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Biffle and Brewco Record Top-Five Finish

 

DOVER, DE (Sept. 24) - Despite the aches and pains of a pair of crashes at Lowe's Motor Speedway earlier in the week, Greg Biffle managed to finish fifth in the Dover 200 at Dover International Speedway.  Biffle, driver of the #66 United States Postal Service Ford, started 18^th en route to his 12^th top-five finish of the season.  Having competed in only 22 of 29 NASCAR Busch Series events this season, Biffle remains 11^th in series' standings; he trails tenth place driver Jason Keller by 27 points.

 

With the start of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Chase for the Championship just getting under way, Greg Biffle spent much of last week testing at Lowe's Motor Speedway.  Unfortunately, the two-day test session did not go as planned.  After wrecking two cars, Biffle was a little under the weather when he arrived at the "Monster Mile." "The first few laps here really hurt.  This place is pretty bumpy, and it definitely didn't feel too good on my neck.  I'll get through it though," Biffle added.  With two practice sessions scheduled for Thursday afternoon and Busch Pole qualifying slated for Friday afternoon, Team Brewco had a little extra time to fine tune the #66 USPS Ford.  Unloading a car that finished second a Bristol Motor Speedway last month, crew chief Newt Moore held high expectations upon entering the weekend's events.   "A lot of people compare Dover to a big Bristol.  They are both high-banked, concrete tracks, so we felt like this car would be our best bet," Moore added.

 

After struggling through Thursday's first practice session, Moore managed to get the car where he wanted to by the end of the second session.  With track position being at a premium, Team Brewco crossed their fingers during Busch Pole qualifying.  Unfortunately, the two-lap time trials did not go as well as they had hoped.  Biffle would be forced to settle for an 18^th place starting position.  Disappointed but not discouraged, Team Brewco set their sights on Saturday's 200 lap race.

 

In typical Dover fashion, much of the field was wiped out early due to a massive wreck off of turn four.  Knowing that the track is "self-cleaning," Biffle stayed high and avoided the cars spinning towards the bottom groove.  When the smoke cleared, Biffle found himself running in the top-15.  After several other early cautions, the racers found their rhythm.  When asked how his car was handling, Biffle remarked, "I'm just a tick tight in the center of the corners.  I think we should take one round of wedge out next time in."  As the race continued under green, Biffle sliced and diced his way into the top-ten.  Waiting as long as they could for a caution, Team Brewco ultimately made their first stop of the day on lap 94 under green flag conditions.  After coming in for four fresh tires and a minor chassis adjustment, Biffle returned to racing action in seventh place.

 

With a freed up race car, Biffle wasted little time working his way towards the front.  By lap 117, the 2002 NBS champion was running in sixth place.  As the caution flag fell on lap 120, Biffle headed to pit road for his final stop of the day.  In sixth and out fourth, he was poised to make a final charge to the front in the closing laps of the Dover 200.  Unfortunately, as the laps ticked away, Biffle would once again struggle with a tight handling racecar.  As the checkered flag fell, the driver of the #66 USPS Ford crossed the finish line in 5^th place.

"Considering where we started and as much as we struggled with this car in practice, fifth place isn't too bad.  With the exception of the first few laps, it was a pretty uneventful race.  If we had had another chance to pit, we might have had something for them, but the car was just too tight on that last run.  All in all, a good effort by the guys," Biffle added.

 

Next up, Team Brewco #66 heads to Kansas Speedway for the United Way 300 on Saturday, October 8^th.  NBC and MRN will provide live coverage of the event beginning at 2:00pm EDT.