Chat Transcript: Greg Biffle

Greg Biffle: Thanks for dropping by NASCAR.COM today! I am looking forward to taking your questions.

ReesaCup1660: Congratulations on winning the Diamond Hill 200! I was at Atlanta a few weeks ago and watched your great run, YEAH! How do you deal with being a celebrity? Can you still go out and do things without much of a hassle?

	Biffle is running full-time in both the Nextel Cup and Busch Series. Credit: Autostock

Greg Biffle: Yeah, I am not Dale Jr. or Jeff Gordon status yet, but I don't have much trouble. A lot more people are recognizing me now than I was expecting, but all the fans are really respectful and just say hi or congratulate me. It doesn't bother me to take a minute to say hi or sign a few autographs, so "celebrity" really isn't a big deal for me.

Biffle16: I know a lot of Roush drivers like to focus on the race more so than qualifying, yet you always appear to be at or near the top after Friday afternoons. Do you strive for that, or do you also focus more on Sunday and qualifying well is just an added benefit?

Greg Biffle: We focus our efforts just like our other teammates do. We work on qualifying setup up until qualifying, and then we work on the race setup after qualifying. We put an equal amount in, but we are just getting better at race setup over the long haul. We are pretty excited that we are on to something and will continue to run well.

Kenny: What was it like winning the pole for the Daytona 500 and then having to start in the back following an engine change?

Greg Biffle: It was pretty disappointing having to start in the back after changing the engine, but all the press was more disappointing about it. In our sport, you don't really lose the pole, but it was all over the news that we lost it and Dale Jr. got it.

He qualified third, but what happens is that they just move the row of cars up. At a race like that, it isn't that big of a deal like if we were at Martinsville and had to go to the back, but with all the press around that race, it kind of was more disappointing hearing that stuff than having to start in the back.

Nascar Joanie: Do you think NASCAR should have penalized Tony Stewart for his purposeful hits this past Sunday when he got frustrated?

	Biffle drives the No. 16 Ford in the Nextel Cup Series. Credit: Autostock

Greg Biffle: Yes. I have been frustrated 100 times before in a racecar! You get frustrated in every race and at someone every weekend. What would you do on the highway every day if someone high-beamed you or cut you off? You can't just wreck people because you are having a bad day. We get frustrated easily, but the fact is that you just can't do that.

Jimbo: Greg, does it seem like ancient history that you once raced in Twin Falls, Idaho in the Northwest Tour? I got to meet you there and even got your autograph (your last year in the NW Tour.). Do you miss it? Do you still have the chassis business?

Greg Biffle: I don't have that business anymore, although those guys do work with me now. I do miss racing those racecars, and that was my last win in that series, so I certainly remember that. I heard they might be shutting down Tri-Cities, which I raced at every weekend, and that is depressing at times when you think about it, but I enjoyed racing back there.

Scooperman15: Greg, first I would like to say I am a big fan. I am also from upstate New York, which means an annual trip to Watkins Glen. What do you think about racing on road courses, especially Watkins Glen? Also, what are your views on NASCAR Nextel Cup running some more road courses?

Greg Biffle: I have really enjoyed road racing and I think it is something our sport needs. I know a lot of people don't feel that way, but we need to do a lot of different things, and road racing is part of our sport and it is part of the heritage. Watkins Glen is my favorite track to road race on because I have won there before. I really enjoy that track, and I hope that they don't ever take that race away.

I was totally disappointed when they took the Busch Series race from there. That took the chance away for those guys coming up in the deal to get some experience before going Nextel Cup racing.

biffle_1: In the future do you see yourself as a car or truck owner in the NASCAR series?

	Biffle snagged his first Darlington victory in last Saturday's Busch Series race. Credit: Autostock

Greg Biffle: You know that has been a topic of discussion for me lately, and I have talked to my business manager about starting a truck team. I have been thinking about what I would do when I quit racing, and everything leading up to that. I have thought about a lot of things, but I don't really know what I want to do, but it is on my mind. I am not sure what I am going to do, but anything is possible!

thriller: What happened with the Grainger sponsorship that was a huge part of your career?

Greg Biffle: Grainger was in the final years of their contract and at the end of the season, we were looking for new sponsors for 2005, and in doing, we found some folks that wanted to sponsor our car right a way. Grainger made the decision to leave a year early because there was interest from other folks to sponsor the No. 16 car. That is all out of my control, of course, but that is the way the business is.

sumnerfan: Hi Greg, what do you think of getting a NASCAR track in Washington state? Where would you like it located?

Greg Biffle: I think it should be in-between Portland and Seattle. That is a perfect place. I know they have found some property, but I don't know if they found enough, but they are also looking up in the Monroe area or Merrysville. I would rather not see it that far up, but they would do better around Portland and Seattle. I do hear that it is going to happen, but it is just a matter of when now.

Harlan: With your recent test at Texas, how do you feel your chances are of picking up a couple of wins there? Good luck in Bristol and see you in Texas.

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Greg Biffle: Well, certainly I feel like I have a chance to win in the Busch car. That is what we tested there and it was really, really good. I will apply as much as I can to the Nextel Cup car when we go back there. We have a good chance in the Busch and I hope we do the same in Cup. We are taking the Atlanta car up there and I ran really well with it, so I am hoping for good things.

spankdog: Greg, are there anymore TV commercials in your future? I always get a good laugh when I see you in the Subway commercial!

