Saturday nights NASCAR Banking 500 capped off another weekend of frustration for Greg Biffle and the No. 16 Roush-Fenway Racing team, most of which wasn’t his fault yet again.
A week after being swept up in a late race crash at California and finishing 20th, Biffle headed to Lowe’s Motor Speedway with high hopes at a chance at a good run and an opportunity to move up from seventh spot in the standings.
The No. 16 Ford Fusion was fast in Thursday’s practice and many thought Biffle had a car that could contend for the pole. But when it came time to qualify Biffle admitted he made a mistake on his qualifying lap that put him 23rd in the starting lineup.
"I just overdrove it,” Biffle said. “I drove it in the corner like I thought I needed to run a flat and I was just too hard. I tried to do a second lap, but the car was just a little too tight.”
Despite his mid-field starting spot, Biffle felt he still had a car that could contend and after the green flag fell Saturday night, Biffle methodically worked his way through the field and was running in the top five thanks primarily to a two-tire stop during a caution period on lap 120.
He would start to fade around lap 168 of the 331-lap race, but the team continued to work on the car. However a breakdown in communication with the team cost Biffle spots on the racetrack. Despite that Biffle was working his way back towards the front in the second half of the race.
But just like California the week prior, as the laps wound down Biffle was caught up in a spin. On lap 312 he was part of a four wide group as Tony Stewart shot by on the bottom of the track. Coming out onto the front stretch David Stremme slammed the outside wall and Ryan Newman tapped Biffle when Newman tried to avoid Stremme. Biffle was sent spinning through the grass along the frontstretch.
While there was minimal damage to the Ford, there was very little time for Biffle to work his way through the field and he finished 17th.
"I had a really good car,” Biffle said. “We lost our track position there because of a little miscommunication about what we wanted to do and never got it back. We possibly could have finished in the top five if we hadn't given up track position."
As in weeks past though, Biffle was able to at least maintain his seventh place standing the points primarily due to the misfortunes of other drivers in the Chase. The worst news for Biffle is he is now 268 points behind Jimmie Johnson who won Saturday night. The gap, while not mathematically eliminating him, pretty much assures Biffle he will not be the champion this season.
"We're just fighting for the highest spot in points we can finish,” Biffle said. “Which isn’t looking bad for us right now considering the 42 had problems and the 99 and the 83. Our goal is to finish as high in points as we possibly can and if that's one, two, three, four or five, that's what it is."
Click here for our extensive Chase coverage with reports on all 12 drivers in this years Chase!
Comments