Biffle Takes Third at Dover in 3M Ford Fusion, Moves up to Ninth in Point Standings

Dover, Del. (May 31) – As the most recent winners at the Monster Mile, Greg Biffle and the 3M team were ready to defend their title this weekend in Dover.  Things were looking good after practice as Biffle was running some of the most consistently fast laps of the field.  He qualified fifth and climbed his way through the field midway through the race after an untimely yellow flag during his green-flag pit stop on lap 115.  He led for the first of three times on lap 36 and would go on to lead a total of 41 laps throughout the course of the race.  He had the lead with two fresh tires in the closing laps but both Tony Stewart and race-winner Jimmie Johnson got by with less than 10 laps remaining.  The third place finish, however, was good enough to move Biffle up one position to ninth in the point standings.

Biffle seemed happy with practice on Friday but got an early draw for qualifying that afternoon.  He was the ninth driver to take the track but was still able to turn in the fifth fastest lap of time trials.  Following the two practice sessions on Saturday, Biffle and the team remained confident and looked forward to the 400-lap race ahead of them.

The green flag dropped on a balmy afternoon in Dover and Biffle quickly got by Kasey Kahne for fourth.  He dropped back a little and reported that the 3M Ford was a little loose but then began a steady climb up to the second position.  He held the second position until the competition caution came out on lap 30.  Crew chief Greg Erwin opted for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. The 3M crew sent Biffle out second only to Eilliott Sadler who had taken only two tires.  One lap after the restart on lap 35, Biffle had the lead.

Johnson, however, was close behind and overtook Biffle just a few laps later.  Biffle maintained the second position until a round of green flag pit stops began on lap 101.  He pitted for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment on lap 115 and just as he was returning to the track, a caution came out.  It was determined that Biffle was one lap down but he was given the option to restart in front of the leaders at the tail end of the lead lap.  He chose to do that and was able to stay ahead of the leader (Johnson) until the next caution on lap 163 when Juan Pablo Montoya cut a tire.

Biffle had reported that the 3M Fusion was getting a little tight and Erwin opted for four tires, fuel, a track bar adjustment, an air pressure adjustment and a spring rubber adjustment.  Biffle restarted 20th on lap 169.  He began to quickly make his way through the field but stalled the climb around the 15th position as he reported that the car had no grip.  The crew adjusted on the car again on the next pit stop and those adjustments seemed to help as Biffle made his way back into the top 10 around lap 250.

Over the next 100 laps Biffle continued to gain positions on the track and the crew continued to gain them in the pits.  He was running fourth when a caution for debris came out on lap 363 just as he had reported that the car was way too loose.  Biffle and Erwin made a strategic decision to take on only two tires along with track bar and air pressure adjustments to try to tighten the car up a little.  Biffle restarted with the lead on lap 368 and was able to maintain it until Stewart got by with eight laps to go.  Johnson soon followed and Biffle held on to third until the checkered flag dropped.

“The Nexcare Ford Fusion car was really, really good and it’s unfortunate,” said Biffle.  “We lost that race because of that caution flag and got stuck in the back.  We had to work our way back up and really didn’t know how our car was and adjusted it and adjusted it out and then back again.  Once I got out front, I was just way too loose there at the end and couldn’t hold off the 20 or the 48.  If I would have been a little bit tighter, I know I would have been able to drive off pretty good, but, it’s unfortunate.  We were back in traffic all day and had our car freed up and then we got out front and was just a little bit too loose.  It was a good day – a top three.  I’ve got to argue with the people that are critics of these cars not putting on good races.” 

Greg Biffle and the 3M team moved up one position to ninth in the Sprint Cup point standings.  They are 235 points behind leader Tony Stewart but 82 points ahead of 13th.  The 3M team will return to the track on Sunday, June 7th at Pocono Raceway.