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Sprint Cup
CUP: Greg Biffle Speaks His Mind On SPEED TV
Sprint Cup Series points leader shares viewpoints with Steve Byrnes, along with NASCAR analysts Larry McReynolds and driver Elliott Sadler.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader Greg Buffle celebrates his win at Michigan International Speedway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver and current point’s leader Greg Biffle, winner of this past weekend’s race at Michigan International Speedway, joined the NASCAR Race Hub team as SPEED celebrated the show’s 500th episode (show premiered on Oct. 12, 2009).
Biffle, who drives the No. 16 Ford for Roush-Fenway Racing, along with host Steve Byrnes, NASCAR analysts Larry McReynolds and driver Elliott Sadler were in the Charlotte studio to talk about the latest issues, including his thoughts on the title chase and how Matt Kenseth’s departure could affect Roush-Fenway Racing.
Here are the highlights from tonight’s show…
…On Carl Edwards, Roush-Fenway Racing’s season thus far and teammate Matt Kenseth leaving at the end of the season.
Byrnes: …Carl Edward’s is in trouble in terms of making ‘The Chase.’
Biffle: Carl’s in a spot, you know. I think he could have done a little more on that restart (at Michigan), maybe pushing that (No. 2) car (Brad Keselowski) up there…
Byrnes: …yeah, he never got going.
Biffle: …or coming down to the inside there. He’s got to get it done. He’s good at Bristol (Tenn.), he’s good at Atlanta and he’s good at Richmond (Va.), so he’s got three solid chances to win a race, and he’s definitely been running good enough lately. Now, I feel good about the 16 team, how well we’ve done this year, having been the leader at Roush-Fenway, and provided a lot of technology for our teammates. It came back this weekend, with Matt (Kenseth) helping us a little bit on speed. It’s a give-and-take relationship, and we’ve all done our part.
Byrnes: How bittersweet is it that, Matt Kenseth, will be leaving at season’s end? We talked briefly on the telephone the day it broke, and you said, people have no idea how much Matt contributes to the entire organization. Not to mention the fact that you guys are good friends.
Biffle: Yeah, we’re good friends, and the one thing about that, it’s not going to change. Matt and I are good friends. It’s tough that he’s leaving the organization. He does provide a lot of good information. You know, Matt and I, have driven Mark Martin’s car, Jeff Burton’s car, Carl’s car; and Matt and I are the closest driving style and set up I’ve ever been around. Of guys cars that I’ve driven, Matt and I are the closest to the feel we are looking for. I lose a little bit because he relies on me, and I rely on him. We both look at Carl’s set up and incorporate that as well. That’s going to be something that’s missed.
…On the championship
Byrnes: You said this weekend, and I’ve heard you say this before, that the media are overlooking you. I was going to say, ‘Wasn’t focused on you.” But they are actually overlooking your team; as a team that has an opportunity to win this championship.
Biffle: I know I’m not the model, best-looking star athlete out there, but they can’t overlook the team. They can overlook me as a driver, but if they overlook the (No. 16) team as a contender for this title, they’ll be mistaken. Some people say we got that win handed to us this weekend because the (No. 48; Jimmie Johnson) broke, but if you look at where we’ve been the last several weeks – where we’ve been all season – we’re knocking on the door every week. We have a few weak spots, but we’ve been knocking on the door every week, and it won’t change when The Chase comes. I promise you that.
…Mark Martin’s pit road incident…
Greg Biffle: I just saw the video, had not seen it until now, and that’s a scary thing. That’s a weak part of the race car, right behind the driver. There’s not a lot of structure there, and it looks like there’s a tremendous amount of damage, which there was to that car. It’s a wakeup call for us. To say, hey, we need to look at every aspect, like when Elliott (Sadler) had his crash in Pocono (Pa.), there are spots like that, that still exist at every track.
Steve Byrnes: Had he hit a little further back, in other words, right on the driver, would it have been a bad accident?
