This Week in Ford Racing: Greg Biffle

Greg Biffle, with his fourth victory of the season last week at Lowe's Motor Speedway, has been rewriting the Busch Series record book for rookie achievements - and there are still four races remaining in the season. Posting Ford's 11th win of the season and third straight, Biffle broke the rookie record for wins in a season and became the first rookie to top the $1 million mark in single-season earnings. Biffle spoke about his rookie accomplishments, his aspirations for the future and the adversity he has faced in his four-year NASCAR career.

GREG BIFFLE-60-Grainger Ford Taurus - YOU'RE BREAKING ALL SORTS OF ROOKIE RECORDS THIS YEAR. "That's pretty exciting to get the rookie win record and all those other records. But like they say, records are made to be broken. There will be somebody else that will come along and win a handful of races and championship their rookie year, and as the purses go up, the money won record will be shattered. But, it's exciting to be the guy setting the pace right now. It's pretty neat to be able to say that we did that. We're the guys that everybody else has to beat in the future."

HOW MUCH DO YOU FOCUS ON SETTING RECORDS? "It's usually something that somebody tells you about afterward. There are too many categories and types of records to keep track of. I really don't know a lot of records, we just do the best we can every week and let the records fall as they may."

YOU ALWAYS SEEM TO STEP UP YOUR GAME WHEN YOU'RE RACING WITH A BUNCH OF WINSTON CUP DRIVERS. DO YOU TAKE EXTRA NOTICE OF THEM ON THE TRACK? "I don't know how that factors out, but it's neat to be able to compete against those guys and see them go over and race on Sunday and run well, too. Hopefully that gives us some momentum when we get to Winston Cup racing, that we'll be able to compete over there at the same level."

YOU AND RANDY GOSS BOTH MOVED UP FROM THE TRUCK SERIES FOLLOWING LAST YEAR'S CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON. HOW MUCH OF THAT HAS BEEN A FACTOR IN YOUR SUCCESS THIS SEASON? "We fought and dug for every piece of real estate we could get down here when we started out down here. We were a little behind the eight ball when the season got going. Randy and Cowboy (Kevin Starland, car chief) were definitely factors in getting the program off the ground and our early success. Randy's trying to do the same thing now with our Winston Cup effort."

WILL HE BE YOUR CREW CHIEF NEXT SEASON IN YOUR SEVEN-RACE WINSTON CUP EFFORT? "I believe so; that's the plan that I've been told."

HOW FIRM IS THAT DEAL? "Very. We're racing them definitely. We're racing them definitely."

THE 100-POINT PENALTY YOU RECEIVED FOLLOWING RICHMOND MAY COME INTO PLAY AT THE SEASON'S END WHERE YOU COULD LOSE A SPOT OR TWO IN THE POINTS. THIS HAPPENED TO YOU IN THE TRUCK SERIES IN 1999 AND COST YOU THE CHAMPIONSHIP. DO YOU HAVE A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE SINCE THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE? "There are a couple of things that I'm praying for. One is that I don't come within 100 points of the championship guy because then I will have a hard time living with that - losing two championships over a period in my career. That would be terrible for something like that to happen. I don't think it was right, so I probably shouldn't even comment on it. If I lost the championship by 110 points, then it doesn't impact it all; it's like no big deal. But if I lost the championship by 98 points, then that would certainly be something to talk about or think about. Then it would be a topic. If I finish more than 100 points out, it shouldn't be a focus. Then the other focus is, did I finish second in points or did I finish fourth in points? Right now it hasn't affected me still, as of today. One spot in the point standings at the end of the season is a lot of money, in terms of year-end point money. It's got to be 50 to $60,000 per position in the top five. It still isn't over, but there's nothing I can do about it."

DO YOU STILL THINK ABOUT THE TRUCK CHAMPIONSHIP THAT GOT AWAY IN 1999, EVEN THOUGH YOU WON IT IN 2000? "Every day. That's something I haven't forgotten and it's something you will never forget about."

THIS IS THE BUSCH SERIES' FIRST RACE AT MEMPHIS THIS YEAR, BUT YOU RAN THE TRUCK RACE THERE IN JUNE. HOW MUCH OF AN ADVANTAGE WAS IT TO RUN THERE WITH THE NEW TIRE COMPOUND? "We even spent a couple days there testing our Busch car a few months ago. It should help us a little bit. We learned a few things testing there, but we just have to hope that they work to our advantage. It's the same tire we ran at IRP and we ran really good there. Of course, we just came off of our test at Memphis. Those things will certainly make us better. I don't know if we're going to dominate or anything like that, but we expect to be strong there."

