Q&A: Greg Biffle (cont'd)

Q. Would you say that the COT is not ready for 1.5 [-mile speedways] at this point?

Biffle: Well, you've got to remember that NASCAR has a motive for some of the things that they're doing. The car not turning as good is by design the objective. You know, they want to slow the cars down. They want to take some downforce away from the cars. They want to control some of those things.

So by design, you know, that's a math problem, if you will, that NASCAR is putting in front of all the teams. It's our job to figure it out. They've given us the procedure we have to follow, now we've got to figure it out.

You know, they're trying to make, in their eyes they're trying to make the cars more equal and make them more equal behind our cars, which you're only going to do that to a certain point. I don't care who you are or what you are or what you have; unless you take the body off the car in front completely, the car behind is still going to have some dirty air of some kind, you know, that car is going to make some kind of wake in the air. It's never going to make them equal.

I think by design NASCAR has given us what they've given us. Is the car not ready for that? I don't think so. I like the progression, the way they've done it. We're going to test it [at Richmond], we're going to race it at Phoenix, we're going to race it [at Richmond], we're going to race it at Dover. Are we going to have a lot figured out by the time we start testing the mile-and-a-halfs and start racing there? Yes, I think we are. So I think it's a good introduction to the way they've done it.

Q: Are guys thinking twice before they wreck someone [for the win] or is it unique circumstances or are they getting soft?

Biffle: Well, I have to go back and look at the history of the sport. I've been in that position a few times. I mean, I don't know what etiquette is. If you can just get to his rear bumper, do you just do it and take the win? I don't know what we're supposed to do. You know, I'll do whatever.

If you can bonsai down in the corner and wreck his a-- and go, you know, that's what I'll do, but there's going to be a lot of people outraged about that, I think. I'm just guessing.

I mean, are you going to spin Dale [Earnhardt] Jr. out for the win? Probably not. You're not going to spin your teammate out. But I'll tell you what, Jeff Gordon beat the daylights out of the back bumper of the 48 [Jimmie Johnson]. He didn't just touch him, he rammed him. He did everything he could without spinning him out, I mean literally spinning him out and wrecking him.

You know, Bristol is a lot faster, a lot faster. You can't really bump a guy and get away with it at Bristol because you're wrecking. So for [Jeff] Burton to -- he didn't touch [Kyle] Busch, but man, you couldn't have slid a piece of paper in there -- if he would have hit him like the 24 was hitting the 48 at Martinsville, that would be an instant crash.

You know, that's a big controversy. That's a big deal. I mean, it sounds cool and it would probably -- but after the fact, it's like, ooh, that wasn't good. That's what happens. You know, you're right there, you're right there, but it's like, man, the consequences of this are going to be huge.

And the other part about it is we're all professional, we're all racecar drivers. It doesn't take any ability to crash the guy in front of you. That takes no skill whatsoever. You could wreck that guy in front of you no matter what. That's easy. Anybody can do it. So that's not the thing to do.

Now, to bump the 48 like the 24 did, heck yeah, bump the daylights out of him. The rule I have is that he doesn't spin out. If you go in there and give him the nudge and he's up in the dirt trying to get a hold of it and get going again, more power to you; that's still dirty, you know. That's still dirty, but that's the way it is.

Q: How would you describe the state of NASCAR today? Is it at a high point right now?

Biffle: I would think so. I pay attention a little bit to what goes on with our sport, and it appears that it's still on the up-trend or it's kind of leveled off. Certainly you're always going to level at times throughout history and maybe go down a little bit, but I would say the health of it is very good right now. We've got lots of people watching.

The COT car has created some buzz and some excitement. Of course it's going to because there's a lot of unknowns. It would be like watching the space shuttle launch for the very first time. Everybody is going to be looking at that thing. Nobody knows what's going to happen with this new car, so a lot of people are interested in watching, and that's created some buzz.

Certainly I think we're advertising to a better audience. We're in front of a lot more people, and it's exciting racing. I go home and watch it on TiVo or my DVR, and it's exciting to watch.