BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Jack Roush and Greg Biffle are so caught up in playing catch-up on the track these days that they have neither the time nor the energy to peer very far into their joint future.

So any thoughts of throwing Biffle's name deeper into the rumor mill as far as where he might end up driving down the road might as well be put on hold. Biffle, who drives the No. 16 Ford owned by Roush Fenway Racing, already has agreed with Roush to put any serious talks about a long-term contract extension in the same state of limbo.

BP's influence

Greg Biffle probably wouldn't be driving the No. 16 Ford if not for Benny Parsons, who lobbied Jack Roush to sign the driver.

NASCAR on TNT will honor Parsons, the 1973 Cup champ and long-time analyst, Sunday during its pre-race coverage. Parsons died in January.

• TNT to pay tribute to Parsons
• Weber: Remembering BP
• NASCAR on TNT

Their dual focus right now is on getting Biffle's team more competitive. Heading into Sunday's Citizens Bank 400 at Michigan International Speedway, Biffle, who insisted he still hopes to contend for a championship this season, was 19th in points in the driver standings after 14 races.

Only the top 12 in points after the first 26 races get to participate in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

"There is not an imminent need for a conversation with Greg about a contract," Roush said. "We have a contract that is in place for 2008, and I think he's very comfortable with that and I am as well. The feeding frenzy that goes on in the media regarding contracts for the future is something that we don't want to be a distraction right now -- neither he, nor I -- as we put our performance side of our program in line so we can hopefully compete for a championship this year. What happens in 2009 isn't nearly as important to us as the testing that we just did up in Wisconsin and the other testing we have in front of us.

"Every day that you spend, every minute that you spend with lawyers and managers dealing with contracts for the future gets in the way of what you might do in the short term for improving the program. So we made a mutual agreement to put that aside for now. His involvement with the team in 2008 is not a question, and what happens in 2009 we can put aside and deal with later."

Biffle said that he knows some folks won't believe him when he says he has no intention of going anywhere in 2008 -- because in this day and age, all kind of employees in the racing business seem to be willing and able to break contracts whenever they see another opportunity they perceive as better present itself. But Biffle insisted that his intention is to stay with Roush Fenway Racing at least through 2008, and hopefully well beyond.

He also said that his team must show improvement on the track before he would be willing to sign a contract extension anyway.

"We want to strengthen our team a little better," said Biffle, who has 11 career Cup victories and finished second in points when he won a career-high six races during the 2005 season. "We need to show up at the racetrack being competitive right off the truck. We need to compete. I didn't forget how to drive at Pocono. But we were 43rd [during practice] at Pocono before qualifying. We qualified 42nd and ran 30th. And I am not going to sign a five-year extension running like that."

He said he believes that the struggles will not continue forever.

"I'm convinced that Roush Fenway has the ability to make this a championship-caliber team," Biffle said. "We have all the tools and resources we need. We have to execute it as far as the management side of things. We have to have good people. We have to get better on the technology side."

This Sunday's race will be only Biffle's third with his current crew chief, Greg Erwin -- Biffle's third different crew chief since November of last year. More importantly, at least in the eyes of Roush and Biffle, are some other not-so-subtle changes in the Roush Fenway approach to testing and acquiring data from their new seven-post shaker rig.

Roush admitted that his operation fell behind others, particularly the Chevrolet operations of Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing, during the past 12 months. All of those teams have done extensive Car of Tomorrow testing at non-NASCAR tracks on tires such as Hoosiers and B.F. Goodriches, and all have had the valuable seven-post shaker rigs installed in their shops for a year or more -- while Roush is only now beginning to test in the same manner and only recently purchased a seven-post shaker for his shop.

"The thing is, we're so overwhelmed right now," Biffle said. "Here, for Michigan, for instance, we didn't spend any time on the seven-post machine to try and get ready for this race, to learn about this racetrack or get ready. And I was talking to [Erwin] about it [Thursday], and he said, 'Oh well, we prioritize where we felt like we needed to work at.' And I'm like, 'Well, we're going to Michigan in about four hours. That's not priority?'

"But the reality is we've been working on the COT because we're so far behind over there. Or we feel like we are."

So while the focus is on catching up for the COT races, the reality is that they still need to improve in the current-car races, such as Michigan, as well. The risk they're running is falling behind in preparation for current-car events as they scramble to better prepare themselves for the remaining COT races.

No wonder there is no time to negotiate a contract extension for Biffle, who joked that he's no Dale Earnhardt Jr. when it comes to churning up the rumor mill on where he'll be driving for the long haul.

"My intention is not to leave. I'm not trying to figure out a way to leave," said Biffle, who qualified 14th for Sunday's race. "I'm trying to figure out a way to win and get in the Chase right now and win the championship. I'm focused on winning five races this season. That's what I'm worrying about. I'm not worried about where to go. I'm not at the Junior stage yet. The Junior stage is next year for me. Not this year."