AVONDALE, Ariz. — Greg Biffle and his Roush Fenway Racing team gambled their way to a record win Friday night.
The Vancouver, Wash., native didn’t pit on the last stop in the Nationwide Series race, holding onto his lead by staying on the track while almost all the competition ducked in for fresh tires. But a series of late cautions prevented anyone from catching Biffle, and he held on for the win at Phoenix International Raceway.
“Man, I was really worried,” Biffle said. “I thought we were sitting ducks, but these tires are so good.”
The victory gave team owner Jack Roush 100 wins in the Nationwide Series.
It also was Biffle’s second victory in four races this season. He snapped a 76-race winless streak with his win in Las Vegas last month, and didn’t race again until Friday night.
He had to hold off Jason Leffler over several late restarts, and again on a final two-lap sprint to the finish. Leffler also chose not to pit on the last stop, a decision that moved him up to second, where he finished behind Biffle.
“We were running eighth there. We didn’t even think about pitting there, track position is so important,” Leffler said.
But he knew catching Biffle would be difficult.
“My only chance was on a restart,” Leffler said. “If he made a mistake, I would have been there to capitalize.”
Brad Keselowski finished third for the third consecutive week. Joey Logano, last week’s winner at Nashville, was fourth and was followed by Kevin Harvick.
David Ragan was sixth, followed by Brendan Gaughan, Justin Allgaier, Mike Bliss and Kyle Busch.
Busch had an early tire problem that dropped him two laps down, but he rallied for the top-10 finish that pushed him into the points lead. He entered the race trailing Carl Edwards by 23 points, but is now up by 47.
Edwards led 79 laps but broke a valve spring in his motor and finished 33rd.
Michael Waltrip led four laps early in the race — he took the lead by not pitting during the first round of stops — but was wrecked 60 laps in when Edwards ran into the back of his Toyota.
“What the heck? I just got run over,” Waltrip said. “Carl is always sorry, so I’m sure I’ve got that going for me.”
Casey Atwood wrecked on a restart with 15 laps to go and was transported to a hospital for further evaluation.
Snohomish, Wash., native Kevin Hamlin finished 41st after an early wreck.
Friday at Phoenix International Raceway
Avondale, Ariz.
Lap length: 1.0 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (4) Greg Biffle, Ford, 203 laps, 145.1 rating, 195 points.
2. (8) Jason Leffler, Toyota, 203, 100.2, 170.
3. (7) Brad Keselowski, Chevrolet, 203, 110.2, 165.
4. (2) Joey Logano, Toyota, 203, 114.1, 165.
5. (6) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 203, 118.4, 155.
6. (12) David Ragan, Ford, 203, 101.3, 150.
7. (14) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 203, 92.8, 146.
8. (42) Justin Allgaier, Dodge, 203, 90.6, 142.
9. (10) Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, 203, 108.6, 138.
10. (5) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 203, 108.4, 139.
11. (27) Michael McDowell, Toyota, 203, 77.7, 130.
12. (41) Steve Wallace, Chevrolet, 203, 80.5, 127.
13. (16) Burney Lamar, Toyota, 203, 83.4, 124.
14. (3) Paul Menard, Ford, 203, 85, 121.
15. (23) Brian Scott, Toyota, 203, 78.6, 118.
16. (29) Michael Annett, Toyota, 203, 71, 115.
17. (17) Jason Keller, Ford, 203, 74.4, 112.
18. (34) David Green, Toyota, 203, 63.4, 109.
19. (15) Scott Wimmer, Chevrolet, 202, 72.3, 106.
20. (11) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 201, 91.4, 103.
21. (21) Danny O’Quinn Jr., Chevrolet, 201, 58.8, 100.
22. (18) Eric McClure, Ford, 201, 58.2, 97.
23. (30) D.J. Kennington, Dodge, 201, 50.4, 94.
24. (36) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 200, 56.4, 91.
25. (20) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 200, 56.5, 88.
26. (38) Brandon Whitt, Ford, 200, 45, 85.
27. (43) Brian Keselowski, Dodge, 200, 38.4, 82.
28. (40) Ken Butler, Chevrolet, 199, 37.5, 79.
29. (28) Kenny Wallace, Chevrolet, 194, 42.5, 76.
30. (26) John Borneman III, Ford, 184, 41.9, 73.
31. (24) Casey Atwood, Ford, accident, 181, 45.8, 70.
32. (22) Scott Lagasse Jr., Toyota, accident, 180, 74.7, 67.
33. (1) Carl Edwards, Ford, 178, 110.7, 69.
34. (35) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 173, 58.8, 61.
35. (39) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, 169, 44.2, 58.
36. (32) John Wes Townley, Ford, accident, 163, 44, 55.
37. (25) Daryl Harr, Chevrolet, engine, 142, 29.6, 52.
38. (33) Mark Green, Chevrolet, brakes, 58, 37.2, 49.
39. (19) Kertus Davis, Chevrolet, overheating, 46, 40.7, 46.
40. (9) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, accident, 29, 70.4, 48.
41. (37) Kevin Hamlin, Chevrolet, accident, 21, 38.6, 40.
42. (13) Terry Cook, Chevrolet, suspension, 7, 31.4, 37.
43. (31) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, brakes, 4, 27.8, 34.
Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 92.965 mph.
Time of Race: 2 hours, 11 minutes, 1 second.
Margin of Victory: 0.338 seconds.
Caution Flags: Nine for 43 laps.
Lead Changes: Six among five drivers.
Lap Leaders: J.Logano 1-6; C.Edwards 7-23; M.Waltrip 24-27; Ky.Busch 28-35; C.Edwards 36-97; G.Biffle 98-203.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): G.Biffle, 1 time for 106 laps; C.Edwards, 2 times for 79 laps; Ky.Busch, 1 time for 8 laps; J.Logano, 1 time for 6 laps; M.Waltrip, 1 time for 4 laps.
Top 10 in Points
1. Ky.Busch, 1,075. 2. C.Edwards, 1,028. 3. D.Ragan, 949. 4. J.Leffler, 932. 5. Bra.Keselowski, 898. 6. J.Logano, 893. 7. B.Gaughan, 822. 8. J.Allgaier, 818. 9. M.Bliss, 789. 10. J.Keller, 779.
NASCAR Driver Rating Formula
A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race.
The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish.
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