NASCAR Trucks: Greg Biffle speeds to first career NCTS win at Memphis
10 May 1999
Greg Biffle: COMMENT ON THE EXCITING RACE TODAY. "We had a pretty good truck early on. But I'll tell you what, I give a lot of credit to the #98 truck. I had no idea that he was going to be that good today. He started getting loose out in front of me and I thought that I'd give him 10 or 15 laps and then go after him. I wanted to save my stuff and then go after him and the lead. I just decided to take care of my tires and let race run on and let the Grainger guys in the pits do the work for me and get us out in front of him. And sure enough that is what happened. We came in for the first pit stop and we went out in first place. The guys just did an awesome job. I never had to use my tires the whole day for track position because I came out of the pits first every time. DOES YOUR JUBILATION THIS YEAR ERASE THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF LAST YEAR? "Not really because we made bad mistakes last year that were really just common sense. We just really blew it huge last year. We should have been able to win here last year. The truck that we had here last year was twice as fast as the truck that we had today. I could do just about anything that I wanted to last year. Today I had to really work for it and had to count on the guys to make some chassis adjustments and to put tires on it to stay where I was." IS IT GRATIFYING TO GET YOUR FIRST WIN AT THE PLACE WHERE YOU THOUGHT YOUR FIRST WIN WAS GOING TO BE? "Yeah it really is. I told a lot of people back home that you really need to watch this race. I told everybody that out of anywhere, I thought we had the best chance of winning here than anywhere else on the circuit. We were so fast here last year that nobody could beat us this year. There was a handful of trucks up there that were really fast." IS THIS WIN MORE MEANINGFUL? " Yeah it was. This year I had to work a lot harder but the guys did a tremendous job. I keep going back to that point. The engine program that Roush has and the bodywork, you can't forget all the guys that give us this equipment to win with. They've all done a tremendous job for us." IS THIS AS RELIEF FOR RANDY (GOSS, CREW CHIEF) AS WELL? "It's a relief for the whole team. I'm happier for the team than I am for myself. The guys work so hard. We drivers do work hard at the track and doing all the media things but those guys work year round on those trucks and they got to have something to look forward to when they get up in the morning and go to work. You work year round to win races and that is what we all strive for. So they get rewarded when we can bring a win home." COMMENT ON YOUR NEED TO BE PATIENT OUT ON THE TRACK TODAY. "I think that I did a fairly good job of being patient and laying back off of the #98 truck and taking my time with the traffic. I think that I gauged myself so that I would have enough tire at the end of the race. It was really close. I did save enough to have enough at the end." WAS IT GOOD TO GET YOUR FIRST WIN WITH JACK ROUSH HERE TO SEE IT? "Yeah it's great because Benny Parsons was the one who really got me my opportunity by telling Jack Roush about me after seeing me at the Tucson Winter Heat Series. So it was great that both Jack and Benny were here for my first win." DID JACK (ROUSH) TALK TO YOU OVER THE RADIO TODAY? "No not until the end of the race. He was very supportive. He said that I was doing a great job and to keep my cool. I had 25 laps to go or whatever it was at the time. He said to take care of our stuff and stay out in front." DOES IT ADD TO THE PRESSURE WHEN JACK IS HERE? "Not really because I put so much pressure on myself to win for the team. Last year added a little pressure when he was here. I don't think it does anymore though. I'm pretty comfortable with him. I wish that he could attend more races. But of course he needs to go to all the Winston Cup races so unfortunately he can't be at many of our races. It was great that he spent some of his valuable time to come to Memphis."Editors Note: For hundreds of hot racing photos and racing art, be sure to visit The Racing ImageGalleries and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.