With his team owner at the Mayo Clinic recovering from injuries sustained in a plane crash, Greg Biffle found the remedy for the ills of Roush Fenway Racing and Ford’s racing program.
Pulling away from the rest of the field after a rain delay of more than 17 minutes, Biffle beat pole-sitter Tony Stewart to the finish line by 3.598 seconds to win Sunday’s Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway.
The victory, Biffle’s 15th in the Cup Series, was his first since 2008 and the first for Ford and owner Jack Roush since Jamie McMurray won at Talladega this past November. NASCAR.com
“This one’s for Jack,” Biffle said in victory lane. “We know he’s watching.”
Biffle drove to victory in the same No. 16 Ford Fusion he drove to a third-place finish last week at Indianapolis.
“This is big,” said Biffle, who earned the first victory for Ford Motor Co. in 23 races dating back to Talladega last fall. “We know we have a great team. I know I can do it behind the wheel. We proved it today.”
Following Biffle to the checkered flag were Tony Stewart’s No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet, and Biffle’s teammate, Carl Edwards in the No. 99 RFR Ford. NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Kevin Harvick was fourth, followed by Denny Hamlin.
The second five was Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Martin Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson. FOXNews
Edwards spoke with Roush on Sunday morning and said his boss sounded in good spirits.
“He was Jack,” Edwards said. “Don’t mess anything up. Don’t wreck. He’s been through a lot this last week. He really needed that victory. That’s pretty cool. I’m sure he’s really hard to handle for all those nurses in the hospital.”
Roush released a statement calling it a “proud day” for the entire organization.
“They’ve done a wonderful job and this is just the beginning of the rewards that have resulted from all of their hard work,” he said.
Biffle’s crew kept the same car after driving the No. 16 Ford to a season-high third-place finish last week at Indianapolis. That finish put Biffle in 11th place in the points standings and now he’s strongly positioned himself with five races for a spot in the 12-driver field for the championship chase. He won Chase races at New Hampshire and Dover in 2008 before falling into this winless drought. Biffle was winless last year for the first full season of his career.
He won’t be shut out in back-to-back seasons.
“The whole company needed it,” Biffle crew chief Greg Erwin said. “I can’t really explain what this means. I know (Roush) is with us. This is a brand new car at Indianapolis and we brought it here because we liked it so much.” The Associated Press
The 500-mile race was marred by two rain delays and a violent crash involving Elliott Sadler and Kurt Busch.
With 36 laps remaining, Busch was tapped from behind by Johnson. Busch then spun and slid into the infield grass before he crashed into the inside wall.
“I got wrecked on the straightaway; Jimmie Johnson drove straight through us,” Busch said.
Sadler, who the inaugural Truck Series race at Pocono on Saturday, got caught up in the accident, as his car slammed head on into an infield barrier. The impact was so severe that it stripped the engine from his car onto the grass.
Neither Sadler nor Busch were hurt during the incident, but Sadler gingerly climbed out of his car and lied down on the track, as track and medical officials quickly attended to him. He was later released from the track’s infield medical center. MiamiHerald.com
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 - Race Results
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