Biffle takes bizarre Kansas Cup win

The Roush Fenway driver ran out of fuel on the last lap of the race, but was still officially given victory by NASCAR. He could not even do any celebratory burnouts and his car had to be pushed all the way to Victory Lane.

The race had a very low-key finish under caution, which didn't do justice to what the fans in the stands probably deserved after they waited for hours during two red flag interruptions caused by rain.

Biffle was losing ground in the last few laps to Loudon winner Clint Bowyer, who recovered from a speeding penalty to contend for the win. However when Juan Pablo Montoya blew a right front tyre with four laps to go, the battle was over.

The last three laps were completed under the caution flag, as officials also shortened the race distance to 210 laps, having first cut it to 225 from the original 267 lap distance, moving the finish forward due to the sun setting and it causing visibility issues.

"I was pretty crazy," said Biffle after being awarded his first win of the season. "I didn't know what was going on because I could hardly see. I had to open my visor right before that tyre [blew up] on the 42 car. I'm kind of happy we didn't go back racing but I think I could've held up the 07 [car of Bowyer]."

Biffle admitted he struggled to get the car to the finish, although he assured it didn't matter if he didn't cross the line first. When Bowyer and Johnson figured out that he had ran out of fuel, they overtook the No. 16 car and crossed the finish line ahead of him.

"The car was running," Biffle added. "I coasted it rolling it. We crossed the start-finish line and I drove it down in the grass and probably got it stuck in the grass. It really doesn't matter, the field is frozen, we maintain our speed to the line. I couldn't go faster. I really don't think it makes a difference."

Johnson, who started last after moving to his back-up car having crashed his primary one in practice, put Biffle's win in doubt after finishing third and retaking the points lead from Jeff Gordon.

"I think the biggest question mark right now is what goes on with the 16 car [of Greg Biffle]," Johnson said. "He clearly ran out of gas and I feel terrible for those guys because he had the car to beat and was up front but if you can't maintain pace car speed then the guys than can, finish ahead of you. That's the way we crossed the start-finish line."

Clint Bowyer, who has moved up two places in the Chase to third, was also confused and stunned by the bizarre end of the race. He clearly had the speed to challenge Biffle, and more importantly, he had enough fuel to finish the race had it carried on under green all the way to the chequered flag.

"That's pretty interesting way to make it across the finish line to win the race," said Bowyer about Biffle's move on the last lap. "Who knows what's going on? We could've won the race."

Jeff Gordon was the man on the move in the closing stages gaining places by the lap to eventually come home in a good fifth place behind teammate Casey Mears. He lost the Chase lead but he is only six points behind Johnson.

"What a crazy race it was today," Gordon said. "At one time we were really strong and dropped back a little bit and then we fell way back down to 30th. I thought with that rain the day was over and to be able to bring the car from that far back, one lap down, to get our lap back and then to come our way up to finish in the top five, I couldn't be happier."

Kevin Harvick finished sixth and was the biggest mover in the title race, gaining four places in the standings to put himself up in to fifth position, although with a considerable 126 point margin to Johnson.

Kurt Busch also moved up two places by finishing eleventh and leading the most laps during the race. For a moment it looked like he was going to walk to victory until he pitted for fuel and tyres under green right before rain hit the track for the second time during the day. He fell a lap down and his day changed from then on.

For the rest of the Chase contenders it was a day to forget, especially for Tony Stewart who ended up crashing after his left front tyre was cut by a bent fender from previous contact with fellow title rivals Martin Truex Jr and Matt Kenseth. Both were trying to avoid contact when Ken Schrader spun in front of them.

Stewart's own wreck happened on lap 176 as he tried to reduce speed when his tyre deflated, but Kurt Busch was caught by surprise and ran into the back of him and sent him into the wall.

Before that, he had been leading the race when the second red flag came out, thanks to staying on the track longer than his rivals. When a light drizzle turned into a heavy thunderstorm 148 laps into the race, it looked like victory and the points lead were going to be his.

At that point his main rivals were a lap down, having pitted under the green flag, but in the end all that changed as NASCAR decided to wait for the storm to clear, then dry the track and get the race back underway more than two hours later. Stewart dropped down to fourth in the Chase, 117 points from the lead.

