Long Day at Chicagoland Ends With 31st Place Finish for 3M Team; Currently 13th in Point Standings

Joliet, Ill. (July 11, 2009) – After a solid top-five run last year at Chicagoland Speedway, Greg Biffle and the 3M team had high expectations heading to the track this weekend.  Their performance this time, however, fell short of their expectations as they struggled with an ill-handling racecar, a few lengthy stops and a little bad luck.  Biffle qualified 35th for Saturday night’s race and ran as high as 15th at one point before eventually going two laps down.  At that point, it looked as though the team still might salvage a 25th-place finish but the handling of the 3M Ford again became an issue and Biffle was relegated to a 31st-place finish.  He is now listed as 13th in the point standings but only trails Kyle Busch in the 10th position by 13 points.

Despite the team’s success at Chicagoland last year, it was clear after the first practice that it would take some work to run that well again.  Biffle went out 11th for qualifying and turned in what would be the 35th-fastest lap in time trials on Thursday evening.  Things went a little better during practice on Friday and Biffle seemed hopeful that they would have a decent run on Saturday night.

After starting near the rear of the field, Biffle picked up four positions before the first caution flag flew on lap 39.  He had reported that the car was tight and pitted for four tires, a wedge adjustment, a track bar adjustment and an air pressure adjustment.  As the team’s usual catchcan man was out for knee surgery, the team had a temporary substitute filling in and he had a little trouble during the first stop.  Biffle had to return to pit road on the next lap so the team could finish fueling the car and he restarted 34th on lap 42.

Biffle made his way up to 23rd after the adjustments and was running in that position when a round of green-flag pit stops began on lap 92.  Biffle pitted on lap 94 for four tires, fuel, a track bar adjustment and an air pressure adjustment.  Unfortunately, this time the catchcan man dropped the catchcan and a drive-thru penalty was enforced.  Biffle was running 35th when a caution for debris came out on lap 131.

After some discussion, Biffle opted to stay out during the caution to take advantage of the new wave-around rule with the double-file restarts to try to get back on the lead lap.  This plan would work if a caution came out shortly after the restart.  Unfortunately, that did not happen and Biffle was forced to pit under green for fuel and adjustments on lap 149.  He returned to the track one lap down in the 35th position.

Biffle was running 25th when another round of green flag stops began on lap 184 and as he had pitted more recently than the leaders, he stayed out in hopes of a caution.  He was running 15th when it was clear that he would have to pit for fuel on lap 196.  When he returned to the track, he was two laps down in the 30th position.  Biffle again drove the 3M Ford up to the 25th position which is where he was running when a caution for debris came out on lap 210.

As Biffle had been running some of the fastest laps on the track, the team contemplated staying out again for the wave-around in hopes of getting a quick caution.  At the last minute, however, Biffle darted down pit road for four fresh tires and fuel.  He restarted 28th on lap 215.  As he was two laps down, however, and everyone could make it on fuel, the best he could do was to be the first car on his lap. 

Biffle managed to do that for several laps but quickly began to lose ground with an ill-handling racecar at the end of the race.  When the checkered flag dropped, he was credited with a 31st-place finish.

“It was one of the most frustrating races of my career,” said Biffle.  “I really don’t know what to say.  The 3M Ford was fast after several rounds of adjustments but we just couldn’t get back any of the track position that we lost in the pits.  We’re a better team than this.”

Greg Biffle and the 3M team dropped to 13th in the Sprint Cup point standings following their 31st-place finish at Chicagoland.  They are 599 points behind leader Tony Stewart but only 10 points behind Matt Kenseth in 12th.  The 3M team will enjoy a weekend off before returning to the track on Sunday, July 26th at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.