Greg Biffle - Pocono II Friday Media Visit

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR POSITION NOW AND WINNING THIS RACE A YEAR AGO? “Certainly we’ve been trying hard to win a race. We’ve come close a few times and this is a place, Michigan, Bristol, Atlanta are all great tracks for us and we feel like we can win at basically any of these race tracks. We’re trying hard. We’re getting our cars driving good. That’s what we’re working on this next session and I’d love to be part of that Sprint Summer Showdown. That would be exciting for us, but just winning a race and getting in the Chase – a win doesn’t automatically lock you in, but being 13th in points, if we won a race, we would probably move up to 12th or 11th, which would put us right in that mix. We know that’s important and that’s what we try and do every week.”

YOUR REACTION ON CARL STAYING? “I didn’t know he had re-signed. He has? OK. This is the first I’ve heard of it. I think it’s great that he’s coming back to our company. I was a little skeptical, I suppose, whether he was going to figuring this is August already. I guess I’ve been through the whole thing and you’ve got to look at competitiveness and what other people have to offer and things like that, so he took his time and made a good decision I think. I haven’t really been at the shop, but I’m relieved because people won’t ask me about it anymore after today. That’s why I’m most relieved about it and to have him back as a teammate. He does a good job getting his car setup and helps. I think we all help each other. It’s been a big help this year. David Ragan is running much better and it really gives us another car to look at and get ideas from, so we all feed off each other. Some weekends everybody puts the 16 setup in their car and some weekends are split up and some weekends we go to the 99 setup and now we’re looking at what the 6 is doing as well, so we have a pretty good relationship within Roush of all the drivers providing something and Carl is no exception to that.”

Greg Biffle, Roush Fenway Racing Ford

Photo by: Action Sports Photography

DO YOU FEEL MORE ANTSY NOW WITHOUT THAT VICTORY? ANY ADDED PRESSURE? “Yeah. I would have never guessed we’d be this far into the season without winning a race after the way we finished last year. We finished up really, really well. We won two races and then Carl came and won two races and we really, really had some momentum. We probably would have wins at this point in the season if it weren’t for the issues we’ve had fueling the cars and fuel mileage and things have really put a damper on our thing this year – pit stops and things like that around the fueling – so that’s been a little bit of a drag. I’m surprised that we’re 13th in points for how we’ve run this season. We’ve run really, really good, but we haven’t had the finishes to show for it and that’s better than not running very good and getting mediocre finishes and you’re hoping to figure out what’s wrong with your cars and how to make them better. We’ve got pretty dang good cars, we haven’t been able to finish because the caution comes out, we’re a lap down with 40 laps to go in the race and we’ve got to start at the tail end of the longest line. We go from running third or fourth or in the top 10 and now we’re 27th. We get back to 18th and it’s the checkered flag, so you chalk 18th up in the column and it’s not a representation of how our team has run, but that’s what has happened to us all year, except for Indy. Indy was kind of a turnaround for us, so hopefully we can continue that.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT WATKINS GLEN NEXT WEEK? “That’s one of my favorite places. I like that race track, I really do. It’s a lot of fun to go and run there. I’ve had a lot of success at that track. Qualifying on the front row and I’ve won a truck race there, so it’s been a good track to us and I’m looking forward to that race track. I definitely feel like we have just as good a chance at winning there as we do at some of these other places. If we get the right track position and get up front, we have an opportunity to win even there.”

WHEN DO YOU START LOOKING AT WHAT THE OTHER GUYS AROUND YOU IN POINTS ARE DOING AND ADJUST YOUR STRATEGY? “That’s probably more Matt’s decision than mine. I drive the car and do the best job I can. As a team, I’d say you’re looking at them now with four or five races left, but, at the same time, it’s a double-edged sword because you really try to worry about yourself to get the best finish because that’s about all you can do. If they take a leap of faith or stop an extra time or do something, I don’t know that we would follow them to try and make that gamble pay off versus just go for the best – if it’s a 13th or a 7th or a 3rd or 4th, that will get us the most points and that’s what we need. If they go off strategy or do something, I’m not so sure that we would automatically follow them, but it’s a good point for those guys to look at and I’m sure they do – to try and pay attention with what they’re doing. Maybe you get down to the very last race or one or two and maybe if you’re ahead of them you stay on that strategy to make sure they don’t beat you. If you finish 25th and they finish 26th or 23rd, you don’t care, so you follow them if you’re ahead of them. That way, you’re gonna be in the same finishing position as them, within three spots, and you’re five points ahead of them or something.”

IS THERE ANYTHING SPECIAL ABOUT RACING ON CONCRETE OR DO YOU SEE IT GOING AWAY FROM THE SPORT? “I don’t see it going away from the sport unless they wanted to change and not go to Martinsville as much. I’d be happy with that (joking). That’s not my best race track, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the concrete. I’ve won at Nashville. I like that race track. It was a lot of fun when they first built it. I don’t know what happened. I know it’s just Nationwide and Trucks only. I really don’t know. I thought it was a good market and thought it was in a good spot and it raced fairly well. I thought it put on good shows, so I’m not sure what all happened there, but I don’t think it has anything to do with the surface being concrete. Concrete tracks are fun to race on too.”

By: ford racing