Greg Biffle ran into significant trouble on pit road halfway through the Subway Fresh 500. Credit: AP

Sunoco Pit Move: Phoenix

Pit Story of the Race

One trend in NASCAR in recent years is the increased durability of the rear end of the cars, but the front end remains an Achilles' heel.

After last week's event at Texas, which features one of the larger pit roads on tour, several drivers had problems at Phoenix, which has a small and curvy pit road.

The pit road at PIR features two bends. Credit: Getty Images/Robert Laberge

Greg Biffle saw a sure top-five finish disappear at Phoenix when he ran into the back of Mike Bliss on pit road. The incident, which occurred on Lap 167, saw Bliss' rear bumper guard puncture Biffle's radiator.

While the incident meant a DNF for Biffle, it didn't bother Bliss that much -- he finished a lap down.

"The 0 (Bliss) was trying to get in his pit box and I was leaving my pit box," Biffle said. "I'm not sure if he didn't see it or he started turning real late or was going slow."

Biffle's Ford was drained of water, which cooked the engine. Instead of gaining ground on points leader Jimmie Johnson, who finished a lackluster 16th, Biffle fell 208 points behind.

No one is immune to pit-road trouble

Ironically, Biffle had been hit from behind by Tony Stewart during the first round of full-field stops.

Sunoco Pit MoveBiffle gets hit in the pits and Busch picks up track position Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Stewart was behind Biffle during the round of stops on Lap 68 when Biffle checked up on pit road. Stewart slammed into Biffle's bumper, opening up a huge hole in the front of Stewart's Chevrolet.

"Biffle and I pulled out and had already got our stops done, but I think there were some cars that were still coming in," Stewart said. "One of them stopped in front of Greg and he had to check up and then we ran into the back of him."

Stewart didn't lose water like Biffle did, and the team was later able to make repairs.

Return of the no-tire strategy

Both Brian Vickers and Michael Waltrip opted to stay out during the final caution. Both of their cars performed adequately on the old tires, but Waltrip's was exceptional.

Results Subway Fresh 500 Pos. Driver Make 1. Kurt Busch Ford 2. Michael Waltrip Chevrolet 3. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 5. Brian Vickers Chevrolet Complete results, click here Nextel Cup Standings, click here

Waltrip lost no ground during the final run -- he restarted second and finished second -- but one has to wonder if he could have stayed with Kurt Busch, who restarted ninth with 73 laps to go with four fresh tires.

It took Busch less than 30 laps to go from ninth to the lead on the new tires, and he hinted that he was glad Waltrip hadn't taken four.

"I'm surprised that we weren't able to pull away with the fresher tires over his older tires," Busch said. "That shows how good his team was."

Busch's crew outstanding

Busch's pit stops were mistake-free all night long.

ALSO Pit Move of the Week:  Archive

He stayed in the top-10 for the entire race, and they got him out of the pits ahead of Vickers during a key round of stops on Lap 208.

Quotable

"Freak accident on pit road. How do you know that the bumper bar of the other guy's car is going through your radiator on pit road? Just impossible odds for something like that to happen."

-- Greg Biffle, on the Lap 167 pit road crash that ruined his night

"A glitch on our last pit stop really hurt our chances for a great finish."

-- Joe Nemechek, who finished 10th after running as high as third with less than 100 laps to go