Texas Weekend

[Darnell99Fan]

~Race2Win

Dickies 500 - Greg Biffle Notes

Greg Biffle
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series: Dickies 500
Sunday November 4
3:00 PM Eastern – ABC/PRN

Fast Facts

In the spring race at Texas, Greg Biffle lost only four positions in the pits when the team changed the battery and fought back for a sixth place finish.
Biffle has three top-five finishes and four top-10 finishes in eight NASCAR Busch Series starts at Texas Motor Speedway as well as one win and three top-five finishes in five NASCAR Craftsman truck Series starts.
Biffle finished 22nd last week at Atlanta and currently sits 15th in the point standings, 81 points out of 13th.
This weekend Biffle will run a black and red Jackson Hewitt Tax Service paint scheme.

Greg Biffle
Team: No. 16 Jackson Hewitt Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Greg Erwin
Chassis: RK-431 California 1 – Finished 15th, Michigan 1 - 38th, Chicago – 11th, Charlotte 2 – 27th

Biffle on racing at Texas Motor Speedway:
“Texas is a track where it seems like I either run really well or really bad. It’s the type of track where we typically run well but for some reason, we seem to have bad luck there a lot. This spring we had a battery issue and had to change a battery during the race. We ended up with a sixth place finish but it took a lot to get there. Winning at Texas is a little different than winning anywhere else because you get the set of cowboy hats for the whole team and then they give the driver a set of pistols. Those are pretty cool and they always remind you of a win in Texas.”

Crew Chief Greg Erwin on racing at Texas Motor Speedway:“We’re taking the car we raced at Charlotte a few weeks ago to Texas this weekend. It is very similar to the car we won with at Kansas and raced at Atlanta last weekend. We’ve even made a couple of more changes to it since the Charlotte race to make it even more identical to the Kansas car. I know these guys would love to get another win before the end of the season and Texas is a place where we feel like we can pull it off. Greg has shown that he can run well at Texas if we can give him a car he can race with and we stay out of trouble on the track. I wouldn’t mind a new cowboy hat myself, so we’ll head to Texas just like we will Phoenix and Homestead, ready to bring home a win.”

[Darnell99Fan]

~Race2Win

O'Reilly Challenge - Greg Biffle Notes

Greg Biffle
Texas Busch Fast Facts

GREG BIFFLE
Team: No. 16 3M Ford Fusion
Owner: Jack Roush
Crew Chief: Eddie Pardue
Chassis: RK-347 – this car last ran at Lowe’s two weeks ago

Biffle on racing in Texas:
“I love racing at Texas so I’m looking forward to this weekend. The guys have really been busy getting this car ready after it was damaged in Charlotte a few weeks ago. This car has been strong everywhere we’ve taken it, but we’ve always had something happen to keep us from winning. We lost an engine at Texas and had a flat tire at Lowe’s when we ran this car in the spring races. Then we got caught in that wreck at Lowe’s in the fall, so hopefully this weekend things will go our way for a change at Texas.”

Crew chief Eddie Pardue on racing in Texas:“The 3M team did a great job of turning this car around very quickly to get it ready to race in Texas. This car should have won at Charlotte two weeks ago, until Greg got caught up in the wreck with Clint Bowyer. When he climbed out he told us he wanted this car to go to Texas so the guys have really worked hard over the past two weeks. It was strong at Texas in the spring and I expect it to run well again this weekend.”

Fast Facts:

Greg Biffle has three top-five and four top-10 finishes in the Busch Series at Texas in eight starts.
Biffle has completed 89.9 percent (1368 of 1522) of the laps in his Busch races at Texas. His average starting position is 9.9 and finishing position is 15.4.
Biffle has led 35 laps in a Busch car at Texas.
Biffle will be racing RK-347. This car last ran at Lowe’s in October where it won the pole, but finished 30th after an accident. The team also took it to Lowe’s in May, Texas in April, Chicago and Dover in September.

[Darnell99Fan]

Biffle’s Day in Texas Goes Up in Smoke
Greg Biffle and the #16 Jackson Hewitt Ford Racing Team
Texas Motor Speedway/November 4, 2007


Denton, Texas (November 4, 2007) – After fighting an uphill battle for most of the race, Greg Biffle and the No. 16 team found themselves in the garage with a charred Jackson Hewitt Ford Fusion on lap 298.  At the start of the race, handling was the issue.  By the time that seemed to take a turn for the better, Biffle was already a lap down.  Shortly after getting his lap back, Biffle reported a loose wheel and pitted twice under green.  Then, just as it seemed that they might get out of there with a top-20 finish, Biffle spun through the frontstretch grass on lap 232 and then got loose and spun into the wall on lap 298.  The collision with the wall ignited a fire under the car and ended the day early for Biffle and the team.  Biffle walked away with a 33rd place finish and is now 16th in the point standings.

Biffle qualified 23rd for the 334-lap event and started on the inside of row 12.  Shortly after the drop of the green flag, he reported that the car had no rear grip.  He pitted during the first caution on lap 16 for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment.  NASCAR ruled that he had made a commitment line violation and Biffle brought the Jackson Hewitt Ford in for a stop-and-go penalty.  Biffle restarted 39th on lap 18 and slowly began to pick up positions.

When the third caution came out on lap 28 Biffle was in the 34th position.  He pitted for four tires, fuel, and air pressure adjustment and repair to the front valance.  Biffle restarted 40th on lap 32.  A fresh set of tires with adjusted air pressures during a pit stop on lap 37, however, seemed to do the trick and Biffle began making up ground.  When a round of green flag stops began on lap 74, Biffle was in the 32nd position.  He pitted on lap 88 and was 28th when the green flag stops were complete on lap 93.

