NASCAR NEXTEL: Greg Biffle Teleconference Transcript

Tuesday, April 4, 2006 

NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Teleconference

Greg Biffle (Driver of the No. 16 National Guard Subway Ford Fusion) 

 

As part of the monthly series of NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series conference
calls, West Region media members took part in a question and answer
session with NASCAR NEXTEL Cup driver Greg Biffle on Tuesday, April 4.
The call was moderated by John Cardinale of Infineon Raceway. 

 

Greg, maybe you can talk a little bit about the upcoming two races.
You're certainly very strong in Texas and very strong in Phoenix.  Those
are a couple of good races for you and with Subway being the event
sponsor in Phoenix that's probably got a little extra meaning for you
too.

 

GB: Yeah, it really does.  You know, we've got some great cars lined up
for those two races and, you know, it's always nice coming to an event
with Subway or the title sponsor of the race being your sponsor.  Kind
of a little added pressure sometimes, if you will, but certainly we feel
like we can run decent at both these race tracks.  And they're good race
tracks for us.  And we're kind of glad to be by some of them short
tracks that can reach out and bite you sometimes, but I'm really looking
forward to all these tracks coming up.

 

I want to ask you a question about multiple driver teams.  As far as
strategy and maybe helping in the closing stages of a race, how much
might it help?  And a follow up would be, do your five teams always
share information?

 

GB: Well, with the latter question, definitely all five teams share
information.  We share a lot of information together.  And then during
the race, you know, it can be difficult at times in the later stages of
the race when you're racing your teammates.  You know, because you want
to be sure that you're not getting in an accident with your teammate,
that's first and foremost.  So you need to be cautious of that.  But
earlier in the race it can be beneficial to have teammates running
around the same spot that you are because, for instance, in Bristol --
or in Martinsville, Matt (Kenseth), you know, kind of gave me a break a
couple of times when I was trying to pass the No. 31 car when he could
have probably got inside me and forced me out of the way.  So sometimes
it's nice to get a run with guys that you're familiar with.

 

You've had a frustrating season so far.  You've qualified great; you had
the pole in one race and were on the front row in two others.  And yet
the finishes have not been equal to where you were starting out or even
close.  You're coming to a track that you've done really well at.  Do
you feel like this is the time to really turn it around and to run a
race as well as you've qualified?

 

GB: Yeah, I think so.  You know, it's too bad, in California we lost an
engine there with just a little short time to go and we ran out of fuel
at Atlanta after running up front all day.  So those are frustrating
weekends, and, of course, Bristol with the flat tire.  So, yeah, it's
frustrating not getting the finishes where we've been running, but
certainly we feel like we're doing everything we need to do and we're
doing everything right.  So, we feel like if we just continue doing the
things that we're doing it's eventually going to turn around for us.  We
had a team meeting today and the whole team is excited about going to
Texas and Talladega and Phoenix and all those races coming up.  So,
we're ready to get it turned around and we've got to get ourselves up in
that top ten.

 

You mentioned that you had the team meeting because that sort of
frustration it's not just you, it's your whole team where everybody is
working together and you get the pole or a front-row start, you have
this expectation of doing really well.  And then when things kind of
fall apart it can be frustrating for everybody.  How do you hold your
team together where they stay upbeat?

 

GB: Well, we've been together for a little over three years now.  All of
them have been in the sport before and they have seen things go on
around them, and I've been in different situations and they just know
how difficult that this is.  How difficult of a thing that this sport
can be.  The positive thing about it is that we're running well.  And so
they know if we continue to run well that we're going to run into wins
and getting our points where they need to be.  So it's not hard to keep
my team motivated.  They're pretty high on themselves and pretty high on
what we've done in the past as a team.  So they're just, you know,
keeping their heads up.

 

There seems to be more and more Cup drivers crossing over and running in
the Busch Series this season. Is that good for the sport in general?

 

GB: Yes, it is to a degree.  But, you know, at the same time I feel like
there needs to be a limit to it at some point.  You know, they're
guaranteeing the top 30 in points in the Busch Series spots.  So I don't
think Cup drivers should be eligible for those 30 spots.  It should be
just Busch only.  And that's probably what's going to happen in the
future maybe, is they might open that up a little bit more and then just
the fastest on time get to race the race.  But, you know, ten guys or so
in the field I think is good.  It's good for the sport because it was
good for me as a driver when I raced at that level to race with Mark
Martin, to race with Jeff Burton, to race with all the other Cup guys
that came down to race with us.  It was good for me and I learned a lot
from them and I could prove myself by running well against them.  But
when there starts to be more than that then it could, at some point,
become detrimental to that series a little bit. 

 

You won a Busch race out here in Phoenix last year and you've tested
quite extensively out in Phoenix.  What are your thoughts on the new
testing restrictions that do not allow you to test at some tracks, like
Phoenix?

 

GB: Well, I don't like it for sure.  We agree that there needs to be a
limited number of tests, but they should at least allow the teams to
pick what race tracks they want to go to.  That would accomplish the
same thing if they said, okay, 'Roush can only go to five tests, you
know all five cars have to go to the same place and the same with
Hendricks, all four teams have to go to five selected tracks wherever
you select.'  That would still accomplish the same thing in keeping the
teams from sprawling out and going to 20 different tracks, yet it would
allow the teams to focus on their weak points.  Like if you have a team,
just a two-car team or single-car team, and you're not letting them go
test at the tracks that they need to test at, I feel you're being
detrimental to them at the same time you're trying to level the playing
field for them.  So, it's kind of a double-edged sword.  I think that
they have a good foundation, but they may just need to adjust on it a
little bit.  But their problem is their tire rule they've come up with
because they have no way to enforce it.

