News Article

Greg Biffle puts his No. 16 3M Ford on pole for Sunday’s “Best Buy 400 benefiting Student Clubs for Autism Speaks”

May 30, 2008
Brian Smith

When Greg Biffle qualified for last fall’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Dover, the first lap put him on the pole at that point in the session. The second nearly put him in the wall, as he spun but was able to recover with no damage.

Greg Biffle

This time around, Biffle knew better than to try that second lap. As it turned out, he certainly didn’t need to take any chances. Biffle claimed the pole for Sunday’s “Best Buy 400 benefiting Student Clubs for Autism Speaks” by blazing around the Monster Mile in 23.193 seconds, a speed of 155.219 mph. He was two-tenths of a second faster than Kurt Busch, who qualified second at 153.971 mph. Points leader Kyle Busch continued a very strong day at Dover by qualifying third with a speed of 153.767 mph.

“Normally Dover is one of the toughest places to qualify,” Biffle said. “You’re always on edge. I learned not to do the second lap after last year. [But today] the car just stuck to the racetrack so well. They’re making it so easy for me as a driver, giving me these race cars that are so fast. We’ve been running great. We were just really fast off the truck, fine-tuned on it and here we are.”

It’s Biffle’s first pole at Dover in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but not his first time starting a race here up front. Biffle’s first pole at Dover was last September when he led the field to the green flag in the Nationwide Series race.

Biffle improved greatly on his top practice session speed of 153.794 mph, which was third-fastest in the midday session. It came despite the team not spending much time in qualifying trim during the practice session.

“It seems the less time we spend on qualifying, the better we qualify,” Biffle said. “We made the decision as a team to spend the entire day working on race runs. Right at the end of practices we tried a different spring in the front of the car and we picked up a tenth [of a second] a lap. We left it in to qualify and it probably picked up the qualifying. We only switched over to qualifying trim with nine minutes or so left in practice. I made a tire pressure adjustment when I went out to qualify and the car was just perfect.”

Biffle turned his lap in the 29th qualifying position, knocking Kyle Busch from the pole perch at the time. Kurt Busch nosed his way past his little brother later on, benefiting from a car that he said was great from the start, although apparently not as great as Biffle’s.

“I thought it was a great run,” Busch said. “The way the car unloaded off the hauler, it was very comfortable, and I have to thank my crew for that. It was great for us to qualify second. I was trying to chase down Biffle, but he ran an incredible lap. We’ve been testing a lot and the last few weeks in Charlotte have helped nail down a setup.”

Kyle Busch’s qualifying run was his third great session of the day. He also qualified third for the AAA Insurance 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, was second fastest in the morning practice for the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and was third fastest in the Nationwide Series afternoon practice.

NASCAR Nationwide Series – Final practice

In final practice for the “Heluva Good! 200,” Sept. 2007 NASCAR Nationwide Series Dover race winner Denny Hamlin secured the top spot with a lap of 151.688 mph. His lap bested the surprising run of Nationwide rookie, and NASCAR teenage phenom, Joey Logano. Oddly enough, Logano turned 52 laps in the session, with his best coming on his first when he recorded a lap of 151.400 mph.

The NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifies for the “Heluva Good! 200” at 10:35 a.m. on Saturday.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series – First practice

Over the course of his career, Jeff Gordon has been one of the most successful drivers ever at Dover International Speedway, posting four wins and 13 top-five finishes at the Monster Mile. But he hasn’t managed to win a race here since 2001.

Gordon took a step towards erasing his Dover drought Friday, stepping in as the fastest car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice with a lap of 154.407 mph. It came late in the session on his 31st trip around the circuit.

Gordon was at the front of a pack of ten drivers who were all separated by less than two tenths of a second. Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch, both three-time winners this year in the Sprint Cup series, qualified second and fourth with speeds of 153.889 mph and 153.708 mph, respectively. In between was Greg Biffle, who won at Dover in 2005 and finished second here last fall, with a top speed of 153.794 mph.

Jimmie Johnson, who held the pole here last fall, was fifth quickest at 153.649 mph.

NASCAR Nationwide Series – First practice

Greg Biffle turned the fastest lap in NASCAR Nationwide Series practice on Friday morning at Dover International Speedway, circling the Monster Mile in 23.395 seconds at a speed of 153.879 mph.

Biffle has tamed the Monster over the years, with two wins and four top-five finishes in the Nationwide series to go along with three top-five finishes and one win in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Kyle Busch, who is running triple duty at Dover this weekend with entries in all three races, got his Friday off to a good start with the day’s second-quickest lap. He was the only other driver over 153 mph, with a fast lap of 153.525 mph. He was nearly a full second faster than Kelly Bires, the third-quickest driver.

Joey Logano, who will make his long-awaited Nationwide Series debut this weekend, ran 16th quickest at 151.330 mph.

Tickets are still available for Saturday's "Heluva Good! 200" NASCAR Nationwide Series race. Click here or call 800-441-RACE for tickets.