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Biffle Leads Laps, Gets Knocked Out of Race

 

SPARTA, KY (June 18, 2005) - Greg Biffle, driver of the #66 Duraflame Quick Coals Ford, started 21^st and finished 30^th in the Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway.  Biffle, who was making his first NASCAR Busch Series "stand-alone" event start of the season, led six laps late in the race before making contact with Tyler Walker on lap one hundred and eighty-eight.  Greg Biffle, who has competed in thirteen of sixteen NBS events, remains ninth in series' standings.

 

When it comes to pulling "double-duty," Greg Biffle has more experience than anyone.  With Nextel Cup Qualifying and Busch practice, qualifying, and a three hundred mile race all scheduled for Saturday, Biffle had his work cut out for him, commuting from Michigan International Speedway to Sparta, KY and back.  With the help of veteran driver, Jay Sauter, Biffle was able to qualify his Cup car, before making the trip south to participate in the Meijer 300.  Sauter, who has made four starts at the 1.5 mile facility, practiced the #66 Duraflame Quick Coals Ford in preparation for Saturday afternoon's time trials.

 

"Jay did an outstanding job getting this car ready for Greg.  Fortunately for us, he likes to drive a loose race car.  Jay really knows his stuff, and we owe him a lot of thanks," crew chief Newt Moore added after Saturday morning's practice sessions.

 

By early afternoon, Biffle and a small army of other drivers arrived at Kentucky Speedway in time for Busch Pole qualifying.  Having had no practice time in the #66 Ford, Biffle cautiously made his qualifying run which was good enough for a twenty-first place starting spot.  "Let me first start by saying that Jay did a great job preparing this car.  I definitely could have gotten more out of it, but didn't want to do anything stupid.  Without any laps in the car, I didn’t want to go 100% and be surprised by anything.  We'll work our way to the front in no time," Biffle said after qualifying.

 

At the drop of the green flag, Greg Biffle wasted little time working his way through the field.  "This car is right on, Jay did an awesome job getting this car ready- thanks guys," Biffle radioed while running in eleventh place on lap ten.  Despite having one of the fastest cars on the track, Team Brewco elected to pit earlier than the rest of the field.  After receiving four fresh Goodyears and a spring rubber in the left rear, Biffle restarted the race in thirty-fourth place.  "The car was pretty loose out there, so we made the decision to add a spring rubber.  That can take a lot of time, so we thought our best bet would be to pit early, take our time, and get it out of the way," Moore added. 

 

While many drivers would be flustered by the loss of track position, Greg Biffle looks at it as another challenge and an opportunity to race more cars.  In an impressive display of skill and determination, Biffle raced his way back to the front of the field in less than twenty laps.  As the rest of the field headed to pit road for their first stop of the day, Biffle took over the lead on lap forty-six.  The 2002 Series champion managed to hold off his competitors for six laps, before giving up the lead on lap fifty-two.

 

After a series of pit stops and long green flag runs, Biffle found himself in sixth place with less than twenty-five laps remaining.  With momentum on his side, the thirty-five year old driver was poised to make his final run towards the front.  Unfortunately, as luck would have it, contact with the #38 Dodge would ultimately cost Team Brewco a solid top-five finish.  "I had ten maybe fifteen miles per hour on him (Tyler Walker).  He pointed for me to pass him on the inside, and as I was making my run, he came down on me.  I don't know what he was thinking.  It blows my mind.  We had at least a second place car, and the way things were going- anything could have happened," a frustrated Biffle added.

 

Never a group to give up, Team Brewco worked hard to get the #66 Duraflame Ford back on track in order to gain valuable points.  Unfortunately, Biffle lost control of the severely damaged car on lap one hundred and ninety-five and made hard contact with the wall, ending their night five laps early.  "We probably shouldn't have gone back out, but there were so few laps left in the race we figured we could ride around and gain a few points.  That was a pretty hard hit... I'm going to be sore tomorrow".

 

Next up, Team Brewco #66 heads to The Milwaukee Mile for the SBC 250 on Saturday, June 25^th.  FX and MRN will provide live coverage of the event beginning at 9:00pm ET.