Greg Biffle: Subway is talking about doing another commercial. I hope they do! I had a lot of fun making it and I get a lot of people saying they liked that one, so I am hoping we get to do another one.

bifflejunkie: Hi, Greg. Congratulations on your win last weekend and your great finish on Sunday. I would just like to know for fun, what is the most unique item that you have ever been asked to autograph?

Greg Biffle: Oh boy. Somebody asked me to autograph their prosthetic arm, if you can believe that!! That is crazy, isn't it!?

NASCAR_Cartboy: Greg, has your relationship with Kevin Harvick gotten any better over the past couple of years, or is it still like a Cowboys/Redskins rivalry?

Greg Biffle: It is still a rivalry. It is OK. We are good rivals still. On the track we are always fighting like cats and dogs. We are both real competitive people.

dlsmith: Did you ever figure out what that (thumping or vibrating) sound was on your Cup car on Sunday? You continued to complain about it during the middle part of the race. It was weird because it occurred on two consecutive sets of tires, and then went away finally.

Greg Biffle: Yeah, it was belts in the front right tires because of our camber. It was breaking the belts in the right front tires. We lost all the track position and got off our chassis adjustments with the tire shaking so much. We didn't know what to adjust on it because we didn't know what it would do without it shaking. I have had the car to beat two years in a row there, as last year I broke the fly wheel and finished 10th. I think both years I had a car I could have won with.

darlingtonfan: Greg, congratulations on winning the Busch race this weekend. I was there along with my dad and we haven't missed a race at Darlington in over 10 years. We would like to know how you feel about the talk of getting rid of Darlington and Rockingham in the future?

	Biffle celebrates his Busch Series win last Saturday at Darlington. Credit: Autostock

Greg Biffle: I think it is terrible that these older racetracks could lose these races. I do agree that we should move some races from tracks where we race twice. We can afford to give that up, but to lose the racetrack all together is pretty disappointing to me if that were to happen. There are some places like Martinsville that we go to twice that I don't feel like puts on the best racing that we could at some other tracks, but to take away one and loss a track altogether would be crazy.

Mallory: Hi Greg! Do you think that the fairly new relationship between Yates and Roush is going to become a common occurrence in Nextel Cup?

Greg Biffle: I really don't know. I hope not because that will make other teams engine programs stronger. Getting Yates and Roush together has made us a great engine product, but if DEI and somebody else were to join their programs together, it would be disastrous for us.

Biffle16: What would you say your greatest high was during your time in NASCAR and your biggest low?

Greg Biffle: I think I can start with the greatest low and that is when we missed the Las Vegas race last year with no provisionals. We just missed the final spot. My high was winning the Pepsi 400 in Daytona in July. That is the highest high I have ever had!

14dodge: Do you think there should be less field fillers in NNCS?

ALSO  Mark Martin leads the Busch Series in career wins. Greg Biffle is the 2002 series champion. Roush Racing has notched 64 victories in the series. No other team has come close to matching its dominance.  •  Complete story, click here

Greg Biffle: You know what, in my opinion, there really aren't field fillers. There may be one car here and there that is trying to race that may not have the equipment, but single car teams in our sport don't stand a chance any more.

It is hard to stress that point with people. The only way we will get 43 strong cars is for another owner to come in with multi-car teams, or if a Hendrick or Roush comes in with another car.

It is hard to compete at this level now. If it were easy, everyone would be doing. Yes, I don't agree with field fillers if that is what they are, and that is really someone that does one lap and puts it on the trailer. Those guys that are out there are doing the best they can, and not just driving around in circles. It isn't exactly what we can do, but they are learning for the next time or the next week.

And maybe next week they can run well and get better. No, I don't think it is a problem, but at what point do you call it a field filler versus a guy just trying to compete in our series?

thriller: Will you be racing any Craftsman Truck Series races any time in the future?

Greg Biffle: As far as Truck, possibly, yes, but probably not this season because of the Busch and Cup schedule I am running this season. I may run Homestead if I have the Busch Championship locked up, or if my program is pretty secured, so maybe I can run all three events down there. I would guess probably not before than, but maybe next year if I don't run a full season of Busch in 2005.

ChaCha: Congratulations on Saturday's win. Do you feel the Busch Series is as strong as it could be with the diminishing quantity of sponsors? Thanks.

Greg Biffle: Yeah, I know it is hard with the economy now to secure full-funded teams, but the competition in the series is really good. Jeff Burton and I run really well there at Darlington so we made it look easy, but Las Vegas and Rockingham had a lot of competitive teams out there. It is tough to get money right now, but the economy seems to be getting better and so has the hunt for sponsorship. It has always been tough, even since I have been racing back in 1996, to get a sponsor.

bmallen: Greg, do you have any final thoughts?

Greg Biffle: I really enjoyed chatting with all of you today, and I look forward to the opportunity to see you all at the races. I love going to the souvenir trailer to sign autographs and see all the people. I just look forward to all the fans supporting our Charter and National Guard cars this season. Hopefully you will get a chance to get out to a race or watch us on TV!