Biffle: You know, it probably would have been a worse accident than that. The good thing about it is, he actually wasn’t going all that fast when he hit there. That’s still pretty severe, and the wall did go in a long ways, but I think that that frame rail and those door bars… now let’s face it, Mark might have had a hurt arm or something to that effect, but I don’t know that it would have been a lot more serious than that.
…On track disagreement between teammates Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jeff Gordon at Michigan International Speedway this past weekend…
Biffle: Hey listen, I can’t call a kettle black because we’ve all been there ourselves, beating and banging. I can see what Jeff Gordon is talking about, “Junior” came up off the corner, didn’t really have room there, that’s a teammate thing. Hey, you know, let me in line… and Jeff did let him in line, but we’ve all been there before.
Elliott Sadler: I think Greg can attest to this, you get this close to The Chase, and you’re on the outside looking in these last few races, your emotions and your energy are on high alert. So any little thing, I think, can set you off.
Larry McReynolds: I do believe that has a lot to do with it with Jeff Gordon. He wins Pocono, they go to Watkins Glen (N.Y.), a place where he’s had so much success, he struggles, they finally get inside the top 10, and he hits that oil on the last corner of the last lap. Truly, they were almost searching for speed the entire weekend at Michigan. I’m sure a lot of that was about Dale Earnhardt, Jr., but I think a lot of it is just frustration across the board.
Byrnes: …don’t you have to respect the time when you have to go, and went you don’t go?
Sadler: Of course you do, but Dale, Jr., he said it correctly, and the (No. 24) was not going as fast as he was going. He felt like he could have made a move and got him in time. Usually, teammates give other teammates a little more room than everybody else. You don’t want to cause that friction, especially if you’re working together really well.
Biffle: Sometimes, you’ll chop it down a little bit. Maybe you got a bad run and the guy tries to get to the inside of you, but you know your car is really fast. I just got a little bit loose, give me a second and I’ll be out of here. Sometimes, that happens. The other thing is, in Jeff Gordon’s defense, there’s a lot of emotion inside of that car. It’s hard to pass there (Michigan), and he lost a position. Nobody wants to lose a position at any time. He’s fired up. We’re all fired up. I was fired up on Sunday, telling the (No. 48) because I knew he was listening.
Sadler: As a driver, sometimes you’re in there by yourself, and you want to key that mike and let everybody know just how really frustrated you really are.
Biffle, who drives the No. 16 Ford for Roush-Fenway Racing, along with host Steve Byrnes, NASCAR analysts Larry McReynolds and driver Elliott Sadler were in the Charlotte studio to talk about the latest issues, including his thoughts on the title chase and how Matt Kenseth’s departure could affect Roush-Fenway Racing.
Here are the highlights from tonight’s show…
…On Carl Edwards, Roush-Fenway Racing’s season thus far and teammate Matt Kenseth leaving at the end of the season.
Byrnes: …Carl Edward’s is in trouble in terms of making ‘The Chase.’
Biffle: Carl’s in a spot, you know. I think he could have done a little more on that restart (at Michigan), maybe pushing that (No. 2) car (Brad Keselowski) up there…
Byrnes: …yeah, he never got going.
Biffle: …or coming down to the inside there. He’s got to get it done. He’s good at Bristol (Tenn.), he’s good at Atlanta and he’s good at Richmond (Va.), so he’s got three solid chances to win a race, and he’s definitely been running good enough lately. Now, I feel good about the 16 team, how well we’ve done this year, having been the leader at Roush-Fenway, and provided a lot of technology for our teammates. It came back this weekend, with Matt (Kenseth) helping us a little bit on speed. It’s a give-and-take relationship, and we’ve all done our part.
Byrnes: How bittersweet is it that, Matt Kenseth, will be leaving at season’s end? We talked briefly on the telephone the day it broke, and you said, people have no idea how much Matt contributes to the entire organization. Not to mention the fact that you guys are good friends.
