session.
For the second
weekend in-a-row, the luck of
the draw would have Biffle
qualifying late in the lineup.
Picked to go out forty-third
amongst forty-eight drivers,
Biffle was at a significant
disadvantage as track
temperatures rose steadily
throughout qualifying. Biffle
would start the race on the
outside of row eleven, in
twenty-second place.
"We had this car
set-up to be a little tighter
than normal, because the track
was getting warmer and warmer,
which tends to free up the
cars. Unfortunately, the track
didn't free-up as much as we had
thought, and we were a little
too tight going into turn
three. It cost us a top-five
starting spot, but I'm not
worried about it. This car was
awesome in practice and we
definitely feel like we have a
shot to win the race," 2002
NASCAR Busch Series champion
Greg Biffle added.
With qualifying
behind them, Team Brewco shifted
their attention to the
afternoon's one hundred and
fifty lap race. At the drop of
the green flag, Greg Biffle
quickly proved why he swept both
races at California Speedway in
2004. The aggressive, young
driver wasted little time moving
through the field. On lap ten,
running in fifteenth place,
Biffle radioed, "I'm a little
loose in, but this car is a
hot-rod- we are going to be in
great shape once the track
tightens up, so don't change
much, if anything."
Continuing to
work his way through the field,
Biffle's lap times were faster
than the leader as he raced his
way into twelfth position. On
lap twenty-two, he radioed, “Newt,
I think I have some trash on my
grill, the water temperature is
pegged at 280 degrees.” The
decision was made to pit on lap
twenty-three. In an effort to
cool the engine, Team Brewco
raised the hood on the #66
Duraflame Ford and attached a
high pressure
water-recirculation system to
the radiator. While the
temperature fell, it was still
dangerously high. To avoid
falling further behind, Biffle
made another lap before visiting
pit road a second time. With
the temperature still above 270
degrees, the water pump
eventually blew a seal and the
engine suffered a terminal
failure. Ultimately, a
distraught team was forced to
push the car behind the wall.
"I couldn't see
anything on the grill, but I
looked down and saw the
temperature rising. Apparently,
someone lost a windshield
tear-off and we ran into it.
Sometimes debris like that will
fly off after a while, but this
piece was stubborn, by the time
I could get to pit road the
damage was done. Newt and the
guys on this team did an awesome
job preparing this car. We were
going to have a big day, but now
we'll just have to wait a week
or two. You can only control so
much- some things are just out
of our hands," a frustrated
Biffle added after finishing 40th
in the Stater Bros. 300 at
California Speedway.
Next up, Team
Brewco heads to Mexico City for
the first ever NASCAR sanctioned
points event held outside of the
United States. Mexico City
native and road course ace,
Jorge Goeters will pilot the #66
Brewco Ford. Fox and MRN will
provide live coverage of the
event on Sunday, March 6th
at 3:00pm ET.
