Greg Biffle thinks about retirement "every day"

With the recent retirement of four-time Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon and the impending retirement at the end of this season for three-time champion Tony Stewart, Biffle, now 46, said the retirement question is a familiar one.

Retirement always on Biffle's mind

“I think about it every year; every day; every race. I want to race forever but I realize I want to do other things in life, too,” Biffle said Wednesday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour. “I want to watch my daughter grow up and pursue other things I want to do.

“I want a third championship. I want to win races. I’m not ready to hang the helmet up yet but I’m not going to do this for another several years. I’m not doing it for another five or six years, but we’ll see how long that span is.”

As long as he has that passion and dedication and commitment, we’re going to continue to support him

Steve Newmark, president of Roush Fenway Racing

Biffle has won championships in NASCAR’s Truck and Xfinity Series and has wanted to become the first driver in NASCAR history to win all three national series.

He finished a career-best second in the Cup series standings in 2005 and has 19 career wins. Biffle finished 20th in the standings last season and missed the championship Chase, his lowest points finish since his 2003 rookie season.

Roush standing behind their veteran driver

Steve Newmark, president of Roush Fenway Racing, said in a conversation about a year ago Biffle reiterated how much he wanted to win a Cup championship and be the first driver to win titles in Cup, Xfinity and Trucks.

“As long as he has that passion and dedication and commitment, we’re going to continue to support him,” Newmark said. “I don’t think Greg wants to race for another five or seven years, that’s just not what he wants to do.

“So, we said we’d just continually check in every once in a while and he will tell me, ‘This is what I’m thinking.’ We’ll work with him on this process. There is no strict timeline.”

The Roush organization in general has struggled the past several years. Last season, Biffle’s 20th place finish in the standings was the best of the three fulltime Cup teams.

Why 2016 may be different for RFR and the No. 16

So, what makes Biffle believe the 2016 season offers hope of a turnaround that could offer him a chance to win that elusive Cup title?

“Three things, No. 1 is (new crew chief Brian Pattie) and the changes to our organization. We added some new aerodynamicists – and I believe we’ve been off on aero,” he said.

“No. 2, the reduced downforce package, which last year looked like it was better for our cars. We tend to be better as a group and myself with that. The third thing is the changes to our Ford Fusion body – that gives a new opportunity to find a little bit.”

The combined aero changes and personnel moves, Biffle believes, will get Roush back to a level playing field with its NASCAR competition.

“I am looking forward to Daytona and these races. I think it will be a great season for us,” he said. “We were trending in the right direction at the end of 2015 and we know with these changes we will continue that.”