Biffle Dominant at Darlington
Written by John Davison · May 7, 2005
Darlington – the “Lady in Black” – the “Track Too Tough to Tame” proved that reputation is well-deserved on Mothers’ Day weekend. In Friday night’s Busch series race, Brian Vickers added to that reputation on the first lap of the race. Matt Kenseth went on to overcome a poor starting slot to win the race. In Saturday night’s feature NEXTEL Cup race, Kurt Busch repeated the first lap flat spin, then on the restart just six laps later, Michael Waltrip got nudged by Jeff Green and smacked the outside wall. Later, Mike commented that his mother taught him that if you don’t have anything good to say about anyone, don’t say anything. He later returned to the track, 36 laps back.
In front of a sell-out crowd, Greg Biffle led the majority of the first half of the race, fate hanging Matt Kenseth out just after he stopped for tires under green, dropping the No. 17 Ford two laps down to Biffle. After the pit stops completed, Biffle beat the field off pit road, followed by Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne but Sterling Marlin led a lap by staying out on the track. At the 200 lap mark, Biffle held the point, then Johnson, Kahne, Newman, Kyle Busch, Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Earnhardt, McMurray and Mark Martin in the top ten for the restart. In less than a lap, Biffle took advantage of Dale Jarrett and Kyle Petty’s battle for the first car a lap down to open a lead of better than a second over the pursuing pack.
Jeff Green brought out the yellow just six laps later as Michael Waltrip returned the favor to Green in Three and Four, spinning Green out. With the abrasive track surface, the leaders pitted once more for fresh tires, leaving Joe Nemechek on the track to inherit the lead. Waltrip was pulled into the NASCAR “Penalty Box” to contemplate the error of his ways for one lap. Biffle led Jimmie Johnson to the green flag, followed by Kahne, Newman and Gordon.
The ninth caution of the night flew on lap 242 for a spin between Travis Kvapil and Scott Riggs. Dale Jarrett spun behind the initial incident as he slowed and teammate Elliott Sadler clipped him. Kasey Kahne picked up the lead when his crew sent him out just ahead of Johnson, followed by Biffle, Newman and Kyle Busch.
Jimmie Johnson slowed and pitted for tires on lap 260, taking on a can of fuel on the stop. Johnson had felt a vibration which proved due to a loose wheel.
Caution flew again with 85 laps to run after rookie Kyle Busch lost his right-front tire and hit the wall while running in fourth place, giving teammate Johnson the free pass onto the lead lap. Biffle led Newman out of the pits, Kahne continued his strong run in third and Mark Martin clawed his way to fourth.
Late in the race, NASCAR announced that Kurt Busch, Jeff Green and Michael Waltrip have all been “invited” to meetings with officials in the NASCAR “Oval Office” trailer to discuss incidents which earned several penalty laps.
With fifty laps to run, a piece of metal on the back straight brought out the caution again. Jimmie Johnson had been moving steadily up the field and was running tenth as the caution flew, from 20th at the last green flag restart. Greg Biffle came out first, followed by Newman, Gordon and Martin. Ryan Newman swept around Biffle just after the restart, making the pass look easy and setting a new record for the most leaders of Darlington’s spring race. To this point, 13 different drivers have led and Newman is running the fastest laps he has turned all night. Kevin Harvick’s crew had a problem with an air wrench, costing him positions.
Newman opened his lead over Jeff Gordon to just under four seconds, holding that margin, more or less, as traffic allowed. Kasey Kahne was frequently the fastest car on the track but Greg Biffle’s car started working better than the rest of the field and he gained a handful of positions in just a few laps, passing both Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon easily. Gordon’s car faded, then Mark Martin, challenging Kahne for the position, cut down low off the fourth turn and spun out, causing the twelfth caution but losing only one position. The caution came out with only four laps remaining.
Newman stayed on the track while Biffle, Gordon and Kahne pulled into the pits for fresh tires. Biffle barely beat Gordon out of the pits but Carl Edwards beat them both as the race came down to the green-white-checker. Ken Schrader stayed out with Newman, taking second on the track leading to the restart.
At the restart, Newman and Schrader were on old tires, Edwards and Biffle took two while Gordon, Kahne, Johnson and Martin all took four.
At the green, Newman stacked up the field behind him, Schrader faded, then Biffle swept around Newman, followed by Gordon and Kahne, dropping Newman back to fifth behind Mark Martin. Kevin Harvick crashed on the front straight as Carl Edwards nearly spun, Joe Nemechek slowed, causing Rusty Wallace to slow and swerve into Harvick.
Under the checkered flag, Greg Biffle took his third 2005 win after dominating the race, last week’s winner Jeff Gordon was second, Kasey Kahne third, Mark Martin fourth and Ryan Newman fifth. Jamie McMurray, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart filled out the top ten.
Biffle led 176 of the 370 laps. Kahne headed 60 laps, then Johnson led 55, Newman 47 and Gordon led 20. Jimmie Johnson leads points with 1519 127 points ahead of fellow Chevy driver Jeff Gordon.
