Biffle wins Cup at New Hampshire
Greg Biffle scored his first win of the season by edging Jimmie Johnson in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
The Roush Fenway driver had been winless for the past 33 races, but he was a contender up front all day and seized his opportunity following the last restart to overtake the reigning champion with twelve laps remaining, holding him off to the chequered flag.
Johnson tried to get the lead back from Biffle in the last ten laps, but he responded to the attack with strong pace, keeping the Hendrick driver in his mirrors, while Carl Edwards watched the battle develop up front from a close third place.
"I knew I had something for Jimmie," Biffle said after scoring his first career win at New Hampshire, a record seventh for team owner Jack Roush at the one-mile oval and one that puts 'The Biff' third in the title battle.
"I was waiting until the time was true. I made a run on him down there, trying to get him loose and my front end started sliding and I couldn't get him. But I was able loosen him up at (turn) two.
"The dark horse rode today!"
For Johnson the day in terms of the championship was very rewarding, even if he just missed a third victory in a row. He is now joint leader in the points standing with Carl Edwards, coming back from a 40-point deficit to Kyle Busch, who had a terrible day, finishing 34th following a suspension failure and an accident.
The Hendrick driver led the most laps of the race, bagging an extra five points in the tight battle that's unfolding at the top of the standing.
"We'd love to be in Victory Lane celebrating right now, but the big picture, second place is not a bad day at the office," Johnson said.
"We had great stops, fast car. The only weakness we had all day long was on the restarts. From the very first start of the race, we were loose in spots. It would take a while to get the tyres up and get going."
"I really felt after the two or three restarts we had on that set of tyres, my tyres would be good and I'd be able to get away from Greg. But his stuff must have been coming in as well and he was too strong on the short run."
Edwards also led a good number of laps showing his best in the race after being way off the top of the charts during practice. As Johnson, he now leads the standing for the first time during the year, which he claims is like a victory for him.
"Man, you know, I feel like we won the thing, just because of how terrible we were in practice," said Edwards. "To finish this well, you know, to be tied with Jimmie there with the points, it's a huge day for us."
"It was really fun to watch Jimmie and [Biffle] race, man. That was wild. They were fighting hard."
Jeff Burton also had a good start to his Chase with a fourth place finish, beating Dale Earnhardt Jr after a long and close battle. Both are now also tied in points for fourth place in the championship.
Earnhardt looked strong in the early going leading 79 laps, most of them in the first half of the race. Later on he struggled with a very loose car and was unable to get back into the battle for the lead.
Fall-race winner at Loudon Kurt Busch was best among the non 'Chasers' in sixth, followed by Martin Truex Jr and a recovered Tony Stewart, who came back from being a lap down after speeding on pitlane, where he also made slight contact with Robby Gordon's car while leaving his stall.
"Last week it was a mistake in the pits, and this week it was a mistake on the driver's part," Stewart said. "I got a drivethrough penalty that got us way behind. We had some bad luck and then I made our problem worse with the speeding penalty.
"To fight back to eighth - I'm pretty happy with that."
Denny Hamlin had been the leading Gibbs driver up front but he lost track position when he pitted under caution in the last part of the race, gambling on others being close on their fuel mileage to make it to the end.
However further cautions put an end to his hopes, as those who were a few laps short had the chance to save enough to make it to the end without stopping again. Hamlin was ninth at the flag, followed by fellow Chase contender Kevin Harvick.
Clint Bowyer had started the race as the clear favorite after topping every practice session at the track where he had claimed his first Cup victory a year ago. However handling issues hampered his day and he could only manage a 12th place finish.
Regan Smith was the highest finishing rookie in 23rd place, while Sam Hornish Jr was involved in the biggest wreck of the day on lap 228, when he tangled with Chad McCumbee, sending him into Matt Kenseth, ending the Roush Fenway driver's race on the spot.
Pos Driver Car Laps 1. Greg Biffle Ford 300 2. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 300 3. Carl Edwards Ford 300 4. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 300 5. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 300 6. Kurt Busch Dodge 300 7. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 300 8. Tony Stewart Toyota 300 9. Denny Hamlin Toyota 300 10. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 300 11. Kasey Kahne Dodge 300 12. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 300 13. Bobby Labonte Dodge 300 14. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 300 15. David Reutimann Toyota 300 16. Travis Kvapil Ford 300 17. Juan Montoya Dodge 300 18. Aric Almirola Chevrolet 300 19. Scott Riggs Chevrolet 300 20. Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 300 21. Paul Menard Chevrolet 300 22. Reed Sorenson Dodge 299 23. Regan Smith Chevrolet 299 24. Elliott Sadler Dodge 299 25. Michael Waltrip Toyota 299 26. Robby Gordon Dodge 299 27. Michael McDowell Toyota 299 28. David Ragan Ford 298 29. Bill Elliott Ford 298 30. Sam Hornish Jr Dodge 298 31. Patrick Carpentier Dodge 298 32. Joey Logano Toyota 297 33. Dave Blaney Toyota 297 34. Kyle Busch Toyota 288 35. Brian Vickers Toyota 287 36. Ryan Newman Dodge 285 37. Casey Mears Chevrolet 269 38. A.J. Allmendinger Toyota 264 39. Jamie McMurray Ford 230 40. Matt Kenseth Ford 228 41. David Gilliland Ford 228 42. Chad McCumbee Dodge 228 43. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 218 Chase For The Cup - Points Standing: Pos Driver Change Points 1. Carl Edwards +1 5220 2. Jimmie Johnson +1 5220 3. Greg Biffle +6 5190 + 30 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr 5170 + 50 5. Jeff Burton +2 5170 + 50 6. Denny Hamlin 5148 + 72 7. Tony Stewart +1 5147 + 73 8. Kyle Busch -7 5146 + 74 9. Clint Bowyer -4 5137 + 83 10. Kevin Harvick +1 5134 + 86 11. Jeff Gordon -1 5121 + 99 12. Matt Kenseth 5043 +177
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