Story Photos
 Greg Biffle hoists his trophy Sunday after winning the NASCAR Camping World RV 400 Spring Cup Series auto race in Dover, Del., Russ Hamilton / The Associated Press
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Biffle tops teammates
Monday, September 22, 2008 12:06 AM PDT
By Liz Clarke
The Washington Post
Printable version
E-mail this articleDOVER, Del. - The history of stock-car racing is full of high-octane clashes between rivals with palpable enmity, whether Richard Petty-vs.-Bobby Allison or Ford-vs.-Chevy.
But Sunday at Dover International Speedway, three drivers with nothing but respect and a common employer between them proved that venom isn't necessary to stage a great NASCAR finish.
After ganging up to overtake leader Jimmie Johnson with 99 laps to go, Roush Fenway Racing teammates Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards spent the balance of the 400-lap race battling side-by-side, nose-to-tail and every other way possible - short of wrecking - for the spoils.
They swapped the lead three times, though "swapping" implies something that's mutually agreeable. Sunday's victory was far from that, with Biffle finally getting around Kenseth on the high side after a half-dozen futile attempts to pass him low.
Biffle wrested the lead with nine laps remaining and hung on for his second victory in as many weeks, as Kenseth's handling faded and Edwards's older tires lost grip.
Kenseth came home second and Edwards was third, delivering the first 1-2-3 finish for car owner Jack Roush since November 2005.
"I hyperventilated," Roush said afterward, having looked on from pit road as his three top drivers fought for position in nearly $1 million worth of racecars over the final 99 laps. "I really needed to have a paper bag to put my head in. It's hard not to lose your mind when you've got so many cars involved in something that's just going to break your heart."
With the victory, Biffle, 38, of Vancouver, Wash., proved that he's a legitimate contender for NASCAR's 2008 Sprint Cup championship despite the fact that he barely warranted notice through the first 26 races of the year.
Suddenly he's the hottest driver going, with a level head on his shoulders and a mighty engine under his hood. And he's knotted for second in the standings (though Johnson, the two-time defending champion, holds the tiebreak by virtue of having more victories this season) with eight races remaining.
Edwards retained his lead in the standings with his third-place finish, though Johnson and Biffle have pulled within 10 points.
"I guess if you want to use the term 'peak at the right time' - I feel we've worked so hard this season, and now our hard work is starting to show up," Biffle said.
Still, Biffle stopped well short of showboating. He berated himself for recommending adjustments to the racecar after Saturday's practice that were all wrong, forcing him into the pits after just eight laps Sunday to tune the handling in the opposite direction.
But the important point, he conceded, was that he and his team kept charging forward while other championship contenders battled blown tires, failed engines and penalties that spoiled their finishes at Dover and left a huge dent in their prospects for the 2008 title.
Kyle Busch had the worst luck, finishing 43rd (among the 43-car field) after his engine expired shortly before the midpoint of the race. Denny Hamlin, his teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, followed him to the garage not long afterward with engine trouble, ending up 38th.
It was a stunning twist for the Gibbs drivers, whose Toyota engines had been the envy of the garage all season. Busch won eight of the first 26 races, entering the postseason as the prohibitive favorite for the title. But after his second consecutive finish outside the top 30, Busch is now last in the standings among the 12 title contenders. Hamlin is 11th.
"At this point, it doesn't matter," said Busch, 23, when asked if he thought his team still had a chance to win the championship.
NASCAR's 2008 season hasn't had many memorable finishes, and Dover was an unlikely place to stage one. But on the final weekend of summer, the high-banked concrete oval delivered a thrilling final 50 laps that had many in the stands on their feet rather than heading for the exits.
Pole-sitter Jeff Gordon, still seeking his first win of the season, lead the first 30 laps in his No. 24 Chevrolet. But the Roush Fords flexed their muscle from there, with Jamie McMurray, Kenseth, Edwards and Biffle each leading for stretches.
Johnson used a risky pit strategy, forgoing new tires when nearly every other driver stopped for a fresh set, to put his Chevy out front.
But he was no match for the Roush onslaught on Lap 301, when Biffle and Edwards passed him on either side, pulling Kenseth along with them into third.
Edwards handicapped himself on the pit stop that followed, gambling that two new tires would provide enough grip to keep his car out front. But Kenseth and Biffle, who each took four, proved him wrong.
Kenseth finally wrested the lead on Lap 378. Edwards fell back, and Biffle pulled up to Kenseth's bumper, close enough to make his teammate fishtail, and kept darting low and high until he found an opening with nine to go.
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