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17th
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Greg Biffle's second-straight win at Michigan International Speedway turned into a huge milestone as Ford's 1000th victory in NASCAR's top three series.
A rare mistake by Jimmie Johnson sealed the deal for Biffle who drives for Roush Fenway Racing.
"The guy was 10 (on the restart) and was catching me with 10 to go," Biffle said. "That's a fast race car. We beat the 48 (Johnson) today and that says a lot. He was really, really fast."
Johnson was catching up with Biffle in closing laps when the five-time champion smacked the wall and had to pit eventually ending up 28th.
“We got him to make a mistake, we got him to falter, and we pushed the envelope, and that's part of racing and part of running hard and being competitive, and it makes you feel good when you push the guy over the edge, and he made a mistake. And that's what makes you feel good is that you outsmarted him or you beat him at his game, and he definitely had a fast car and we got him to make a mistake today, and I don't think he was going to catch me, but at the same time he made a mistake trying,” added Biffle.
“I guess just running that hard trying to get through traffic and get to the No. 16 (Biffle) we wore through the right-front,” said Johnson.
Kevin Harvick finished second in a Chevrolet followed by the Toyota of Martin Truex Jr.
“We didn't start off great,” said Harvick “We made some big adjustments on that first pit stop and we were able to get some track position and then they did a good job managing, when the caution came out there, to get us off the end of pit road in front of the leader. So, everybody did a great job today.”
Johnson's problems were the tip of the iceberg for Hendrick Motorsports which had its' worst finish since Sonoma in 2005 as all four team cars finished 28th or worse.
Just a few laps into the 400-mile race at the two-mile oval a spin by Bobby Labonte, driving for Phoenix Racing caught Jeff Gordon. Dale Earnhardt Jr. aiming to repeat a spring race win in Michigan had a blown engine. Kasey Kahne's string of bad luck lengthened when his car hit the wall and caught fire. He was not hurt.
Carl Edwards, the polesitter, finished eighth and narrowed the gap to points leader, Johnson, to 31 points.
The win was Ford's 715th in Sprint Cup, 200th in Nationwide, and 85th in the Camping World Truck Series.
The Roush Fenway Racing considers the Michigan oval its' home track. Thus the win and the milestone took on special meaning. "We expect to be at our best when we come to MIS and I am glad we could pull it off," Roush said. "I was a little nervous for a minute there, but I am glad it worked out and glad we could give Ford its 1,000th win."
A rare mistake by Jimmie Johnson sealed the deal for Biffle who drives for Roush Fenway Racing.
"The guy was 10 (on the restart) and was catching me with 10 to go," Biffle said. "That's a fast race car. We beat the 48 (Johnson) today and that says a lot. He was really, really fast."
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| Photo: NASCAR |
Johnson was catching up with Biffle in closing laps when the five-time champion smacked the wall and had to pit eventually ending up 28th.
“We got him to make a mistake, we got him to falter, and we pushed the envelope, and that's part of racing and part of running hard and being competitive, and it makes you feel good when you push the guy over the edge, and he made a mistake. And that's what makes you feel good is that you outsmarted him or you beat him at his game, and he definitely had a fast car and we got him to make a mistake today, and I don't think he was going to catch me, but at the same time he made a mistake trying,” added Biffle.
“I guess just running that hard trying to get through traffic and get to the No. 16 (Biffle) we wore through the right-front,” said Johnson.
Kevin Harvick finished second in a Chevrolet followed by the Toyota of Martin Truex Jr.
“We didn't start off great,” said Harvick “We made some big adjustments on that first pit stop and we were able to get some track position and then they did a good job managing, when the caution came out there, to get us off the end of pit road in front of the leader. So, everybody did a great job today.”
Johnson's problems were the tip of the iceberg for Hendrick Motorsports which had its' worst finish since Sonoma in 2005 as all four team cars finished 28th or worse.
Just a few laps into the 400-mile race at the two-mile oval a spin by Bobby Labonte, driving for Phoenix Racing caught Jeff Gordon. Dale Earnhardt Jr. aiming to repeat a spring race win in Michigan had a blown engine. Kasey Kahne's string of bad luck lengthened when his car hit the wall and caught fire. He was not hurt.
Carl Edwards, the polesitter, finished eighth and narrowed the gap to points leader, Johnson, to 31 points.
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| Photo: Ford |
The win was Ford's 715th in Sprint Cup, 200th in Nationwide, and 85th in the Camping World Truck Series.
The Roush Fenway Racing considers the Michigan oval its' home track. Thus the win and the milestone took on special meaning. "We expect to be at our best when we come to MIS and I am glad we could pull it off," Roush said. "I was a little nervous for a minute there, but I am glad it worked out and glad we could give Ford its 1,000th win."