Catchfence

Greg Biffle - (Photo Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – LOUDON WAS YOUR FIRST RACE WITH MATT PUCCIA. HOW DO YOU THINK THINGS WENT? “I think Loudon was excellent. We really played our hand the way we should have, but, unfortunately, the way it was dealt put us in a box with our fuel economy. That resulted in an 18th-place finish, which is unacceptable for the caliber of team that we have.”

DO YOU FEEL LIKE IF YOU CAN GET THAT ONE WIN IT WILL VAULT YOU INTO A TOTALLY DIFFERENT MINDSET AS FAR AS BEING IN CONTENTION FOR THE CHASE WILDCARD SPOT? “Yeah, but at the same time it’s a real frustration because we feel like we can win every time we show up. It’s just that we haven’t gotten the opportunity or had the cards dealt to us the way they need to, so there’s a lot of frustration. And that’s what makes it even more painful is we know we’re one win away from jumping up three or four spots in the points and being there for the wild card. We’ve got fast race cars. We’ve got a competitive team. Matt is a great crew chief. Unfortunately, what it’s come down to is fuel mileage. But one of these days a caution is gonna come out with 25 or 40 to go and it’s not gonna be a fuel mileage race and then we’re gonna be there. Like Indy last year. Indy was not a fuel mileage race. It was a four-tire or two-tire strategy. We decided to take four and a lot of guys took two and that made the difference, but we finished third and we were upset about it. If we got a third today, we’d be jumping and waving our arms. That’s the difference between a year ago and now.”

THIS IS A BIG RACE ON THE SCHEDULE AND NEXT TO DAYTONA ONE THAT EVERYBODY REALLY WANTS TO WIN, RIGHT? “Yeah, and we came so close last year. We feel like we’re capable of winning it. We kind of proved that last year and we feel like we’re coming back with even a better car. Matt has done a lot of homework on it, so we feel really confident. I certainly think we can win this race. I feel good about it.”

THERE HAVE BEEN A LOT OF CREW CHIEF CHANGES IN THE LAST FEW DAYS. DO YOU SENSE THE STRESS AND PRESSURE GROWING AS THE CHASE DEADLINE DRAWS NEAR? “I think so. It was obvious that the direction we were going we weren’t gonna make the Chase. But maybe Matt can make enough difference or his voice will be heard that we’ve got to do something. The urgency is now to do something and he’s down there working on those cars until 7 or 8 o’clock at night trying to make the difference. Matt will get done anything in his power to make us the most competitive. Our engines have great power. Our cars are good and fast, so we’ll just wait and see how it all turns out.”

- PCGCampbell for Ford Racing, Press Release