NASCAR: Loose Wheel, Engine Malfunction Ends Biffle’s Shot At Another Win
May 12, 2008
CIA Stock Photo, Inc.
While Carl Edwards, David Ragan, Matt Kenseth and Jamie McMurray were riding high after their finishes in the Dodge Challenger 500, Greg Biffle couldn’t have gone any lower than his 43rd and last-place finish.
After winning the pole and looking like the class of the field for the first half of the race, Biffle was struck first by a loose wheel and finally an engine malfunction to end his shot at a third career Darlington Sprint Cup win.
“This has been typical of our equipment, I guess,” Biffle said. “Loose wheels all night, bad vibration, then I think the motor blew up. All I want is equipment to drive that stays together.”
“It is really frustrating, but, you know what, I’ve just come accustomed to expecting it because it’s just week after week it’s something,” Biffle said. “Something breaks. Something falls off. We’ve got wheels loose. We had wheels loose twice tonight. I don’t know. I know everybody is trying their hardest. The guys are digging their hearts out, but the fact of the matter is in this sport and in this day and age, you cannot leave the wheels loose—not at a place this fast. Somebody is gonna get hurt, and another mechanical issue.”
“I don’t know if I can relate those two things together or not,” Biffle said when asked about the state of his contract negotiations with team owner Jack Roush. “What I do know is it’s real frustrating when I got issues like we got. It seems like it’s always something and I don’t know why. And I have to wonder, “Why me?’”
Edwards was probably thinking along those same lines early Saturday night when he started the race back in 36th position and was saddled with a car that had struggled since it rolled off the hauler on Thursday.
But he steadily worked his way through the field with his pit crew gaining several spots on pit stops. By the last quarter of the 500-miles, Edwards was in position for his fourth win of the season.
Although he had nothing for eventual race winner Kyle Busch, Edwards was pleased with the rebound and his performance on Darlington’s tricky new asphalt surface. “The new surface is growing on me,” Edwards smiled. It’s alright. It was a lot better than I thought it was gonna be. I was a little nervous to begin with. I didn’t like it too much in practice. We were 43rd on the sheet, so I’m really proud of my guys—all the pit stops.”
