Biffle grabs his first pole this year in Atlanta

Biffle grabs his first pole this year in Atlanta
Racing series NASCAR-CUP
Date 2007-10-26

By Nancy Knapp Schilke - Motorsport.com

As the season winds down and the focus is on the final four races in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series in this year's Chase for the Cup, Greg Biffle brighten up his evening to grab his first Bud Pole in 2007 and his first ever at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

"That was a lot of firsts. A first for Atlanta, a first for the season," smiled Biffle. "I'm kind of surprised we don't have a pole here. We run very well at Atlanta and enjoy coming here and racing. Our car was really fast right off the truck."

Turning a flying lap of 28.807 (192mph) on the 1.54-mile oval, Biffle and his Roush Fenway Racing Ford will be in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway in February 2008.

For Biffle, outside of his one win this year, the season has been quite dry much like the state of Georgia but today he put that in the past when he earned his fourth Cup career pole -- his first since May 2006 -- plus his own drought in the results column has been disappearing over the past five races including the much needed victory in Kansas.

"If I would have known I was gonna run this good, I would have gotten married about five years ago (laughter)," said Biffle who recently married his longtime girlfriend. "That'll teach me. I waited way too long. I might have been working on my second or third championship by now. I'm pretty excited about it. We've been running good before and after."

He had to wait patiently for his qualifying run as he was number 36 in line as one of 48 challengers that wanted to make the 43 car field. Biffle had to wait as he watched others lay down fast speeds. He knew he had the car after the earlier practice session.

"I was somewhat concerned when Kurt Busch went. I knew that was really, really fast lap he put up and then Dale Jarrett right after him. Nobody else seemed like they picked up speed. I knew the 48 was fast and some other guys, so I was concerned with what the track was doing," commented Biffle. "Was the track actually picking speed up, so when I went out to make my run, I knew three and four was gonna be the key getting up to speed to get the green, so I probably left a little bit too much out there. The car just went around the bottom so good in three and four, it was unbelievable. I thought to myself, 'Geez, I wish I wouldn't have slowed down that much getting in,' but once I took the green, then I knew the track was good and really drove it off into one a long ways and the car kind of took a set and was right back to the throttle quickly. In three and four I didn't come out of the gas all the way, it just felt like the car stuck so good down there that it was gonna be still sticking to the race track. I came off at about a quarter throttle is all -- off the floor -- and kept the throttle down down there, so it was just a great lap. The car handled so well. The track had so much grip that I'm surprised there weren't more guys down in those 28.80's or 90's."

Kurt Busch came oh so very close with what is one of the closest gaps between the top two in qualifying this year. Clocking his fast lap at 28.811 (192.655mph) in his Penske Racing Dodge, Busch missed the pole by 0.004 seconds!

"It was a great lap that the car drove. I was ecstatic with the lap at the time that I did it. Not so happy right now with the way that it all shook out. The car was great," Busch said. "It was set up by the crew and they did a phenomenal job to allow me to go out there, stand on the gas hard and hope for the best. I thought our qualifying draw would hurt us in the beginning but then it seemed to play out to where the track was fairly even for everybody. Maybe even a little slower at the end. Congratulations to the Biff he put a great lap together."

As one of the 12 chasing for the coveted Nextel Cup at the season end, Busch thought he had done the trick and stolen the pole position. Still he starts on the front row for Sunday's race with the hope score some much needed points as he sits tenth in the standings.

"With starting second we will be outside pole. That will give us a great opportunity to get the car out in clean air and run that first run within the top two positions. It will give us a good pit box selection. We won't get that first one. The first one is really key at a track like this because any yellow that pops out cars are going to hit pit road," reflected Busch on why taking the pole is very important. "I thought we had the speed to get the pole but just a little shy in our Dodge tonight."

The surprise came from a former champion who recently announced his final race in the premier NASCAR series will be at the Charlotte Lowe's Motor Speedway All-Star Shootout in May 2008. Over the season, Toyota keeps improving and today, Dale Jarrett landed the third fastest time in qualifying.

"I think we just took over the upset of the year from Appalachian State when they beat Michigan by qualifying third. We can't leave everything to college football these days -- we have to do something," expressed a delighted Jarrett. "It's been that kind of year because you just don't know what to expect."

Jarrett, who races for Michael Waltrip Racing, landed in the second row with a fast time of 28.927 (191.755mph), 0.116 seconds slower than Busch who set his time as third man out, Jarrett was fifth in the qualifying order.

I'm really happy for the guys and for UPS as they are based right here in Atlanta. We're running the Toys for Tots car in conjunction with the Marines -- it's real special for me to run that paint scheme and to do well with it here tonight," added Jarrett.

Fastest in practice was Kasey Kahne whose Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge was 0.009 seconds off Jarrett's best lap. Kahne peeled off a 28.936 (191.595mph) to land fourth on the grid.

Dale Earnhardt Inc (DEI) announced today that they will continue their relations with General Motors and the top Chevy in qualifying was that of Dale Earnhardt Jr in the famous No. 8. His lap of 28.952 (191/489mph) to slot fifth for Sunday's race start.

Alongside Earnhardt is the defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. With a best lap of 28.996 (191.199mph), the Hendrick Motorsports racer who is second in the points landed sixth fastest in qualifying. Johnson, Burton Smith, Hendrick and sponsor Lowe's have announced donations to help the survivors of the California fires via the Red Cross.

The points leader and Johnson's teammate was eighth fastest. Jeff Gordon clocked off a 29.069 (190.719mph). Outside of Busch, Johnson and Gordon, the rest of the 12 contenders for this year's top prize were outside of the top 15 in qualifying with Clint Bowyer (26th), Tony Stewart (30th), Carl Edwards (16th), Kyle Busch (19th), Kevin Harvick (34th), Denny Hamlin (18th), Jeff Burton (28th), Martin Truex Jr (20th) and Matt Kenseth (17th).

With the title on the line, one could expect a lot of action in Sunday race on the Atlanta speedway. The three races after Sunday include Texas, Phoenix, Texas and Homestead-Miami. The final opportunities to move in on the top two Hendrick Motorsports drivers is closing in, leaving no room for driving errors or mechanical failures.

The green flag for Sunday's race will wave at 2:00pm (EDT).

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