Greg Biffle and crew chief Doug Richert have had a rough go of it in recent weeks. Credit: Autostock

Biffle cautiously confident as 'Dega looms

Plate program solid, but Lowe's practice crash leaves him sore

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Considering what happened last week during testing at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Talladega has become even more important for Greg Biffle's title hopes.

Biffle, arguably the best driver on the high-banked speedways all season, nearly lost his favorite car in a 170-mph testing crash last week. The crash also banged him up -- he is still sore as he prepares for 500 miles at Talladega on Sunday.

Credit: Autostock

Inside the Numbers Greg Biffle on restrictor-plate tracks Date Track Start Finish Feb. '03 Daytona 27 21 April '03 Talladega 33 22 July '03 Daytona 30 1 Oct. '03 Talladega 36 24 Feb. '04 Daytona 1 12 April '04 Talladega 18 15 July '04 Daytona 9 31 Oct. '04 Talladega 12 28 Feb. '05 Daytona 23 25 April '05 Talladega 29 13 July '05 Daytona 18 36 First victoryBiffle gets his first win in the 2003 Pepsi 400 Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

It may help that Biffle unloaded as the best Roush car at Talladega. His favorite car is intact for next week's race at Kansas, but the team had to completely rebuild it from the ground up.

"We will take that car to Kansas. I have won about all my races with it. It's my best car," said Biffle, who qualified eighth at Talladega. "Originally, we wrote that car off completely. It was going to be a total loss how hard it hit."

Biffle will need to maintain momentum heading into the critical October stretch. He won five of the season's first 15 races, but he has been shut out of Victory Lane since then.

While Biffle's best chances for winning lie at the high-banked speedways, his success at the restrictor-plate tracks is often overlooked.

Part of the reason Biffle is overlooked at Talladega is because he is still looking for his first top-10 here in five tries. Biffle already has a win on a restrictor-plate track -- he won at Daytona in July 2003, than backed that up by winning the pole for the 2004 Daytona 500.

"My guys work really, really hard on the restrictor-plate program," said Biffle. "The best plate car I ever had was when I won the pole for the [Daytona] 500 and then got caught speeding on pit road. Gave the 500 away."

Biffle enters Talladega just 23 points out of the championship lead, but he is sixth in the standings. A top-10 on Sunday is certain to gain ground at Talladega, which usually serves as a roadblock for handful of title contenders.

As documented as Talladega's multi-car accidents are, it is also a place that can strain motors, and a blown engine virtually assures a finish of 30th or worse, a fact that Roush Racing is very aware of.

In 2003, Matt Kenseth saw a huge points lead cut in half when he suffered a blown engine at Talladega.

None of that is lost on Biffle, who says Roush's engine program for the plate tracks is vastly improved.

"We have a little better engine," said Biffle. "We have made some improvements, we have made 10 horsepower improvement in the body, the suspension and the engine and that usually reflects speed."

His game plan for Sunday is nothing different than anyone else's.

"Just stay out of trouble and run in the top 10," he said.