3M Team Fights to 10th Place Finish in Atlanta; Biffle drops to 11th in Point Standings

Hampton, Ga. (September 6, 2009) – Perseverance is what got Greg Biffle and the 3M team a top-10 finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway tonight.  Biffle struggled to stay in the top 25 early in the race and went a lap down around lap 195 but he and the crew powered back with a range of adjustments on the No. 16 3M/American Red Cross Ford Fusion.  In the final three pit stops, the crew picked up a total of eight spots to put Biffle eighth for the final restart on lap 314.  Despite a bad restart due to cars bunching up in front of him, Biffle was able to drive away with a 10th-place finish.  He is now 11th in the standings but only one point behind 10th and 68 points ahead of 13th.

After running 24th and 27th in the two practice sessions on Friday and then qualifying 26th that evening it appeared that Biffle and the team had a long road ahead of them.  They, however, were up for the challenge and refused to give up at any point during the 325-lap event on Saturday night.  The pit crew gained a total of 22 positions on pit road during the course of the race and the adjustments paid off when Biffle was able to run with the top 10 in the closing laps.

Shortly after the drop of the green flag Biffle reported that the car was loose off of the corners and had no rear grip.  A caution on lap 36 allowed him to pit for four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. The crew picked up five positions in the pits sending Biffle out 20th for the restart on lap 41.  This first adjustment did not do the trick and Biffle quickly began losing positions.

Over the course of the next 140 laps, Biffle pitted four times for wedge, air pressure and track bar adjustments.  Despite all of the changes to the car, Biffle ran steadily between 25th and 30th.  A round of green-flag pit stops began on lap 183 as Biffle was running in the 25th position and he pitted on lap 184 for wedge and spring rubber adjustments as the car had become really tight. He was 22nd on the board when the green flag stops were complete on lap 192 but the leader was not far behind.

Kevin Harvick had taken the lead during the long green-flag run and got by Biffle around lap 195, putting him one lap down.  Fortunately a caution soon followed on lap 200 and Biffle was in the lucky dog position.  He took the opportunity to pit for four tires, fuel as well as wedge and shim adjustments.  The crew sent him back out in the 22nd position for the restart on lap 207.

The run that followed seemed to be the turning point in the race as Biffle began a climb through the top 20.  He made three more pit stops in the closing laps during which the team picked up a total of eight positions in the pits and gave him enough good adjustments to significantly help the handling of the 3M Ford.  He took the final restart on lap 314 from the eighth position and lost only two positions after the cars bunched up in front of him.  In the end, Biffle and the team persevered by taking a top-20 run and turning it into a top-10 finish.

“I’m glad we picked the right way to go on this thing because we were in big trouble.  It just worked out.  I hate it that Mark Martin spun his tires on the last restart and cost us probably three finishing spots and right now those spots are critical.  I don’t know what else to say.  I gave up two spots and didn’t get any of them back.  There just wasn’t enough time but it was a good run there at the end.  The crew was awesome tonight and that helped get us where we finished.”

Greg Biffle and the 3M team dropped to 11th in the Sprint Cup point standings following their 10th -place finish at Michigan.  They are 569 points behind leader Tony Stewart but only one point behind Mark Martin in 10th.  They hold a 68-point advantage on Brian Vickers in the 13th position. The 3M team will return to the track on Saturday, September 12th at Richmond International Raceway.