Biffle gives Ford first victory on year
August 2nd 2010 13:35
As reported by Nascar.com
With his team owner at the Mayo Clinic recovering from injuries sustained in a plane crash, Greg Biffle found the remedy for the ills of Roush Fenway Racing and Ford's racing program.
Pulling away from the rest of the field after a rain delay of more than 17 minutes, Biffle beat pole-sitter Tony Stewart to the finish line by 3.598 seconds to win Sunday's Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway.
The victory, Biffle's 15th in the Cup Series, was his first since 2008 and the first for Ford and owner Jack Roush since Jamie McMurray won at Talladega this past November.
"I wish he was here, and I'm sure he's watching, and this one's for him," Biffle said of Roush, who suffered injuries to his face and eye when he crash-landed his plane Tuesday night in Oshkosh, Wis. "It's been really tough. We worked so hard."
Roush released a statement calling it a "proud day" for the entire organization.
"They've done a wonderful job and this is just the beginning of the rewards that have resulted from all of their hard work," he said.
Biffle said Roush called him in Victory Lane and the owner said, "he never met somebody that had the will to win like I do."
"I'm glad he thinks of me like that," Biffle said. "No matter how grim the outcome can be, I'll still be digging."
Biffle won Chase races at New Hampshire and Dover in 2008 before falling into a 64-race winless drought. Biffle was winless last year for the first full season of his career. He joked in Victory Lane he had forgotten how to celebrate.
"We know we have a great team and I know I can do it behind the wheel and we were able to prove it [Sunday]," Biffle said.
Biffle's crew kept the same car after driving the No. 16 Ford to a season-high third-place finish last week at Indianapolis. Before Indianapolis, he finished 16th-20th-35th in his past three races and hardly seemed like a Chase contender.
Not now. Biffle's strongly positioned himself for a spot in the 12-driver Chase field
"The whole company needed it," Biffle crew chief Greg Erwin said. "I can't really explain what this means. I know [Roush] is with us. This is a brand-new car at Indianapolis and we brought it here because we liked it so much."
Carl Edwards, who came home third, spoke with Roush on Sunday morning and said his boss sounded in good spirits.
"He was Jack," Edwards said. "Don't mess anything up. Don't wreck. He's been through a lot this last week. He really needed that victory. That's pretty cool. I'm sure he's really hard to handle for all those nurses in the hospital."
Series points leader Kevin Harvick was fourth and Denny Hamlin fifth. Sixth-place finisher Jeff Gordon saw his bid for his first victory since April 2009 disappear when a four-tire stop under caution on Lap 167 of 200 left him mired in traffic behind cars that took two tires or fuel only. Gordon led 39 laps, second only to teammate Jimmie Johnson's 96.
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