Catchfence

Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion, is still looking for his first win of the 2009 season and first win at Talladega Superspeedway. He spoke about his chances for both after Friday’s practice.

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion –

HOW WAS PRACTICE? “It was exciting. I don’t know what happened. I think the 24 car got bumped
out of line or decided to quit or something going into the corner and everybody got bunched up. I hit the brakes and I got clipped in the left rear. It did a little bit of body damage, but then I looked in the mirror and they were wrecking behind us, so we’re not real sure what happened there. We’re not real sure what happened there. I haven’t figured it out. I don’t think anybody has figure it out. Anyway, the car is driving decent. Everybody seems like they’re the same speed and it’s hard. You’ve got to get grouped up to be able to
try to make a pass.”

DO YOU NOTICE ANY DIFFERENCE WITH THE SMALLER PLATE? “You can tell a little bit inside the car, but, really, from the cars around you and side by side with the way you’re driving, it doesn’t really make a lot of difference.”

HOW WAS IT BUMP DRAFTING TODAY? “I had a hard time trying to catch the guy in front of me to bump draft, but they were warning people in practice, so it was obviously working.”

DO YOU THINK THE CHANGES MADE TO THE TRACK WITH THE CATCHFENCE AND PLATE WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE? “They’re gonna make a difference in that they’re gonna keep people from getting hurt – definitely. Anything can happen at these races. What if there had been two cars beside Carl when he got hit and shoved him up higher in the air or something? Anything can happen and better to err on the side of safety, which they did here, so that’s good.”

DO YOU GO THROUGH THESE LAST FOUR RACES WITH AN EYE ON 2010? “We’re looking forward to next year. We’re trying to get the highest position in points we can this year, but we’re looking forward to picking some wins up. We think we can still win this year. We’ve got three or four more chances, so we’ll get by those and see what we can do, but we’re excited about next year.”

WHAT AREAS DO YOU NEED TO ADDRESS TO IMPROVE? “It’s a little bit of everything. Our new engine will help us a little bit, figuring out our chassis better will help us and getting to some places to do some testing will help us. We’ll be a little bit more outside box when it comes next year as far as trying stuff early in the season.”

IS IT TOO EARLY TO THINK ABOUT GOALS FOR NEXT YEAR? “Your automatic goal is to make the chase. That’s important for teams to make the chase and win races. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

WHAT’S YOUR STRATEGY FOR THIS RACE? “I’m just gonna try and find a spot that looks happy, where there’s not so much pushing and shoving. Bump drafting is fine, but you get a guy changing lines and barely squeaking in there, and guys putting tire marks because they’re going four and five wide. I might slack off a little bit from that, but I’m gonna be up in there racing and feeling what the car is gonna be like, so when it does get down to 30-40 to go that we know how it’s going to drive.”

ANY FEEDBACK ON THE NEW FR9 ENGINE? “No. I asked the engine guy and he said there didn’t seem to be any issues. It isn’t anything revolutionary. It made something like only one horsepower more, so it’s gonna be so minor that you’re probably not gonna notice it.”

- PCGCampbell for Ford Racing, Press Release