Greg Biffle: "What happened (at Homestead) is what I'm capable of as a driver and what Doug is capable of as crew chief." Credit: Autostock

In Review: Greg Biffle

This is the fourth of our driver reviews for 2004. This month, NASCAR.COM will review the top 20 drivers.

Wednesday: Rusty Wallace.

Greg Biffle

If a driver is indeed only as good as his last race, then Greg Biffle is the best of them all.

Biffle concluded a roller-coaster season by winning the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, helping him move up four places to 17th in the Nextel Cup standings and bookend a year that started with another first-place effort -- the pole for the Daytona 500.

As the only non-Chase for the Nextel Cup driver to win twice in 2004, Biffle should have ranked higher. But a multitude of accidents, blown engines and inconsistency kept Biffle from challenging for the Chase.

Still, the victory in the season finale gives Biffle and his No. 16 Roush Racing team plenty of momentum for the off-season and for 2005.

GREG BIFFLE •   Driver Page •   Ford Driver's Eye •   2004 Stats •   Superstore: Biffle gear ALSO •   Year in Review Archive

"It does a lot for us," Biffle said. "Our team has been this strong the second half of the season and all of the Chase races. We just haven't had some of the finishes that we feel that we should have, but this is what the team is capable of. This is what I'm capable of as a driver when we have the right racecars at the racetrack and the aero balance is correct and the engine performs like it did today.

"We feel like we've got our spot secured in the Chase for the Nextel Cup next year. I feel 100 percent confident that as a driver and (crew chief) Doug (Richert) as a leader of the 16 team, that we're going to be one of the guys in the Chase next year."

If Biffle wants to get in the Chase, he'll have to eliminate some of the problems of 2004. First of all, engines. The trouble began in the Daytona 500 when Biffle won the Bud Pole -- his first in Nextel Cup -- but had to start at the rear of the field because of an engine problem.

He rallied to finish 12th, but a bad precedent was set. Two races later, he blew another engine at Las Vegas and finished 40th. Four races after that, another engine went bad at Texas.

Credit: Autostock

Biffle had shown plenty of speed -- he'd started 13th or better in every race and finished 12th or better four times -- but was 19th in the points.

And then came the inconsistency. A broken fuel line at Martinsville, a broken transmission at California, a crash at Dover, a crash at New Hampshire. Just past the halfway point of the season, Biffle was 25th in the points.

The rumors came, too, saying Biffle was leaving for another team. Biffle wasn't happy with the performance of the team and went to Jack Roush to talk about it.

"When our program was looking dismal, I went to Jack and told him I was unhappy and was not happy driving the 16 car," Biffle said. "I felt like we weren't really given the opportunity to be as competitive as we needed to be, and he helped us get that program turned around some."

VIDEO Ford 400 Biffle wins the season finale at Homestead GFS 400 Biffle celebrates his win at Michigan •   More Biffle videos

A fourth-place finish at Pocono and a sixth-place finish at Indianapolis helped turn things around, but Biffle blew an engine at Watkins Glen.

The downward trend didn't last long, as Biffle stormed to victory at Michigan.

More good runs followed at Richmond (eighth), Kansas (third) and Dover (10th), and then Biffle closed the season with another victory at Homestead.

The year had been long, as Biffle also completed the full Busch Series schedule, but it also had been successful.

Only four drivers had more victories than Biffle. Only seven drivers had a better average starting position than Biffle. And only 10 drivers had more second-half points than Biffle.

"What happened (at Homestead) is what I'm capable of as a driver and what Doug is capable of as crew chief," Biffle said. "So we just need to have these kind of racecars everywhere we go next year, and we need to win six or seven races and be in the Chase and be a contender for the title. That's what we're capable of."