Unofficial Finish, Dodge Charger 500:
Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, Pts/Bonus, Status
1, 3, Greg Biffle, No. 16 National Guard/Travelodge Ford, 370 laps, 190/10 pts, Running
2, 14, Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, 370, 175/5, Running
3, 1, Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 370, 170/5, Running
4, 20, Mark Martin, No. 6 Viagra Ford, 370, 160/0, Running
5, 2, Ryan Newman, No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge, 370, 160/5, Running
6, 13, Jamie McMurray, No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge, 370, 150/0, Running
7, 9, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, 370, 151/5, Running
8, 39, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet, 370, 142/0, Running
9, 10, Carl Edwards, No. 99 Office Depot/Scotts Ford, 370, 143/5, Running
10, 15, Tony Stewart, No. 20 The Home Depot Chevrolet, 370, 134/0, Running
11, 27, Joe Nemechek, No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet, 370, 135/5, Running
12, 12, Rusty Wallace, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, 370, 127/0, Running
13, 35, Ricky Rudd, No. 21 Motorcraft Genuine Parts Ford, 370, 124/0, Running
14, 24, Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, 370, 121/0, Running
15, 22, Dale Jarrett, No. 88 UPS Ford, 370, 118/0, Running
16, 5, Brian Vickers, No. 25 GMAC/ditech.com Chevrolet, 370, 120/5, Running
17, 36, Bobby Labonte, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet, 370, 112/0, Running
18, 28, Ken Schrader, No. 49 Schwan’s Home Service Dodge, 370, 109/0, Running
19, 29, Mike Bliss, No. 0 NetZero Best Buy Chevrolet, 370, 106/0, Running
20, 4, Elliott Sadler, No. 38 M&M’s Ford, 369, 103/0, Running
21, 34, Jeff Burton, No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet, 369, 100/0, Running
22, 23, Jeff Green, No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge, 369, 97/0, Running
23, 6, Kyle Busch*, No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet, 369, 94/0, Running
24, 42, Mike Wallace, No. 4 Lucas Oil Products Chevrolet, 369, 96/5, Running
25, 33, Scott Wimmer, No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge, 368, 88/0, Running
26, 31, Matt Kenseth, No. 17 Carhartt Ford, 367, 90/5, Running
27, 32, Kenny Wallace, No. 100 Bryan Foods Chevrolet, 367, 82/0, Running
28, 37, Kyle Petty, No. 45 Georgia-Pacific/Brawny/Mother’s Day Dodge, 366, 79/0, Running
29, 30, Dave Blaney, No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet, 366, 76/0, Running
30, 26, Bobby Hamilton Jr., No. 32 Tide Chevrolet, 365, 73/0, Running
31, 43, Stanton Barrett*, No. 192 Front Row Motorsports Chevrolet, 365, 70/0, Running
32, 38, Kevin Lepage, No. 37 R&J Racing Dodge, 363, 72/5, Running
33, 8, Jeremy Mayfield, No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 333, 69/5, Out of Race
34, 19, Michael Waltrip, No. 15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 330, 61/0, Running
35, 17, Travis Kvapil*, No. 77 Kodak/Jasper Engines Dodge, 323, 58/0, Running
36, 18, Scott Riggs, No. 10 Valvoline Chevrolet, 311, 55/0, Running
37, 11, Kurt Busch, No. 97 IRWIN Industrial Tools/Sharpie Ford, 306, 52/0, Running
38, 25, Jason Leffler, No. 11 FedEx Express “Birdies for St. Jude” Chevrolet, 285, 49/0, Running
39, 16, Casey Mears, No. 41 Target Dodge, 285, 46/0, Running
40, 41, Hermie Sadler, No. 66 East Tennessee Trailers Ford, 234, 43/0, Out of Race
41, 7, Sterling Marlin, No. 40 Coors Light Dodge, 221, 45/5, Out of Race
42, 21, Carl Long, No. 200 Buyer’s Choice Auto Warranties Chevrolet, 69, 37/0, Out of Race
43, 40, Jeff Fuller, No. 34 Mach One Inc. Chevrolet, 24, 34/0, Out of Race
*: Rookie
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3 Responses to “Biffle Dominant at Darlington”
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This race needs to be shortened by AT LEAST 100 miles. 4 hours of racing comes down to pit strategy. The ending was exciting, but the race itself went on forever.
Also, someone needs to tell Jeff Green that there is no truth to the rumor that you get 5 bonus points for punting Waltrip.
If the five point punt rule were in play, Mikey scored at least 15 points on Green’s bumper!
Every race comes down to pit strategy no matter the length, 100 miles or laps less wouldn’t change that.
But Kyle Petty was quoted last week saying NASCAR should cut the length of all races due to the length.
And it does have some merit. All the “stick and ball” sports average around 3 hours. A NASCAR event normally pushes 4 hours in many cases.
It would be interesting to see what the Nielson ratings say hour by hour.
I agree George, Mikey took his retribution a little too far.