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Biffle turns Chase upside-down
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| Winner Greg Biffle comes in for a last change of tires and tops off with gas during the NASCAR Sylvania 300 auto race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., on Sunday. ASSOCIATED PRESS |
Sylvania winner goes from ninth to third place.
By JENNA FRYER
Associated Press
LOUDON, N.H. — With a “textbook pass” on NASCAR’s two-time defending champion, Greg Biffle vaulted from long shot to legitimate title contender.
Biffle passed Jimmie Johnson with 12 laps to go Sunday to win the Chase for the championship opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
It snapped a 33-race
winless streak and thrust him into the thick of the title hunt. He moved from ninth to third in the Sprint Cup Series standings.
“He won the last two years, been the champion, and we have to beat those guys in order to get that Sprint Cup trophy,” Biffle said. “We have to beat those guys. That’s what we’re here to do. Hopefully nine more times we can at least compete with him or finish in front of him.”
Although few expected Biffle to be a factor in this championship race, once qualified for the 12-driver field, he never counted himself out — assuming he could make it out of New Hampshire intact.
“I felt like we were a
definite threat for the Chase if we made it because of the momentum we’ve had and how good the (Chase) race tracks are for me,” he said. “There were some that I was a little nervous about, and one was Loudon. We’ve gotten through the one a little better than I expected, which is here, so I feel like we’re definitely the dark horse.”
Johnson seemed to have the first round of the Chase locked up after leading a race-high 96 laps. But Biffle was saving his Ford,
hopeful that a late caution or two would give him the chance he needed to run Johnson down.
He got it when Patrick Carpentier spun late, setting up a restart with 13 to go. Biffle slid past Johnson on the next lap to grab the
surprise win and leave Victory Lane with a noted swagger. It was his first victory since Kansas last September.
“They named me ‘The Biff’ and then they said I was a dark horse. Now I don’t know what else they’re going to call me,” he said. “The horse rode today, didn’t it?”
Johnson finished second and said he knew Biffle would make a run on him after David Ragan and Carpentier brought out a pair of cautions with less than 20 laps to go.
“Short runs is what hurt me the most. I felt a little vulnerable, and sure enough he got by,” Johnson said. “But the big picture, second place is not a bad day at the office.”
Edwards finished third and was followed by Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. as Chase drivers swept the top five spots.
Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr., neither eligible for the Sprint Cup title, finished sixth and seventh.
Chase drivers Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top 10.
Kyle Busch, the regular-season points winner, struggled from the start in a disaster of an opening race. He broke the sway bar on his Toyota just minutes after it began, and struggled to keep his car off the wall as he tried to nurse it to the mandatory first caution at lap 35.
He barely made it and fell two laps off the pace — one lap because of a penalty — and restarted in 43rd place. He was in a later wreck and finished 34th, 12 laps down.
After starting the Chase with an 80-point cushion, he tumbled all the way to eighth in the standings. Still, no one was counting out the most dominant driver this season.
“We just have no clue what’s going to happen with the races to come,” said Johnson, who finished 39th in the 2006 Chase opener but rallied to win his first title.
Harvick, Gordon and Matt Kenseth round out the top 12.
Biffle passed Jimmie Johnson with 12 laps to go Sunday to win the Chase for the championship opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
It snapped a 33-race
winless streak and thrust him into the thick of the title hunt. He moved from ninth to third in the Sprint Cup Series standings.
“He won the last two years, been the champion, and we have to beat those guys in order to get that Sprint Cup trophy,” Biffle said. “We have to beat those guys. That’s what we’re here to do. Hopefully nine more times we can at least compete with him or finish in front of him.”
Although few expected Biffle to be a factor in this championship race, once qualified for the 12-driver field, he never counted himself out — assuming he could make it out of New Hampshire intact.
“I felt like we were a
definite threat for the Chase if we made it because of the momentum we’ve had and how good the (Chase) race tracks are for me,” he said. “There were some that I was a little nervous about, and one was Loudon. We’ve gotten through the one a little better than I expected, which is here, so I feel like we’re definitely the dark horse.”
Johnson seemed to have the first round of the Chase locked up after leading a race-high 96 laps. But Biffle was saving his Ford,
hopeful that a late caution or two would give him the chance he needed to run Johnson down.
He got it when Patrick Carpentier spun late, setting up a restart with 13 to go. Biffle slid past Johnson on the next lap to grab the
surprise win and leave Victory Lane with a noted swagger. It was his first victory since Kansas last September.
“They named me ‘The Biff’ and then they said I was a dark horse. Now I don’t know what else they’re going to call me,” he said. “The horse rode today, didn’t it?”
Johnson finished second and said he knew Biffle would make a run on him after David Ragan and Carpentier brought out a pair of cautions with less than 20 laps to go.
“Short runs is what hurt me the most. I felt a little vulnerable, and sure enough he got by,” Johnson said. “But the big picture, second place is not a bad day at the office.”
Edwards finished third and was followed by Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. as Chase drivers swept the top five spots.
Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr., neither eligible for the Sprint Cup title, finished sixth and seventh.
Chase drivers Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top 10.
Kyle Busch, the regular-season points winner, struggled from the start in a disaster of an opening race. He broke the sway bar on his Toyota just minutes after it began, and struggled to keep his car off the wall as he tried to nurse it to the mandatory first caution at lap 35.
He barely made it and fell two laps off the pace — one lap because of a penalty — and restarted in 43rd place. He was in a later wreck and finished 34th, 12 laps down.
After starting the Chase with an 80-point cushion, he tumbled all the way to eighth in the standings. Still, no one was counting out the most dominant driver this season.
“We just have no clue what’s going to happen with the races to come,” said Johnson, who finished 39th in the 2006 Chase opener but rallied to win his first title.
Harvick, Gordon and Matt Kenseth round out the top 12.
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