Biffle, McMurray finally the top cars for Roush Fenway (cont'd)

"I had a great, great racecar," Biffle said. "We had great pit stops, everybody just worked really hard. This is what this team is made of. We've had about four of these runs now, but this is the first one we've finished. I feel really good about it."

After the race, however, NASCAR announced that Biffle's car failed post-race inspection because it did not meet minimum height requirements.

"The rear of the car was low. We give a quarter-inch on the low side and the car was out of tolerance," said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's director of competition. "The No. 16 due to its post-race potential infraction is going back to the R&D Center."

Pemberton said potential penalties may follow, depending on what is discovered at the Research and Development Center in Concord, N.C.

At any rate, Bristol was a huge improvement for the No. 16 team from a week ago at Atlanta, where Biffle finished 41st after being spun by David Reutimann with less than 100 laps to go. The top-five moves Biffle 11 spots up in the point standings to 16th heading to Martinsville, a track where he hasn't been successful. In eight races there, his best finish is 17th.

But for Biffle, he thought he had the car to win Sunday, and some indecision inside the team may have cost him the opportunity to challenge for the victory.

"[Crew chief] Pat [Tryson] called me to take four tires [when the caution came out with 14 laps to go] and I was about a foot past the commitment line and I didn't want to try and chance it," Biffle said. "It's unfortunate because I think we could have won possibly.

"We had a really good car on the short run and the long run, but we'll never know."