As the leaders had gotten by, however, Biffle was the third car one lap down.  A caution on lap 118 allowed him to pit for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment.  Gasman Rick Machcinski was injured during the stop when he was struck by a tire from the team pitted next to the 16 pit.  Machcinski was treated and released from the care center and returned to the pit area to support the team although he was unable to gas the car for the remainder of the race.

Biffle took over the Lucky Dog position and was able to get his lap back on lap 131 when a caution came out.  He pitted for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment and returned to the track in the 22nd position for the restart on lap 140.  On lap 155, however, Biffle reported that he thought he had a loose wheel and made an unscheduled pit stop on lap 162 for four tires and fuel.  The wheel became loose again, however, and Biffle was forced to pit under green on lap 180 for four tires and a wheel spacer to try to prevent the wheel from getting loose again. 

Due to the unscheduled stops, Biffle found himself three laps down in the 32nd position when a wreck on lap 218 collected several racecars and brought out a caution.  Due to the number of cars involved, Biffle picked up several positions under yellow and restarted 26th on lap 224.  Unfortunately, however, the handling of the Jackson Hewitt Ford had once again become nearly unmanageable and Biffle spun coming off of turn four on lap 232.  There was no severe damage so after four fresh tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment, Biffle restarted 27th on lap 237.

Biffle had made his way up to 23rd when he spun again.  This time, however, he made contact with the wall and a fire ignited under the car.  Biffle climbed safely from the car and was taken to the care center where he was evaluated and released.  Biffle was credited with a 33rd place finish.

With the 33rd place finish at Texas, Biffle and the team dropped to 16th in the Nextel Cup point standings and trail 13th by 143 points.  They are only eight points behind Casey Mears in the 15th position.  The team will return to the track on Sunday, November 11th at Phoenix International Raceway.

About Roush Fenway Racing

Roush Fenway Racing is NASCAR’s largest team operating 14 motorsports teams, five in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup with drivers Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; five in the Busch Series with Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards, McMurray, Ragan, Todd Kluever, Michel Jourdain Jr. and Danny O’Quinn Jr.; and three in the Craftsman Truck Series with Edwards, Peter Shepherd, Travis Kvapil, Erik Darnell and T.J. Bell; and one in the ARCA/REMAX Series with Colin Braun and Darnell.

~RFR

[Darnell99Fan]

A Win Eludes Biffle Once Again at Texas
Greg Biffle and the #16 3M Ford Racing Team
Texas Motor Speedway/November 3, 2007


FT. WORTH, Texas (November 3, 2007) –   It was a familiar scenario for the No. 16 3M team Saturday afternoon at Texas.  Greg Biffle had a fast car, took the lead with 59 laps to go and pulled away from the field.  With 35 laps to go Biffle told the team he had a flat right-front tire and he was coming to the pits.  Biffle and the team had seen this play out several times this season, except this time the tire was not actually flat.
     
The 3M team spent many hours rebuilding the car they brought to Texas after an accident at Lowe’s Motor Speedway last month when it looked as though Biffle would win.  After starting 20th, it did not take long for Biffle to work his way to the front of the field.  The car was tight early, but a pit stop on lap 22 for wedge and air pressure adjustments helped the handling tremendously.
     
Biffle restarted in 16th place on lap 27, but moved into the top 10 by lap 52.  He continued his forward progress and was up to sixth by lap 80.  As the field began green-flag pit stops, Biffle took the lead on lap 90 before coming to the pits for new tires, fuel and a slight air pressure adjustment on lap 91.  Once the field cycled through he was in fourth place on lap 93.
   
The car was a bit free, so a caution on lap 129 brought Biffle into the pits for what was supposed to be their final stop of the race.  With four new tires and a track bar adjustment, Biffle returned to the race in second place.  He took the lead on lap 141 and began to pull away from the field.  No other driver was running lap times comparable to him.
     
Unfortunately the fastest car does not always win.  On lap 166 Biffle thought he had a flat right-front tire, a problem that has plagued him in the Busch Series this season.  He gave up the lead to pit for right-side tires, but the team could not find any problem with the tire.  Biffle lost a lap which he was never able to regain since there was not another caution for the remainder of the race.  He finished 16th, the first car one lap down.
     
“I don’t know what happened,” Biffle said.  “Nobody feels worse than I do.  We must’ve run over a tear-off or something.  I came off of turn two just sailing along, in the groove, I mean I was even running low, and the thing just took off for the fence.  I lifted off the gas and stepped on the brake just a little bit, and I missed the fence by probably half an inch.  I instantly knew that the right-front tire went flat, you know, or I ran over something.  So I came down pit road and they didn’t see anything wrong with it, but if I had gone barreling off into turn three and just run right into the fence, it would ruin the car and all that, and that wouldn’t have been the smart thing to do either.  So, I guess I should’ve half-speeded it down there in three and four.  We were already out of it at that point, so even if I would’ve run a slower lap, let’s just say it was flat, and came back around, that probably should’ve been the thing to do, just to make sure.”
     
The No. 16 3M team maintained its position and is still 15th in the NASCAR Busch Series owners’ point standings.  The next race will be on Saturday, November 10 at Phoenix International Raceway.  It will be televised live on ESPN2 at 4:30 p.m. (EST).


About Roush Fenway Racing

Roush Fenway Racing is NASCAR’s largest team operating 13 motorsports teams, five in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup with drivers Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; five in the Busch Series with Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards, McMurray, Ragan, Todd Kluever, Michel Jourdain Jr. and Danny O’Quinn Jr.; and three in the Craftsman Truck Series with Edwards, Peter Shepherd, Travis Kvapil, Erik Darnell and T.J. Bell; and one in the ARCA/REMAX Series with Colin Braun and Darnell.

 

~RFR