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SOUTHERN
SHORT TRACK RACING NEWS
| Monday, September 22, 2008 | | | Biffle becomes serious title threat with second victory Roush Fenway takes top three, Busch finishes 43rd | Compliments of NASCAR.com
DOVER, DE -September 21, 2008- At a place where most of the patrons double down, Greg Biffle doubled up on last week's victory at New Hampshire with a thrilling win Sunday in the Camping World RV 400 Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway.
With a determined run down the backstretch, in the shadow of the Dover Downs Hotel and Casino, Biffle passed Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth on Lap 392 and opened a lead that reached .934 seconds at the finish.
Carl Edwards ran third behind his two Roush teammates, after taking two tires on his final pit stop on Lap 352 under caution. Edwards restarted in the lead on Lap 357 but couldn't hold it, as Kenseth surged past Edwards and Biffle to claim the top spot on Lap 378.
From that point, Biffle made repeated runs at Kenseth, who tried to protect the outside line but finally fell victim to Biffle's No. 16 Ford. Mark Martin finished fourth, followed by Jimmie Johnson, as Roush Fenway cars finished 1-2-3 for the first time since sweeping the top four spots at Homestead-Miami in November 2005.
Edwards remained in the lead in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Johnson and Biffle are second, 10 points back.
Biffle became the first driver to win the first two races of the Chase, but it wasn't secure until he won a protracted side-by-side battle against Kenseth in the closing laps.
"I knew I had to race Matt Kenseth clean. He's a great teammate," Biffle said. "I got a run up on the outside of him and got up beside him. He tried to pinch me off going down the backstretch, which is what he should have done, obviously. We got together a little bit, but I had my nose out there, and I couldn't give up.
"It was my last chance to get him."
Biffle said he could sympathize with owner Jack Roush, who watched his three cars battle for the lead with an intensity that had the fans at the Monster Mile on their feet lap after lap.
"I'll tell you what," Biffle said. "I wouldn't have wanted to be in his position. I'd have crapped my pants watching those three cars running into each other. We were going at it. That was Friday, Saturday night short track racing, where we all came from -- but there's so much on the line."
Kenseth said his handling was off just enough to prevent him from keeping Biffle behind him.
"Out of the three of us there all duking it out, there was going to be two guys that aren't as happy as the other guy," Kenseth said. "So I'm really happy for Greg. That's two wins in a row, and that team's really hitting their stride.
"It was a good day for us. Most of the day, we were really solid on pit road and made some good adjustments. I should have called for more of an adjustment there that last time [on the final pit stop]. The track got free on us, and I was just too loose to hold them off."
The glory day for the Roush teams was a nightmare for Kyle Busch, the top seed entering the Chase. Engine problems ultimately forced Busch into the garage and out of the race after 172 laps. He finished 43rd and fell to 12th in the championship standings (watch video).
And in Busch's view, his title hopes went up in smoke with the blown motor.
"Something broke inside the engine -- I'm not sure what it is," he said. "At this point it doesn't matter. Same thing happened two years ago, exact same thing. Wrecked at Loudon, blew up here. So where did we end up? Dead last.
"We're out of the title hunt -- that's for sure. So we'll just manage what we can."
News and Notes
• All three Richard Childress Racing drivers posted top-10 finishes: Kevin Harvick (sixth), Clint Bowyer (eighth) and Jeff Burton (ninth). Burton, Harvick and Bowyer, respectively, now occupy the fourth through sixth in the Chase standings. • A series of mishaps dropped Dale Earnhardt Jr. to a 24th-place finish. He lost five positions to ninth in the standings, 129 points behind Edwards (watch video). • A pit-road speeding penalty and a leak from the rear-end gear housing dropped Denny Hamlin to 38th at the finish and 11th in the Chase.
FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS 1 5 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 190/5 400 Running 2 8 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT 180/10 400 Running 3 22 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 170/5 400 Running 4 2 8 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army 160/0 400 Running 5 20 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 160/5 400 Running 6 24 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 155/5 400 Running 7 1 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 151/5 400 Running 8 6 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel's 147/5 400 Running 9 21 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 138/0 400 Running 10 40 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA AUTO PARTS 139/5 400 Running 11 33 20 Tony Stewart Toyota The Home Depot 130/0 400 Running 12 37 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 127/0 400 Running 13 19 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Alltel 124/0 400 Running 14 42 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker 121/0 400 Running 15 31 5 Casey Mears Chevrolet Kellogg's / CARQUEST 118/0 400 Running 16 30 84 A.J. Allmendinger Toyota Red Bull 115/0 400 Running 17 14 44 David Reutimann Toyota UPS 112/0 399 Running 18 23 6 David Ragan Ford AAA Insurance 109/0 399 Running 19 7 38 David Gilliland Ford Ford. Drive one. 106/0 399 Running 20 16 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 103/0 399 Running 21 34 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet Pittsburgh Paints / Menards 100/0 398 Running 22 41 7 Robby Gordon Dodge Menards 97/0 398 Running 23 15 28 Travis Kvapil Ford Hitachi Power Tools 94/0 397 Running 24 10 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet National Guard / AMP Energy 91/0 397 Running 25 32 66 Scott Riggs Chevrolet State Water Heaters 88/0 397 Running 26 36 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 85/0 397 Running 27 12 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge McDonald's 82/0 397 Running 28 13 70 Tony Raines Chevrolet Haas Automation 79/0 396 Running 29 28 00 Michael McDowell * Toyota Champion Mortgage 76/0 395 Running 30 39 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 73/0 395 Running 31 18 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 70/0 395 Running 32 29 21 Marcos Ambrose Ford Little Debbie 67/0 395 Running 33 43 96 Ken Schrader Toyota DLP HDTV 64/0 394 Running 34 4 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 61/0 394 Running 35 27 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Furniture Row / DenverMattress.com 58/0 388 Running 36 9 26 Jamie McMurray Ford IRWIN Industrial Tools 60/5 369 Running 37 26 01 Regan Smith * Chevrolet DEI / Principal Financial Group 52/0 365 Running 38 3 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Ground 49/0 362 Running 39 35 42 Juan Montoya Dodge Big Red Slim Pack 46/0 351 Accident 40 38 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Wells Fargo 43/0 349 Running 41 17 10 Patrick Carpentier * Dodge Charter Comm. 40/0 348 Running 42 25 77 Sam Hornish Jr. * Dodge Mobil 1 37/0 304 Accident 43 11 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Interstate Batteries 34/0 172 Engine * Denotes Rookie Have an opinion on this story? E-MAIL KARNAC to send a letter to the editor!
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