Biffle remains optimistic despite COT struggles

"Winning is in your blood, don't get me wrong. I really want to win. But right now I need top-fives. A top-five at Charlotte, a fourth at Dover, another top-five at Michigan and we're right there, top-10 and we're in this thing."

That's how Greg Biffle finished our conversation Tuesday. Upbeat. Energetic. Optimistic.

He was working at his race shop outside of Charlotte. I don't think he stopped working while we were on the phone but that's OK, because as long as I have known Greg he has always been on the move.

Unfortunately, this season he has not been on the move. He is 16th in points, four spots (and 59 points) out of the final position that will make the Chase for the Nextel Cup. He was 15th at Darlington and hasn't had a top-10 finish in the last four races. In fact, he has only two top-10s in 11 races this season, fifth at Bristol and sixth at Texas.

But if you heard the tone in his voice, you would think that he finished second last week and was headed to Victory Lane this week.

"There's no give-up here," Biffle said. "I never get down. Whip me every week and I'll show up the next week tougher that nails. I have alligator skin. If Hendrick Motorsports won 10 races in a row, I would show up at the 11th race with my guns loaded."

Good thing, because that could happen.

"Damn right it could," Biffle said.

"I saw a writer on a TV talk show say 'Biffle is whining about Hendrick. They've tested 100 days and we've only tested 9 with the Car of Tomorrow.' I'm not whining. I'm stating the facts. Hey, congrats to those guys for kicking our [butt] so good. I praise those guys 100 percent because they figured out how to do it with a lot of hard work and effort. The chassis shop has built all the right pieces; the engine shop has done the job. If I can take both sides, I'll tell you I'm frustrated and impressed by what they've done."

Biffle says the Roush Fenway organization stopped working on preparing the COT because the car kept changing. The chassis, the greenhouse, they were spending time and money on a car that wasn't ever going to see the track.

"And I'm with [car owner] Jack [Roush] on that," Biffle said. "And as a driver, if you ask me to go test here or there and I'm driving a car that's never going to race, it's a waste of my time as well." (Continued)