Roush expected big season from his drivers

Owner believes best may be yet to come for dominant team

DOVER, Del. (AP) -- Jack Roush figured his drivers would have an outstanding season. Greg Biffle has been fishtailing around everyone's expectations.

Biffle's victory Sunday in the MBNA 400 at Dover International Speedway -- his fourth for Roush Racing this season -- was the sixth for the organization, and Jack Roush believes it won't stop anytime soon.

	Roush celebrates a Busch Series victory this year with Mark Martin. Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Roush Racing in 2005 Category Stat Starts 65 Wins 6 Top-5s 16 Top-10s 29 Poles 0 Avg. Start 16.5 Avg. Finish 16.1

NASCAR's aerodynamic rules change has set his table for a feast: All five of Roush's drivers prefer race cars with loose chassis setups.

"I'm bragging for Greg and all the drivers," he said. "These guys can do it, and it's going to be awesome to watch them the rest of the year."

Biffle's win pulled him within 46 points of Nextel Cup pacesetter Jimmie Johnson. The victory was Biffle's first at Dover and seventh of his career.

Could he be the third different driver in three years to reward Roush with a championship?

After a strong finish last season, Biffle expected his team to be formidable, but said he kept quiet because he didn't want to seem arrogant. Now, after the series-leading fourth victory, he's not bashful about saying seven wins would not be an unreasonable goal.

He believes that strength will continue to be proven with some of his better tracks from last year still pending this season.

"We cleaned their clock at Kansas," he said. "We were just murdering them like we did at Michigan and Homestead.

"We were so fast there, you know, Pocono, Michigan, Indy and Homestead."

Next Sunday, it will be Pocono Raceway, where Biffle hopes to lead another Roush effort.

Until this year, Biffle was largely overlooked among drivers for Roush Racing, which also fields cars for NASCAR great Mark Martin; series champion Kurt Busch; former champion Matt Kenseth and exciting youngster Carl Edwards.

But Biffle, 20th and 17th in the final standings in his two years on the circuit, leads them all this season.

Biffle said the Roush organization's tightknit approach is behind its success. For example, his car wasn't so good leading up to the race Sunday -- until Kenseth's team gave it with a new shock package.

"That's what teamwork is all about," Biffle said.

He did make one decision on his own -- to take four tires on his final pit stop under green while most of the others were saving time by taking two.

"I said, 'I want four tires, and I don't care what happens,"' he explained. "I was prepared to put four on and race for the win."

Biffle started second because rain prevented qualifying Friday, forcing the field to be set by car-owner points. He bided his time during the first half of the race, then passed Elliott Saddler for the lead on Lap 241.

After that, the field became strung out, allowing Biffle an open track with few traffic problems. He wound up leading a race-high 150 laps on the high-banked concrete oval.

It was the fourth straight finish for Biffle in the top six, including a victory last month at Darlington.

Roush had another magnificent day, taking four of the top nine spots in the field of 43. The organization's only real competition this year has been Hendrick Motorsports, which has five wins between Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

Biffle's Ford beat the Chevrolet of Kyle Busch by 4.281 seconds. Martin was third, followed by Johnson in a Chevy and Rusty Wallace's Dodge.

Brian Vickers, Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Sadler completed the top 10.

Gordon was spun out early in the race by Tony Stewart, and the four-time series champion wound up 39th, falling six positions in the standings to 11th, 350 points behind Johnson.

The event marked the halfway point toward the 26-race cut, after which only the top 10 drivers or those within 400 points of the leader will contest the championship over the final 10 events.