Biffle: Yeah, we’re good friends, and the one thing about that, it’s not going to change. Matt and I are good friends. It’s tough that he’s leaving the organization. He does provide a lot of good information. You know, Matt and I, have driven Mark Martin’s car, Jeff Burton’s car, Carl’s car; and Matt and I are the closest driving style and set up I’ve ever been around. Of guys cars that I’ve driven, Matt and I are the closest to the feel we are looking for. I lose a little bit because he relies on me, and I rely on him. We both look at Carl’s set up and incorporate that as well. That’s going to be something that’s missed.
…On the championship
Byrnes: You said this weekend, and I’ve heard you say this before, that the media are overlooking you. I was going to say, ‘Wasn’t focused on you.” But they are actually overlooking your team; as a team that has an opportunity to win this championship.
Biffle: I know I’m not the model, best-looking star athlete out there, but they can’t overlook the team. They can overlook me as a driver, but if they overlook the (No. 16) team as a contender for this title, they’ll be mistaken. Some people say we got that win handed to us this weekend because the (No. 48; Jimmie Johnson) broke, but if you look at where we’ve been the last several weeks – where we’ve been all season – we’re knocking on the door every week. We have a few weak spots, but we’ve been knocking on the door every week, and it won’t change when The Chase comes. I promise you that.
…Mark Martin’s pit road incident…
Greg Biffle: I just saw the video, had not seen it until now, and that’s a scary thing. That’s a weak part of the race car, right behind the driver. There’s not a lot of structure there, and it looks like there’s a tremendous amount of damage, which there was to that car. It’s a wakeup call for us. To say, hey, we need to look at every aspect, like when Elliott (Sadler) had his crash in Pocono (Pa.), there are spots like that, that still exist at every track.
Steve Byrnes: Had he hit a little further back, in other words, right on the driver, would it have been a bad accident?
Biffle: You know, it probably would have been a worse accident than that. The good thing about it is, he actually wasn’t going all that fast when he hit there. That’s still pretty severe, and the wall did go in a long ways, but I think that that frame rail and those door bars… now let’s face it, Mark might have had a hurt arm or something to that effect, but I don’t know that it would have been a lot more serious than that.
…On track disagreement between teammates Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jeff Gordon at Michigan International Speedway this past weekend…
Biffle: Hey listen, I can’t call a kettle black because we’ve all been there ourselves, beating and banging. I can see what Jeff Gordon is talking about, “Junior” came up off the corner, didn’t really have room there, that’s a teammate thing. Hey, you know, let me in line… and Jeff did let him in line, but we’ve all been there before.
Elliott Sadler: I think Greg can attest to this, you get this close to The Chase, and you’re on the outside looking in these last few races, your emotions and your energy are on high alert. So any little thing, I think, can set you off.
Larry McReynolds: I do believe that has a lot to do with it with Jeff Gordon. He wins Pocono, they go to Watkins Glen (N.Y.), a place where he’s had so much success, he struggles, they finally get inside the top 10, and he hits that oil on the last corner of the last lap. Truly, they were almost searching for speed the entire weekend at Michigan. I’m sure a lot of that was about Dale Earnhardt, Jr., but I think a lot of it is just frustration across the board.
Byrnes: …don’t you have to respect the time when you have to go, and went you don’t go?
Sadler: Of course you do, but Dale, Jr., he said it correctly, and the (No. 24) was not going as fast as he was going. He felt like he could have made a move and got him in time. Usually, teammates give other teammates a little more room than everybody else. You don’t want to cause that friction, especially if you’re working together really well.
Biffle: Sometimes, you’ll chop it down a little bit. Maybe you got a bad run and the guy tries to get to the inside of you, but you know your car is really fast. I just got a little bit loose, give me a second and I’ll be out of here. Sometimes, that happens. The other thing is, in Jeff Gordon’s defense, there’s a lot of emotion inside of that car. It’s hard to pass there (Michigan), and he lost a position. Nobody wants to lose a position at any time. He’s fired up. We’re all fired up. I was fired up on Sunday, telling the (No. 48) because I knew he was listening.
Sadler: As a driver, sometimes you’re in there by yourself, and you want to key that mike and let everybody know just how really frustrated you really are.
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