Biffle baffled by late handling problems in all-star race
By Rea White - Associate Editor
Sunday, May 18, 2008
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CONCORD, N.C. – Roush Fenway Racing’s Greg Biffle thought he had things covered. He led the final 11 laps of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star race’s third segment, benefiting from a radical change to his car that allowed him to move freely about the track.
He stormed past the frontrunners and pulled away once his car broke free of the pack. But the third stanza of the four 25-lap segments would be his best moment to shine. Taking two tires in a mandatory stop before the final 25 laps, Biffle found himself battling a different car once more – one that was eerily similar in that it had the handling problems he’d faced earlier in the race.
So Biffle settled for second Saturday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, generally a solid finish but one that meant little in this non-points showdown.
Biffle admitted that his was a mediocre car for much of the night, but he found speed late in the race and quickly moved to the front. He said that his team used the 10-minute break between the second and third segment to look at what teammates Matt Kenseth and Edwards were doing with their cars.
“[We] made some adjustments to our car – pretty aggressive,” he said. “We wouldn’t have done something like that in a normal race and loosened it up a bunch. When the green flag dropped, I mean, man alive, I could not believe how fast my car was. It was unbelievable. I could just drive it anywhere – on the mat – drive it in the corner and just hold it to the floor.”
He moved into the front and thought he could hold on. But when the field pitted for a mandatory stop between the third and fourth segments, Biffle found himself emerging with a quite different handling car.
“I was so fast out front and we put two tires on it and it just killed it,” Biffle said, not sounding as disappointed as that might suggest. “I’m not sure why … It’s disappointing. Really gut-wrenching that we had that thing that fast and thought we had it one. Great confidence for the 600 next week.”
He didn’t play into second-guessing the two-tire call made when the field had a mandatory pit stop entering the final segment, either.
“We just felt like two tires was a no-brainer and our car is so fast and we put two on it and it just didn’t happen,” he said.
Biffle said that after the restart “ the tires just chattered” and he found his car was way too tight – just like it had been earlier in the race. Still, while he was disappointed to finish second in a race where running first is really the only thing that matters, Biffle found the
positives in the performance.
“I’m just excited that we ran that good and really excited for next week for the 600,” he said. “This was a big confidence boost for our team.”
Still, he lefr the track a little baffled by the turn of events in the all-star race.
Although his team gained confidence and experience that could aid them in the 600, he still left Lowe’s wondering what might have been – and how things went from so good to so bad so quickly.
“I think we got a good idea of what that much adjustment we did is going to do,” he said. “What kind of blows our mind is that we didn’t change anything and put two right-side tires on it and it just went way back tight again. It’s hard to put your finger on it.
“It’s a moving target, but, yeah, now that I know what that did, certainly, that’s an option for us in the race and the 600 and everywhere else – Kansas, Chicago – any kind of track like this.”
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Greg Biffle
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