Biffle: 2-for-2 at Phoenix
By Marty Smith, Turner Sports Interactive
October 29, 2001
10:10 AM EST (1510 GMT)
AVONDALE, Ariz. -- It’s too bad that Greg Biffle isn’t competing in the Winston Cup Series race Sunday, what with him having already won two races in two days at Phoenix International Raceway.
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Greg Biffle
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Less than 24 hours after winning the Chevrolet Silverado 150 Craftsman Truck Series event at the one-mile PIR oval, Biffle manned his Busch Series machine and utterly dominated the Outback Steakhouse 200.
Biffle led a race-high 112 laps en route to his series-leading fifth win of the 2001 campaign.
“That Ford was strong all day. There were a few cars better, but not many,” said Biffle, the winner of two of the past three NBS events. “I love it here. I just wish we were racing tomorrow.”
Although Biffle is now atop the record book for rookie wins, Dale Earnhardt Jr. actually set the standard for wins by a full-time first-year driver in 1998 with seven -- his first full NBS season, but one in which he wasn’t a rookie of the year candidate.
After staring fourth on the grid Saturday, Biffle encountered an early setback when his right front tire went flat just 69 laps in.
“I was really worried about the tire,” Biffle said. “It started tearing the right front fender off, so I slowed down. I knew aero was important here.”
Biffle was forced to pit to change the tire, and subsequently lost a lap to the leaders. However, when the rest of the field pitted for scheduled green flag stops, Biffle stayed out in hopes of returning to the front.
That wish was granted on lap 113 when Larry Foyt hit the Turn 1 wall to bring out the day’s second caution.
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Greg Biffle does a burnout down the frontstretch after his win.
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Back on sequence with the leaders, Biffle checked out, putting some five lapped cars between himself and second place Kevin Harvick. Then, with 18 laps remaining Jimmie Johnson blew a right front tire to bring out the caution yet again.
The field tightened, and Biffle bobbled several times in front of Harvick. Just as he regained control of the car, he saw Harvick let a quicker Jeff Green pass him.
However, just as Green began to close on Biffle,the caution flew again, this time for Geoffrey Bodine’s violent collision with the Turn 4 wall with seven laps remaining.
Under NASCAR rules, a restart with less than 10 laps remaining is performed in single-file fashion, and this time Biffle got a great jump. From there, Green had no chance of catching him.
Biffle built a five car-length lead before the caution flew for the final time for Matt Kenseth’s wreck in Turn 2. One lap later, the race ended under caution.
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Greg Biffle took the lead for good on lap 124.
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“He snookered me a little bit there on that last restart, took off a little quick,” Green said. “He had a great car. We were a little bit better than them. Congratulations to Greg, he earned it.
"There at the end was the best the car had been all day. That car was hauling. Kevin let me go and I thought we had it from there.”
With the runner-up finish, Green was able to gain on Harvick in the championship points race, but not by much. Harvick finished right behind Green in third position.
“I can’t gain much on Kevin when I finish right in front of him,” laughed Green.
Harvick was pleased with his effort, especially the mature late-race decision to let Green go.
“That was a good day for us,” said Harvick, who now leads Green by 193 points. “Biffle had a good car all day.
"We’re going for a championship, so I was trying not to make the big mistake. I figured giving up five points was better than giving up 50 (to Green). We just let him go and it all worked out OK.
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Mike Wallace's crash was one of several cautions.
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“I’ve said and done some stupid things this year, and now I’m looking at the big picture.”
Ron Hornaday finished fourth in the No. 43 Chevrolet, his first outing in the car, while Todd Bodine rounded out the top five in the No. 11 Chevy.
In the post-race press conference, a reporter asked Biffle point-blank: “Greg, have you ever won here?”
“Well, not since yesterday,” he said.
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