Sharpie 500 * Bristol Motor Speedway * Saturday, August 23, 2003
Greg Biffle
Team: Roush Racing
Car: No. 16
Sponsor: Grainger
Owner: Jack Roush
Driver: Greg Biffle
Crew Chief: Randy Goss
Chassis: JR-004: This is the same car Biffle and the Grainger Team
used to record their first Winston Cup top-five finish with at Bristol
earlier this season. They also used the car at Dover where Biffle
qualified 15th and finished 30th after being caught up in a late race
accident.
Greg Biffle on racing at Bristol:
"Bristol is an extremely challenging race track but I've always
enjoyed racing there. It's tough on a driver mentally and physically
because you are constantly surrounded by other competitors while at the
same time turning 16-second laps. Bristol is short-track racing at
its
best and it's impossible to come out of there with all of the fenders
on the car. You have to be aggressive but at the same time be patient.
It's a 500-lap race, and if you knock the front end off or something
like that on lap 100, you'll never see the checkered flag. Tempers
always flare up at the short tracks, especially at the Bristol night
race, and that always makes for a good show for the fans. I almost wish
I was going to be in the grandstands watching.
"I'm especially excited about returning to Bristol because it's
the track where the Grainger Team scored its first top-five finish.
We're taking the same car we used in March and we're fresh off a
top-five run at Michigan. Hopefully we can build on that momentum and
duplicate our performance this weekend."
Crew Chief Randy Goss on racing at Bristol:
"I never know what to think about Bristol. It's just flat out
disorder for 500 laps. It's great for the fans, but it drives you
nuts as a crew chief. Really though, Bristol is a drivers track and
Greg has had some very good runs there in the past. Some of the keys to
being successful at Bristol are qualifying well and keeping yourself out
of trouble. The later is really out of your control for the most part,
but the guys who take the best care of their equipment are the ones that
will be up front in the end. We're taking the same car we finished
fifth with in the spring and we think it's a little better. Hopefully
we'll be able to put together the same kind of results this time
around."
ROUSH RACING FAST FACTS:
Mark Martin scored four consecutive poles at Bristol (1995-96).
Martin's seven poles at Bristol is a tie for the most ever.
Martin has won five of the last 17 poles at Bristol.
Martin has posted two victories at Bristol, in 1993 from the
pole and in the 1998 fall race.
Martin has posted 20 top-10 and 15 top-five finishes in 33 races
at Bristol.
Martin's last top-10 finish at Bristol came in 2000.
Martin scored 10 straight top-10 finishes from 1995-2000.
Greg Biffle earned his first top-five finish of the season at
Bristol in the spring.
Matt Kenseth now has 18 top-10 finishes in 23 starts, a
league-leading statistic. He also has nine top-five finishes; second
only to Bobby Labonte's 10 top-five finishes.
Kenseth's 2003 Winston Cup point lead is now 329 points over
second place Dale Earnhardt, Jr. It is the widest margin of the entire
year for Kenseth.
If Kenseth wins the Sharpie 500 event, his Winston-leader bonus
payout would be a record $240,000.
Kenseth has completed all but two laps of competition in the
2003 season.
Kurt Busch won the Food City 500 at Bristol in March this year.
Busch's crew chief Jimmy Fennig is the winningest active crew
chief in the Winston Cup Series with 23 wins.
Jeff Burton has four top-five and seven top-10 finishes at
Bristol.
Jon Wood and Carl Edwards will compete in Wednesday night's
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event. Edwards has won the past two races
and the Roush teams have won four of the last six races.
