Biffle Takes Third in Kansas; Moves Up to Eighth in the Point Standings

KANSAS CITY, KAN. (October 4, 2009) – By the time the green flag dropped on Sunday in Kansas, Greg Biffle and the 3M team felt confident they had a top-15 car and that maybe they could get a top-10 finish out of it with some work.  They surpassed their own expectations when Biffle took the lead early in the race and went on to lead the most laps before taking a third-place finish in the end.  The top-five finish moved Biffle up to eighth in the standings where he is only 114 points out of the lead.

After being unable to crack the top-10 in practice, Biffle and the team knew they had a top-15 car and if they were able to make the right adjustments during the race, they could probably get a better finish out of it.  Biffle qualified 31st on Friday so they knew it would be a long drive through the field to that top-10 finish they were shooting for on Sunday.   Fortunately, the 3M/Sherwin Williams Ford Fusion far exceeded their expectations shortly after the start of the 267-lap event.

Biffle had already picked up six positions when the first caution came out on lap two.  He was happy with the handling of the car and did not pit.  On lap five he restarted 25th and gained another eight positions before a round of green-flag stops began on lap 52.  Crew Chief Greg Erwin instructed him to bring the 3M/Sherwin Williams Ford to pit road on lap 54 for four tires, fuel and a minor air pressure adjustment.

When the round of green-flag pit stops was complete on lap 61, Biffle was in the 13th position; a gain of four spots by the crew in the pits.  He was running 12th when a caution on lap 69 gave him an opportunity to use some pit strategy.  Erwin informed the team it would be a two-tire stop and Biffle came out of the pits with the lead for the restart on lap 74.  He was able to maintain the lead until Jimmie Johnson got by on lap 91.

On lap 118, another round of green-flag pit stops began and just as Biffle had committed to pit road on lap 125 Brian Vicker spun and brought out a caution.  The 3M Pit Bulls completed the stop and when green-flag racing resumed on lap 130, Biffle had the lead.  He quickly reported, however, that the car was way too loose and dropped back to third which is where he was running when Elliott Sadler made contact with the wall on lap 147 and brought out another caution.

Biffle again took the opportunity to pit for two tires and fuel along with a wedge adjustment to try to tighten the car up a little.  He restarted in the lead on lap 151.  This time he kept the lead for a full green-flag run despite reporting that the car was just a little too loose.  On lap 202, Biffle pitted under green for four tires, fuel and a minor wedge adjustment.  He was right back in the lead when the green-flag pit cycle was complete on lap 209 but he would not be able to make it to the end of the race on fuel.

A timely caution came out on lap 236 when Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had an engine failure and it was time for Biffle and Erwin to make a decision.  Some teams would likely take only two tires to gain track position but the 3M pit crew was so good that they could put on four without losing many spots.  Erwin told the crew it would be a two-tire stop as Biffle entered the pits but changed the order to four before they had finished with the right-side tires.

Biffle restarted fourth on lap 241 behind Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson who had all opted for only two tires.  He quickly got by Kahne and Johnson but Stewart was able to get a jump on the pack and took a strong lead.  Biffle informed the team that the car was just too loose as Jeff Gordon got by on lap 254.  Despite a charge from Juan Pablo Montoya, Biffle was able to keep the third position until the checkered flag.

“We had a really good day,” said Biffle. “It felt good to run back up front again. Quite a bit different, obviously, a lot different set-up than what we’ve normally run, so I wasn’t sure what I was going to have. But, you know, it’s the first time I’ve really been able to run the top as well. So, maybe we found out what some of these other guys have been doing that we haven’t. It feels good. Company‑wide we ran pretty good today – [Jamie] McMurray did and we did, and I see Carl [Edwards] finished 10th, and I saw Matt [Kenseth] was running well before he had an engine problem. It was a good day for the company today and a good day for us. I feel bad – at the end I wanted to take four tires and the crew chief wanted to take two, and I decided I wanted four. That was probably the wrong thing to do.”

Greg Biffle and the 3M team moved up to eighth in the point standings with their third-place finish in Kansas.  They are currently 114 points behind leader Mark Martin but only 11 points behind Jeff Gordon in seventh and 47 behind Tony Stewart in fourth.  The 3M team will return to the track on Sunday, October 11th at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.