Biffle Clinches Spot in 2014 Chase for the Championship with 19th-Place Finish at Richmond

Greg Biffle clinched a spot for the 2014 NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship with his 19th-place finish Saturday night at Richmond in his No. 16 3M Call Before You Dig Ford.  Biffle went into the weekend knowing he needed a top-20 finish to secure his position, and with that in mind never gave up throughout the 400-lap race. 

“Those guys that ran up in the top five probably didn’t break a sweat but I tell you what, this is the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life, driving and trying to stay in the top-20 like this,” said Biffle.  “At the beginning of the race we were a lot better than we were at the end. We kept losing the handle and trying to adjust on it but weren’t getting anywhere. I drove all I had and that is all I could do to bring it home where I did.”

Biffle used five top-10 finishes in the final six ‘regular season’ races to secure his place in the ‘Chase’ field. He has now qualified for the ‘Chase’ in six of the last seven seasons and seven times during his career.

Biffle qualified his No. 16 3M Call Before You Dig Ford 17th due to a loose handling Ford after making two attempts at laying down a fast lap in qualifying.  The loose handling condition from qualifying continued into the race and was a battle for the No. 16 team the entire evening.

Wedge, track bar and air pressure adjustments all helped to give Biffle a little more grip, but not what he needed.  He ultimately crossed the finish line 19th, two laps down to the race winner.  The finish was enough to secure a position in the 2014 Chase field and seeds him 15th in the 16-car field going into the first Chase race next weekend at Chicagoland Speedway.

RFR PR