NASCAR Cup

Dover: Biffle - Friday media visit

Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion, is currently seventh in the point standings, 191 points out of the lead. In 15 starts at Dover, Biffle has has brought home two wins, six top-five finishes and nine top- 10 finishes from the Monster ...

Edited: May 15, 2010, 12:01 AM

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Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion, is currently seventh in the point standings, 191 points out of the lead. In 15 starts at Dover, Biffle has has brought home two wins, six top-five finishes and nine top- 10 finishes from the Monster Mile. Biffle took time to speak about green-white-checkered finishes, spoiler tweaks and what drivers can do at Dover to gain an advantage.

A THIRD OF THE WAY INTO THE SEASON, HOW HAVE THE GREEN-WHITE-CHECKERED CHANGES AND OTHER CHANGES FOR THE FANS AFFECTED YOU SO FAR? "Well, it has been really exciting to know we are going to finish under green most likely. It has created a lot of chaos at the end because you really don't know what to expect. So much of it is what lane you get in. Unfortunately, I have been on the negative side more than the positive side. I was on the positive side at Richmond in the Nationwide car, finishing second and almost won. Inevitable you are in the lane that is not preferred on the race track or a guy in front of you spins his tires and now you are three-wide and everybody is going by. It has been exciting. I like the two green-white-checkers and I am not sure about the third one. I has certainly created excitement."

THE CHANGES WERE OBVIOUSLY MADE FOR THE FAN. ARE THEY STILL TWEAKING TO FIND WHAT IS GOOD FOR THE FAN AND WHAT IS GOOD FOR THE SPORT? "I think so. I am an advoacate of two green-white-checkers. I know they implemented three, but as a fan, sitting for four or five hours, I belive that two is plenty of opportunity for us to get it done under green. It has worked so far, just how they have planned."

HOW DOES THIS TRACK COMPARE TO A SURFACE LIKE DARLINGTON? "This track is completely different than Darlington. This is concrete and really fast, but it is unforgiving like Darlington. The straightaways are really banked and there is no room for error here. The track drives a lot different and looks a lot different than Darlington."

A LOT OF YOUR FELLOW DRIVERS SAY THIS TRACK IS ONE OF THE MOST PHYSICAL ON THE SCHEDULE. WHY DO YOU THINK THAT IS? "I think it is because like Darlington, it is very bumpy inside the car. You are really getting your body shaken around a ton here. You know you cannot make a mistake here or you are going to wreck. It takes a lot more concentration and focus here than most tracks which wares on you as well."

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT HOW HARD IT MUST BE FOR BRIAN VICKERS TO MISS THE RACE THIS WEEKEND? "Yeah, to us it is very scary. Brian is a good guy and we hope that he is well. Nobody has heard exactly what the issues are. Obviously it is health related and not something he has done to get into trouble. I look at it as that could be me. I could be laying in a hospital bed somewhere missing a race and it would be heart wrenching for me to go through that. Certainly anything can happen to any one of us and we just hope and pray that nothing happens to us and we hope and pray that Brian is able to get back with us soon."

IT HAS BEEN SIX RACES NOW WITH THE SPOILER, HAVE YOU NOTICED A MARKED DIFFERENCE OF HOW YOU HAVE TO DRIVE OR HOW YOU HAVE TO SET UP THE CARS? "There is a difference between the spoiler and the wing, but it hasn't changed the cars as much as I thought it would. It has changed the way they race around each other a little bit and the way the car starts to get loose. I think it turns better on corner-exit, but it is not dramatically different. I would have thought, personally, it would have been a bigger change. Like once the car got out of shape it wouldn't be as easy to drive. They did put the big fences on the deck lid, the shark fin, which made a huge difference."

IS IT GOOD IN THE GARAGE TO SEE PARODY AND NOT SEE JUST HENDRICK WINNING EVERY WEEK? "Yeah, it seems like we are sneaking up on them a little bit. Definitely the Childress and Gibbs cars are and we feel like we are right behind those guys. We are working hard at getting close. I think there is a lot of parody in the garage and I don't want to throw mud or anything, but they have been lucky too. They qualified well which is not a knock against them. They got track position and that is important which allowed them to win some races early. Obviously Hendrick is a dominant force but I think that parody through the garage is obviously good for the sport."

WHAT KIND OF THING CAN YOU DO OUT ON THE TRACK HERE TO MESS GUYS UP OR KEEP AN ADVANTAGE? "It is kind of limited actually. I feel like that is more practice. If we are running really good and a car pulls out behind us, we will pull in. When it comes to the race I want to keep my pit row speed accurate. If somebody wants to play games and you think they are doing it deliberately then I will run into the back of them to make sure they close up or don't speed up and slow down. If you are coming hard enough and they want to change a lane, then you might get up and shove them out of the way. There are guys out there like Montoya and Tony Stewart, and a handful of other guys, aren't going to put up with stuff for very long. I have the wheel and the gas pedal and the brake. If we are coming, it is time to get out of the way. It works the other way to. If a guy is coming up on my I am not going to block the guy, I am going to do my best to get out of the way. Montoya and Stewart are just examples of guys that will rub you to get you out of the way pretty quick, they aren't going to wait for you to move. I think we are all like that to a degree. It just depends on the circumstances and you have to understand that when you catch a guy and he is racing the guy in front of him that he is already involved in a race."

IS THERE ANY OTHER GAMESMANSHIP STUFF THAT PEOPLE DO OUT THERE? "Not that I have picked up on really, no."

-source: ford racing

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