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Biffle Heads First Saturday Practice

Written by John Davison · November 20, 2004

Greg Biffle led the first of two practice sessions Saturday morning at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Preparations for the Ford 400, final NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race of the 2004 season saw Greg Biffle, outside pole sitter for the race, clock a lap of 30.763 sec/175.536 mph, a scant .009 sec ahead of Jimmie Johnson’s Chevrolet. Johnson is a challenger for the first NEXTEL Cup but a poor qualifying run saw him relying on a provisional starting slot, 39th on the field. Point leader Kurt Busch won the pole for Sunday’s race, just ahead of Biffle. In the early practice session, Busch clocked the twelfth-fast time.


Tony Stewart, whose mathematical chance at the championship ends at the start of the race Sunday, placed his No. 20 Chevrolet third in the session. Mark Martin, also a long shot for the Cup, scored the sixth-fastest time at 30.992 sec/174.238 mph. Currently second in points, Jeff Gordon, scored the eleventh-fastest lap, 31.076 sec/173.768 mph, just .004 second ahead of Busch.

Crowd favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr was only able to put his car in 25th on the field, over a half second behind Biffle’s lap time.

The final, and according to some, most important “Happy Hour” of the 2004 season started just after 11:00 AM. We’ll be back after it finishes with a report on that session as well.

Rank , Driver , Car , Time , Speed , Behind
1) Greg Biffle, No. 16 National Guard/Subway Ford, 30.763 sec, 175.536 mph, Leader
2) Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, 30.772, 175.484, -0.009 sec
3) Tony Stewart, No. 20 The Home Depot Chevrolet, 30.879, 174.876, -0.116
4) Kasey Kahne*, No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 30.890, 174.814, -0.127
5) Carl Edwards, No. 99 Roush Racing Ford, 30.971, 174.357, -0.208
6) Mark Martin, No. 6 Viagra Ford, 30.992, 174.238, -0.229
7) Bobby Labonte, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Chevrolet, 30.999, 174.199, -0.236
8) Scott Wimmer*, No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge, 31.038, 173.980, -0.275
9) Casey Mears, No. 41 Target Dodge, 31.067, 173.818, -0.304
10) Ricky Rudd, No. 21 Motorcraft/U.S. Air Force Ford, 31.068, 173.812, -0.305
11) Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, 31.076, 173.768, -0.313
12) Kurt Busch, No. 97 Sharpie/IRWIN Industrial Tools Ford, 31.080, 173.745, -0.317
13) Brendan Gaughan*, No. 77 Kodak/Jasper Engines Dodge, 31.094, 173.667, -0.331
14) Jeremy Mayfield, No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 31.100, 173.633, -0.337
15) Matt Kenseth, No. 17 DeWalt Power Tools Ford, 31.103, 173.617, -0.340
16) Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, 31.116, 173.544, -0.353
17) Joe Nemechek, No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet, 31.126, 173.488, -0.363
18) Sterling Marlin, No. 40 Lone Star Steakhouse/Coors Light Dodge, 31.147, 173.371, -0.384
19) John Andretti, No. 14 VB/APlus at Sunoco Ford, 31.148, 173.366, -0.385
20) Rusty Wallace, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, 31.153, 173.338, -0.390
21) Dale Jarrett, No. 88 UPS Ford, 31.161, 173.294, -0.398
22) Shane Hmiel, No. 23 Bill Davis Racing Dodge, 31.172, 173.232, -0.409
23) Ryan Newman, No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge, 31.174, 173.221, -0.411
24) Jeff Burton, No. 30 America Online Chevrolet, 31.251, 172.794, -0.488
25) Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet, 31.277, 172.651, -0.514
26) Bobby Hamilton Jr., No. 32 Tide Chevrolet, 31.288, 172.590, -0.525
27) Terry Labonte, No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet, 31.289, 172.585, -0.526
28) Mike Bliss, No. 0 NetZero Chevrolet, 31.314, 172.447, -0.551
29) Travis Kvapil, No. 06 Mobil 1 Dodge, 31.328, 172.370, -0.565
30) Jamie McMurray, No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge, 31.333, 172.342, -0.570
31) Robby Gordon, No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet, 31.355, 172.221, -0.592
32) Martin Truex Jr., No. 1 Enterprise Rent-A-Car Chevrolet, 31.368, 172.150, -0.605
33) Brian Vickers*, No. 25 GMAC Financial Services Chevrolet, 31.370, 172.139, -0.607
34) Ken Schrader, No. 49 Schwan’s Home Service Dodge, 31.371, 172.133, -0.608
35) Elliott Sadler, No. 38 M&M’s Ford, 31.383, 172.068, -0.620
36) Michael Waltrip, No. 15 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 31.421, 171.860, -0.658
37) Jeff Green, No. 43 Chex Party Mix Dodge, 31.425, 171.838, -0.662
38) Kenny Wallace, No. 00 Aaron’s Chevrolet, 31.489, 171.488, -0.726
39) Scott Riggs*, No. 10 Valvoline Chevrolet, 31.508, 171.385, -0.745
40) Mike Wallace, No. 4 Lucas Oil Products Chevrolet, 31.510, 171.374, -0.747
41) Boris Said, No. 36 USG Durock Chevrolet, 31.562, 171.092, -0.799
42) Greg Sacks, No. 13 ARC Dehooker/Vita Coco Dodge, 31.633, 170.708, -0.870
*=Rookie

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