WITH MEMPHIS BEING A .75-MILE TRACK, HOW IMPORTANT IS STARTING POSITION? "We worked on qualifying there more than any of the other places we tested at this year. Normally, we work on race setups when we test, and we'll probably go into the weekend doing our normal run-through. We'll do a race run in the beginning and then work more on qualifying this week."

WHERE'S THE BEST PLACE TO MAKE A PASS AT MEMPHIS? "You need to get your car stuck to the bottom of the race track and pass them coming off the corner. A guy will usually push a little bit in the entry or the middle, and if your car turns a little better, you can pass them on the bottom on the straightaway."

YOU'VE HAD A PRETTY BUSY YEAR, INCREASING YOUR RACE LOAD TO ACCOMMODATE THE BUSCH SERIES SCHEDULE, BUT YOU'VE ALSO FILLED IN ON THE TRUCK SERIES. DO HAVE ANY PLANS AFTER MEMPHIS? "To my knowledge, I have the weekend off after Memphis, and it's the first one since I don't know when. Luckily, the trucks aren't running that weekend either, or I may have been asked to fill in. I know they want keep Kyle's (Busch) rookie status for next year, and they've got him running in seven races this year. I still enjoy getting the chance to run over there because there's really no pressure and you're not running for points, just the win."

AFTER YOUR OFF-WEEKEND, YOU PULL DOUBLE DUTY AT PHOENIX DRIVING THE TRUCK AND THE BUSCH CAR. "I'm looking forward to that. It will be my first time ever to do double duty other than flying from Bristol up to Nazareth. Now, I'll be able to feel what Harvick's been doing all year, and see how difficult it is really is."

DO YOU EXPECT IT TO HELP OR HINDER YOUR RHYTHM JUMPING FROM TRUCK TO CAR? "I think it will help me establish my rhythm quicker. I think more seat time and more practice always benefits the driver."

YOU SEE IT AS A BENEFIT EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE NOT DRIVING SIMILAR RACE VEHICLES? "That will be different, but the one thing it will assist me on is the line around the race track and just getting comfortable with the race track itself. I will have to separate my thought processes from one to the other, though. What works on the car probably won't work on the truck because those things probably won't cross over."

NO DRIVER WILL EVER ADMIT THAT THE CHAMPIONSHIP RACE IS OVER UNTIL THE FINAL RACE, SO WHAT'S YOUR FOCUS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SEASON? "That's right because you never know when a penalty could come into play. We just want to win every race and focus on doing the best we can every week. We showed up to Charlotte to win. We're going to Memphis to try to win, we're going to Phoenix to try to win and we're going to Homestead to try to win. That's how it's been since Daytona. I'm not saying that we'll go all out and try to take ever chance there is. We're still going to race with sense. We're not going to put ourselves in jeopardy of not finishing a race, but we're going to there to try to win."

YOU WON ROOKIE-OF-THE-YEAR HONORS IN THE TRUCK SERIES IN 1998, AND YOU'RE WELL ON YOUR WAY TO CAPTURING THAT HONOR IN THE BUSCH SERIES THIS YEAR. DO YOU EVER LOOK BACK ON YOUR ROOKIE SEASON IN THE TRUCKS AND REFLECT ON HOW MUCH YOU'VE DEVELOPED AS A DRIVER? "It's been a big change for me. I think I've learned a lot. I wish I could go back and do some of it over, knowing what I know now. Anybody wishes for that. I'll just try to apply that knowledge when I get to Winston Cup to avoid some of the mistakes I've made. What I learned in the truck, what I learned this year and when I do my seven races next year, I'll just apply everything that I've learned. I want to finish out my career without regrets."

YOU'RE CARRYING THE BANNER THIS YEAR FOR ROUSH RACING, BUT GOING INTO THE SEASON YOU WERE PROBABLY NOT EXPECTED TO DO AS WELL AS THE OTHER TEAMS. "I think that sometimes that has something to do with it. You get that leeway, and I don't know if it's extra incentive or what, but there's no pressure. It's just go out and do the best you can. Sometimes you end up better than you expected. I don't know how that is, but a lot of times it works that way. I'm real excited about how we've done this year, and to carry the Roush banner, so to speak. I look forward to continuing that in the future. I really want to be competitive in Winston Cup. I'm looking forward to going testing. I know it's really tough, but I want to win a Winston Cup championship; that's what I really want to win. That's what my focus is, and that's what drives me every day. I want to be the guy to beat. I want to be one of the top-five in Winston Cup, and I know that's a lot to ask for. That's what I keep my focus on, and that gives me the drive to be as good as I can in Busch and as good as I can when I get back in the truck. I'm just looking for experience, the veteran guy so to speak. I try to drive like that. I try to post finishes like that, to try to better myself for Winston Cup."