Biffle Drives 3M Ford to 15th Place Finish at Rain-Delayed Race in Pocono; Currently 12th in Point Standings

Long Pond, Penn. (August 3, 2009) – On a sunny Monday at Pocono Raceway, the 200-lap Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 got underway after being rained out from a scheduled Sunday afternoon start time.  Biffle started 11th as the field was set by points and dropped back initially with a loose racecar. The crew worked on the car’s handling throughout the race and Biffle hung around the top 10 to top 15 for the majority of the day.  A few late-race pit decisions left Biffle in the 24th position for the final restart on lap 187.  He was able to pick up nine positions in the closing laps for a 15th-place finish.  Biffle is now 12th in the point standings but increased his distance on 13th to 101 points.

The teams got in 50 minutes of practice on Friday before the rain came and caused the cancellation of the rest of practice and qualifying.  Saturday was a beautiful day in Pocono so Biffle and the 3M team took full advantage of both practice sessions.  The team didn’t seem quite satisfied but believed they would have a top-10 to top-15 car for the race on Sunday.  Rain, however, would postpone their chance to improve upon those expectations until Monday at noon.

Biffle started 11th and lost two positions shortly after the drop of the green flag as the 3M Ford Fusion was a little too loose.  A competition caution came out on lap 20 and gave the team the opportunity to make wedge and air pressure adjustments to try to help the handling.  Biffle restarted 12th on lap 25 but soon reported that the car was tight in traffic.  After another round of adjustments during the next caution on lap 54, the team picked up three positions in the pits and the handling of the 3M Ford seemed to have improved.

A round of green-flag pit stops began on lap 85 and Biffle was running in the 10th position.  The green-flag stops were completed on lap 96 just as Biffle picked up the ninth position and the fourth caution of the day came out.  This time crew chief Greg Erwin instructed Biffle to come to pit road for two tires and a minor wedge adjustment.  When the field restarted, Biffle was in the 14th position as eight teams didn’t pit.

Biffle lost a few positions on the restart but was back up to the 11th position by the time the second round of green-flag stops began on lap 125.  When he pitted on lap 132, it was for four tires and fuel only as he was happy with the car’s handling.  Biffle was 10th on the board when the green-flag stops were complete on lap 135.  He was still 10th when debris brought out a caution on lap 165.

As he had taken two tires on the prior stop, Biffle took four tires and restarted 24th on lap 170.  He had a little trouble making up ground and pitted during the next caution on lap 176 for two tires.  The drivers behind him with four fresh tires, however, quickly made their way by and it was clear that if the opportunity arose, Biffle would need to pit for four tires.  A final caution on lap 181 allowed him just that chance.  He restarted with four fresh tires on lap 187 in the 24th position and picked up nine positions in the final 13 laps for a 15th-place finish.

“We just struggled with track position all day and made a few decisions in the pits that didn’t help,” said Biffle.  The 3M Ford was fast enough for a top-10 finish but it just didn’t work out that way today.  We dropped one spot in the points but we put a little more distance on 13th.”

Greg Biffle and the 3M team dropped to 12th in the Sprint Cup point standings following their 15th-place finish at Pocono.  They are 625 points behind leader Tony Stewart but only one point behind Matt Kenseth in 11th.  They hold an 101-point advantage on Kyle Busch in the 13th position. The 3M team will return to the track on Sunday, August 9th at Watkins Glen.