The Final Lap – NASCAR News, Radio, Podcast

1 16 Greg Biffle 3M / OH / ES Ford 27.281 180.257
2 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 27.386 179.566
3 5 Kasey Kahne Rockwell Tools Chevrolet 27.386 179.566
4 39 Ryan Newman WIX Chevrolet 27.402 179.461
5 18 Kyle Busch Wrigley Doublemint Toyota 27.404 179.448
6 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 27.424 179.317
7 99 Carl Edwards Ford EcoBoost Fusion Ford 27.427 179.298
8 11 Denny Hamlin Sport Clips Toyota 27.444 179.187

THE FINAL LAP WEEKLY – DARLINGTON PREVIEW SHOW

9 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row / CSX Play it Safe Chevrolet 27.451 179.141
10 31 Jeff Burton BB&T Chevrolet 27.458 179.095

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Greg Biffle didn’t just dodge a bullet at Talladega. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader fired the gun.

Fifth-place wasn’t a win but it offers further proof that the standings leader since after race No. 3 in Las Vegas won’t relinquish his advantage easily. Not even to Roush Fenway Racing teammate and Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth, who jumped from fourth to second in the standings to trail by seven points as the series moves to Darlington.

Biffle and Talladega haven’t always been the best of friends. Biffle needed 13 trips to the 2.66-mile track to gather his first top-10. He crashed out of four of five races in 2006-08.
Things have changed – and how. Beginning with 2007, when he finished seventh and fourth, Biffle has finished seven consecutive races on the lead lap.

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BIG ONE #2 with 4 laps to go, AJ Allmendinger tried to block Denny Hamlin, wrecking Paul Mendard, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Greg Biffle, Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer, Michael Waltrip, and others….but that’s Talladega!

Not only did Greg Biffle win his first race since 2010, crew chief Matt Puccia won his first race…period.

Just about every time Biffle opens his mouth to talk about his white-hot start, he credits Puccia. The praise makes sense. Their careers have taken similar paths.

Like Biffle, Puccia has worked his way up. Biffle started his NASCAR national series career in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, then graduated to the NASCAR Nationwide Series – winning a championship in each.

Puccia’s first job at Roush Fenway Racing was in 2006 as crew chief for the No. 50 team. In 2008, he led the No. 99 truck team with Erik Darnell to a victory at Michigan and a final points position of fourth. In 2009 he moved to the NASCAR Nationwide Series as crew chief for a partial schedule with Paul Menard before the team raced full time in 2010. Mid-season last year, he was promoted to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Biffle.

RACE RESULTS

1. (3) Greg Biffle, Ford, 334, $540,850.
2. (10) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 334, $361,501.
3. (4) Mark Martin, Toyota, 334, $232,690.
4. (34) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 334, $250,401.
5. (2) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 334, $212,901.
6. (1) Martin Truex, Jr., Toyota, 334, $190,904.
7. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 334, $148,565.
8. (20) Carl Edwards, Ford, 334, $176,156.
9. (15) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 334, $175,651.
10. (16) Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Chevrolet, 334, $135,940.
11. (17) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 334, $171,863.
12. (13) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 334, $166,221.
13. (27) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 333, $148,638.
14. (9) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 333, $151,513.
15. (12) AJ Allmendinger, Dodge, 333, $159,805.
16. (25) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 333, $148,546.
17. (18) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 333, $142,794.
18. (11) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 333, $121,980.
19. (14) Joey Logano, Toyota, 333, $120,380.
20. (7) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 333, $139,863.

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April 14, 2012

By Reid Spencer
NASCAR Wire Service

FORT WORTH, Texas — Saving his equipment for the final green-flag run, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader Greg Biffle finally put a win on the board, cruising to a 3.235-second victory over Jimmie Johnson in Saturday night’s Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Biffle took the lead on Lap 304 of 334 and pulled away to win his first race since Oct. 3, 2010 (at Kansas), his second at Texas and the 17th of his career. Johnson, who led a race-high 156 laps, scraped the wall trying to run down Biffle in the late going.

“I just dug deep,” Biffle said. “I knew I had to do it and kept trying and trying and trying. I knew the team would forgive me if I wrecked it trying to beat him, so I gave it all I had.”

Mark Martin came home third, followed by Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth. With Kasey Kahne finishing seventh and Dale Earnhardt Jr. 10th, all four Hendrick Motorsports drivers ran in the top 10, but Biffle denied them their most coveted prize, a 200th Cup victory for team owner Rick Hendrick.

The victory was the first in the Cup series for Biffle’s crew chief, Matt Puccia.

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Greg Biffle hasn't won since 2010, but he has entered 2012 with a new focus and fire. Photo Credit: Robert Laberge/Getty Images for NASCAR

By: Toby Christie – Follow on Twitter @Tobalical

Greg Biffle hasn’t won in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series since Kansas in the fall of 2010 (49 races ago), but Friday Biffle mentioned that he likes his chances at finding victory lane in the coming weeks.

“Any time is a good time to win a race. These are some good opportunities for us in Texas and Kansas which are two great tracks for us,” Biffle said during his weekly press conference. “We ran, in our standards, fairly well at Martinsville being top-10 most of the day. Unfortunately there at the end with the 10 car and the way the cautions fell and the lucky dog we ended up 13th. This is a race track and we have a great lineup all the way through Darlington and Dover, all these race tracks, that we think we can win at. It is important for us to win. We are trying and we were off a little bit at Vegas. Hopefully we will be on the money here.”

Biffle has come on like gang-busters since the 2012 season began, and it caught most of us by surprise after his lackluster 2011 effort. Through six races in 2012 he has an average finish of 6.8 — his average finish in 2011? 16.8. Matt Puccia has become an unsung hero at crew chief, and he is seemingly the only change on the No. 16 team since last season. Biffle has no worries just yet of reaching victory lane, but how much longer can he go before he starts to get nervous about not finding victory lane?

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SHOW #195 – Kerry’s flying solo on this show, but he brings in 3 NASCAR Cup Series drivers to help share the load. Points leader Greg Biffle, Aric Almirola, and Regan Smith are featured. Plus all the usual stuff. Hosted by Kerry Murphey (sans) Toby Christie
(About 47 mins)

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