Biffle went to the front of the field after a late restart in the
Quicken Loans 400 and went on to win the 19th race of his career. It was the fourth time Biffle has won at Michigan International Speedway.
Biffle commended
Jimmie Johnson, to whom he finished second last week at
Party in the Poconos. Johnson was gaining on Biffle in the closing laps of the race, but a flat tire brought his day to an end just two laps short of the checkered flag.
“We beat the 48 (Johnson’s car) and that says a lot.” Biffle said. “He was really, really fast.”
In the end, however, Biffle stated auto racing is about competing and out-thinking the other drivers in the race.
“It makes you feel good when you push a guy over the edge,” he said. “He made a mistake and that is what makes you feel good. You outsmarted him, or you beat him at his game.”
Kevin Harvick finished the
Quicken Loans 400 in second and
Martin Truex Jr. was third.
One guy not happy with Biffle is fellow Rousch Fenway Racing driver
Carl Edwards.
“He ain’t our teammate,” said Edwards. He was running second to Biffle with just under 50 laps remaining in the race when his car started overheating due to debris clinging to his grille. Edwards was hoping Biffle would slow to allow him to close and allow the air flow between the two cars to clean the front of his car. Biffle said he had other concerns, including staying ahead of the field and refused to help his teammate.
“This is a competitive sport. These races are very, very hard to win.” While sympathizing with Edwards’ woes when made aware of them by his pit crew, Biffle said, “I can’t help him… not right now. This is my chance to win today, right here, and the 48 (Johnson) is coming. I don’t know if you know that or not, but the 48 is coming.”
Edwards wasn’t pleased. And neither was his crew chief.
“(We) didn’t get any help from our teammate and he put us in a hole,” Jimmy Fennig said.
Workers cleared the grille during a green-flag pit stop and Edwards finished the race in eighth place.
Johnson continues to lead the Sprint Cup Series
drivers’ standings. Edwards gains 20 points on the leader and now trails by 31 points. In third place is
Clint Bowyer, sitting 49 points behind Johnson.
Next on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
schedule is the
Toyota-Save Mart 350 at California’s Sonoma Raceway on June 23.