 

I was just wondering beyond the, if you will, bad luck that you've had
so far this year, has anything surprised you about how the season has
gone so far either in terms of the level of competition or the courses
you've been at or anything else?  Have there been any surprises that
have caught you off guard this year?

 

GB: Not really.  The competition has been a little tougher than what I
had anticipated, but not by much, and I think everything is pretty
straightforward really.  Some teams have gotten better over the winter
that now we're having to deal with, but really for us it's kind of
business as usual, so to speak.  You know, carrying over from last year
and they're putting a lot of pressure on the teams with this Car of
Tomorrow or whatever.  You know, we can barely keep up as it is and to
have to try and develop and test and, you know, keep up with this
building a car for next year, being competitive for next year, you know,
that's going to really put a strain on us as we go forward.

 

There have been a lot of driver altercations on and off the track this
season.  You seem to kind of stay out of the fray, at least this season.
I wanted to get your take on why you think it seems there's more
edginess this season from race to race.

 

GB: Well, I think with this being the second year of the Chase format
that the drivers are feeling the pressure to be in the Chase.  And, you
know, you're going to be frustrated if you were on the 499th lap at
Bristol and something happens, you know, or a long distance at another
track and something happens, you're going to be frustrated, you know.
That's a long day.  It's a very tedious job that we do and when
something happens, I mean, tempers flare.  And, I mean, when you're
inside the car on lap 100 and you're trying to get by this guy that's in
your way or is holding you up a little bit, and you've got a faster car
but the car is so aero dependent you can't pass them, you get
frustrated, you know, you get 'dang it, get out of the way,' you know,
you want to go.  And, you know, that can frustrate you and those things
do and some people get a little hot, but it's to be expected, I think.
That stuff is going to happen from time to time.

 

Fans seem to like it.  It seems to help increase the popularity of the
sport, actually.

 

GB: Well, of course it does.  I mean, that's what hockey is about the
fighting on the ice.  And, I mean, basketball or football would be the
same because people like controversy.  They want to see it.  They like
to see it.  And I'm being perfectly honest with you; I'm convinced that
there is a percentage of the fans that want to see the wrecks versus a
good race.  And that's hard for us to accept.  I mean, we have to, but
none of us want to be involved in a wreck and none of us want to wreck
because that's how we make our living.  It would be like us saying to
somebody else that cleans swimming pools, 'we hope you fall down and
break your leg or slip and you can't work for a few months and you lose
some of your pay.'  Because we have 36 times a year to earn a living,
you know, if you will, we only work 36 days a year in the short term,
which isn't the case, but that's why tempers flare.  That's why things
happen because that's our livelihood.  And that's how we make it.  Jack
Roush told me at one point that those fans pay to see us struggle.  And
to a degree he was explaining that they come out to see you work your
butt off, your blood and sweat and guts to put on a good show.  And
that's what they come to see.  You know, they come to see that toughness
that it takes to make it.  

 

In regards to the Car of the Tomorrow, how do you feel about the expense
for running a Cup car and do you see the one car teams having some major
problems in the future because of the cost?

 

GB: I don't know.  I really don't necessarily think that the one car
teams are going to have any more problem than they're having already.
You know, our sport has gotten so technologically advanced and we're
able to learn so much.  I think what the multi-car teams have done is
they've allowed more people to be employed.  You know, more engineers,
more things like that, more wind tunnel time and so you learn more
rapidly.  NASCAR is trying to control that by making us go to more of a
neutral car, which is like trying to catch up with somebody in age.  You
know you're never going to catch them.  They're four years older than
you are and it's going to stay that way.  Because what happens is when
we get that new car we're going to learn much faster than all those
single car teams will.  We're going to learn what to do to them, how to
make them faster.  We're going to continue to probably be ahead most all
of the time by a little bit because we're able to learn stuff faster.
So, I think NASCAR making the team limit is probably overall going to be
a good thing in the future, but right now for them to come in and have a
fix for the single car teams, it doesn't really exist.

 

Phoenix  is going to host the first night race on the NASCAR schedule
this year.  Can you talk a little bit about how the planning from a
driver's standpoint changes and your thoughts on racing after dark.  It
seems like NASCAR is certainly moving to a lot more night races.

 

GB: Well, I'll tell you what, I really enjoy night racing for a couple
of reasons.  One, I enjoy racing Saturday nigh because of our schedule.
You know how hectic our schedule is and we're always looking for days
and ways to make up time.  And that really truly gives the team a kind
of a jump start on a day off.  A lot of times the crew guys and whatnot
only have time to spend with their family on Sunday because the kids are
out of school and whatnot and wives aren't working.  So, that's a good
day for us to have off.  Night racing is also good for our sport because
it's cooler inside the cars.  I think it's cooler in the grandstands.
Fans can come out and enjoy the event a lot more at night.  And it's
just kind of that feel at night.  Sparks.  Just kind of that feeling
that you're at a night event.  And I liked that as a fan.  I enjoy
watching night races like the trucks and things like that versus day
races.

 

I know the race at Infineon Raceway is a few months away, but you seem
to be one of the drivers who has really enjoyed coming out here.  I know
you thought that the work that's been done has been tremendous.  Is the
attitude in the garage changing a lot more where guys are really
starting to get on the road courses a lot more than they did say five,
ten, 15 years ago?

 

GB: Yeah, I think so.  As of recent, you know.  Infineon puts on a good
race and it's a good race track that we come to in the way that they've
changed it and paved some areas or actually paved the whole thing.  It
has good grip.  I think it races well.  It's a good layout.  I think the
fans enjoy coming out and picking spots so that they can see a lot of
the race.  I definitely enjoy road racing.  I don't come from a road
racing background, but certainly the two times a year, three times a
year I get to do it, I really enjoy it.