Greg Biffle and 3M Team Gain Eight Positions in Point Standings After Third Place Finish in Texas

Denton, Texas (April 5, 2009) – After three rough weeks at the racetrack, Greg Biffle and the 3M team were looking to make a comeback at Texas and that’s exactly what they did.  Biffle qualified 14th and was solidly running in the top 10 by lap 15.  He took the lead on lap 117 and kept if for the next 100 laps (other than green flag pit cycles).  Biffle and the team opted for four tires during a stop on lap 221 when others didn’t pit or took two and fell back to seventh.  They made their way back up to fourth when a lugnut problem led to a long stop on lap 252.  Biffle restarted 11th and picked up eight spots before the end of the race for a third place finish.  The top-five finish moved the team up eight positions to 15th in the point standings.

While Biffle was not at the top of the speed charts after every practice leading up to Sunday’s race, he was running some of the most consistent lap times of all of the Sprint Cup competitors.  He and crew chief Greg Erwin spent a lot of time going over setup changes and seemed confident with the 3M Ford Fusion on raceday.  Biffle had earned a starting spot on the outside of row seven during time trials on Friday afternoon and was looking forward to making a fast ascent to the front of the field.

Biffle was able to gain positions with ease from the time the green flag dropped.  By lap 15, he was running in the top 10 and on lap 63, he made his way into the top five when he passed Jeff Gordon.  He had reported that the car was a little tight but a wedge adjustment during a green flag stop on lap 52 seemed to have helped.  On lap 96, the first caution flag of the day flew for debris as Biffle was running in the third position.  He pitted for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment.  The 3M crew sent him back out in the second position for the restart on lap 102.

On lap 117, he passed teammate Matt Kenseth for the lead and maintained it until he pitted under green on lap 153 during a green flag pit cycle.  When the cycle was complete, Biffle was back in the lead on lap 156.  He kept the top spot for the next 53 laps until another green flag stop was necessary.  The crew again sent Biffle out with the lead when the pit cycle was complete. 

On lap 219 Marcos Ambrose had an engine problem and brought out the third caution of the day.  After some discussion, Biffle and Erwin decided to go with four tires and fuel.  Several other teams went with two tires only or didn’t pit at all.  When green flag racing resumed, Biffle was seventh in the running order. 

With just over 100 laps remaining, Biffle began a steady climb through the field and was running fourth when a caution on lap 250 allowed him to pit for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment.  There was a problem with the lugnuts on the right-side wheels and the stop took longer than planned.  Biffle returned to the track in the 11th position for the restart.  It was the only time during the race that the 3M crew lost any positions on pit road to another team that took on the same number of tires. 

The field restarted on lap 258 and Biffle picked up five positions before the final caution of the race on lap 303.  He pitted for four tires, fuel, a wedge adjustment and an air pressure adjustment.  The crew picked up two positions in the pits and sent Biffle out fourth for the restart on lap 308.  Just after the restart, the field got bunched up and Biffle lost a position to Kenseth.  A few laps later, Biffle regained the fourth spot and set his sights on Tony Stewart for third.  With two laps remaining he overtook Stewart for a third place finish.

“It’s really, really hard here to fight your way back on track position,” said Biffle. “It’s difficult when you restart 12th or 13th, because you really start 26th, because you’ve got all the cars on the inside, a lap down, as well. It just takes time to get back up through all that traffic. We worked our way all the way back to fourth, third and in 15 more laps, I think we would’ve passed the 48 and then a little while longer we could’ve gotten then 24. But, I just ran out of time, lost track position, and weren’t able to capitalize on it. We had the fastest car today, it looked like, and not always does the fastest car win.”

Following their third place finish in Texas, Greg Biffle and the 3M team moved up to 15th in the Sprint Cup point standings.  They are 379 points behind points-leader Jeff Gordon but only 60 points out of the top 12.  The 3M team will have next weekend off and return to the track on April 18 at Phoenix International Raceway.