Greg Biffle's car was forced behind the wall after an incident on pit road. Credit: Autostock

Kenseth, Biffle have strong runs ended early

Kenseth loses tire, Biffle has problem on pit road two laps later

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- A two-lap stretch of Saturday night's Subway Fresh 500 ended possible top-10 runs for Roush Racing drivers Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle.

On Lap 167, Kenseth's No. 17 Ford was in sixth place when it slammed hard into the Turn 3 wall after a right front tire went down. Kenseth was fine, but ended up with his second 42nd-place finish of the season.

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 Standings, click here Race RewindWatch a condensed version of the Subway Fresh 500 from Phoenix Victory LaneKurt Busch celebrates his Subway Fresh 500 victory at Phoenix Top finishersMichael Waltrip, Jeff Burton and Dale Jr. on Phoenix finishes Final lapsWaltrip can't catch Kurt Busch in a chase for the checkers Tough luckBiffle and Kenseth have their luck run out in Phoenix Big wreckJohnson spins Stewart, starts a five-car wreck on Lap 206 Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

"I think we blew a right front tire," Kenseth said. "I didn't have any problems with it all day. I don't know if we ran something over and blew a tire.

"We were going to be ... anywhere from a fourth- to seventh-place car today and just popped a tire. It's disappointing. It was a hard hit, wrecked our good car and another bad finish."

On the very next lap, the tight Phoenix pit road caught second-place Greg Biffle as his No. 16 Ford clipped the back of Mike Bliss' No. 0 Chevrolet during pit stops. A portion of Bliss' bumper stuck into Biffle's grill and punctured his radiator.

"(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. Obviously, I didn't catch him until he was coming across my nose.

"His rear bumper bar went through my radiator, ... took the radiator out and lost the water."

The damage was severe enough to force Biffle into the garage for a replacement radiator. By the time he returned to the track, Biffle was 26 laps down. However the engine expired shortly thereafter, leaving Biffle 41st, one position better than teammate Kenseth.

"We didn't realize the water went out of it that fast," Biffle said. "It ran about three laps and burned the engine up."

Biffle, who started the night 135 points behind Jimmie Johnson, dropped to third in the standings behind race winner Kurt Busch, 208 out after Johnson faded to 15th.

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

"But you know, that's what happens. That's racing. We go on to next week and see if we can win."