Late improvements help Biffle to third-place finish

Greg Biffle certainly picked a good time of year to shine, and a good season to do well, too.

Biffle, who was up for a contract extension, signed the dotted line to stay with Roush Fenway Racing through 2011 in the middle of the summer, then proceeded to show why he's a valuable commodity to the organization. He did crash the next race, but then rebounded from teetering on the Chase cutoff to making the playoff and pushing to win it.

Greg Biffle opened the Chase with a victory at New Hampshire.

Without a victory entering the Chase, Biffle was placed ninth in the points with all the other competitors who were winless, 80 points back of leader Kyle Busch. That all changed at New Hampshire.

Biffle passed Jimmie Johnson to win the Chase opener and vault to third in points. He won the next week at Dover, too. But even consecutive victories couldn't bump Biffle above the two main players down the stretch -- third place is the highest he could get in the standings as everyone chased Johnson and Carl Edwards.

On the positive side of that, Biffle never fell below third. Following his two wins in the Chase, he finished in the top 12 in six of the final eight races. He led laps in all but two Chase races.

Biffle's ability to avoid major disasters in the final third of the season gave him his second top-five points finish in the last four years. In fact, he only had three finishes of 25th or worse all season, cementing his Chase status and ensuring that he would be a factor in deciding the championship.

Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway -- Sounds pretty simple that Biffle's first victory of the season would be his best race, but it's not just because of the win. Biffle stormed out of the gates in the Chase with a surprising win at New Hampshire to vault from ninth to third in the standings. What's even more impressive is that he passed Jimmie Johnson -- who had the best car all day -- on the track with 11 laps remaining to score the triumph. Biffle came into the Chase with a revamped pit crew, which had beleaguered him all season. For the playoff, key players from Jamie McMurray's team were brought in to help service the No. 16 Ford, and the changes showed immediate dividends for Biffle, who also won the following week.

Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway -- Biffle came into the midseason race in the middle of the points pack, quietly sitting eighth and within striking distance of the top five. But 70 laps into the race, Biffle made contact with Juan Montoya and crashed with significant damage. Seven laps later, he was out of the race as his crew couldn't repair the machine. The hiccup moved Biffle back to 11th in points and hanging on for a potential Chase spot. Obviously, he got it, and made the most of it.

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