Carl Edwards was also involved in Stewart's incident and was classified 37th, while Truex was 38th. Kenseth finished 35th, ahead of Jeff Burton who was penalized for trying to fix a bent right fender on his car during the first red flag of the day which came on lap 15 and lasted 45 minutes.

Burton later stopped on the track with fuel pressure problems and dropped 11 laps down.

Denny Hamlin was also among the Chase contenders in trouble when he got spun by Paul Menard, who was pushed into him by Jamie McMurray. The Joe Gibbs driver struggled to get his car restarted after spinning and dropped two laps down, eventually finishing 29th.

Kyle Busch was also a victim of some aggressive driving when Dale Earnhardt Jr tapped him from behind as early as lap 28. Busch said Earnhardt showed little appreciation for his future team with the move.

"He ran me over for no reason whatsoever," Busch said. "Just an unfortunate circumstance. These guys are really appreciative that the guy who's going to be racing for them next year has dumped their car when we have a great shot at the championship. We had a top three car, that's the point."

The Chase for the Nextel Cup moves next weekend to Talladega Superspeedway, which will be the first race for the Car of Tomorrow on an oval longer than one mile.

Pos  Driver                  Make        Laps
 1.  Greg Biffle             Ford         210
 2.  Clint Bowyer            Chevrolet    210
 3.  Jimmie Johnson          Chevrolet    210
 4.  Casey Mears             Chevrolet    210
 5.  Jeff Gordon             Chevrolet    210
 6.  Kevin Harvick           Chevrolet    210
 7.  Reed Sorenson           Dodge        210
 8.  Elliott Sadler          Dodge        210
 9.  Kasey Kahne             Dodge        210
10.  Dale Earnhardt Jr       Chevrolet    210
11.  Kurt Busch              Dodge        210
12.  Mark Martin             Chevrolet    210
13.  Scott Riggs             Dodge        209
14.  J.J. Yeley              Chevrolet    209
15.  Dave Blaney             Toyota       209
16.  David Ragan             Ford         209
17.  David Stremme           Dodge        209
18.  Tony Raines             Chevrolet    209
19.  Robby Gordon            Ford         209
20.  Jeff Green              Chevrolet    209
21.  Kyle Petty              Dodge        209
22.  Jeremy Mayfield         Toyota       209
23.  Johnny Sauter           Chevrolet    209
24.  Jamie McMurray          Ford         209
25.  Joe Nemechek            Chevrolet    209
26.  Dale Jarrett            Toyota       209
27.  Paul Menard             Chevrolet    209
28.  Juan Montoya            Dodge        209
29.  Denny Hamlin            Chevrolet    208
30.  Michael Waltrip         Toyota       208
31.  David Reutimann         Toyota       208
32.  Ken Schrader            Ford         208
33.  John Andretti           Dodge        208
34.  David Gilliland         Ford         206
35.  Matt Kenseth            Ford         206
36.  Jeff Burton             Chevrolet    198
37.  Carl Edwards            Ford         181
38.  Martin Truex Jr         Chevrolet    175
39.  Tony Stewart            Chevrolet    174
40.  Kenny Wallace           Ford         170
41.  Kyle Busch              Chevrolet    163
42.  Bobby Labonte           Dodge        155
43.  Ryan Newman             Dodge        108

Chase For The Cup - Points Standing:

Pos  Driver              Change  Points
 1.  Jimmie Johnson        +2     5506  
 2.  Jeff Gordon           -1     5500  +  6    
 3.  Clint Bowyer          +2     5497  +  9    
 4.  Tony Stewart          -2     5389  +117  
 5.  Kevin Harvick         +4     5380  +126  
 6.  Kyle Busch            -2     5370  +136  
 7.  Carl Edwards          -1     5364  +142  
 8.  Martin Truex Jr       -1     5348  +158  
 9.  Kurt Busch            +2     5329  +177  
10.  Jeff Burton           -2     5320  +186  
11.  Matt Kenseth          -1     5287  +219  
12.  Denny Hamlin                 5258  +248