Dodge/Save Mart 350 - Greg Biffle Notes

GREG BIFFLE IN THE NO. 16 GRAINGER FORD HAS BEEN RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE OF THE RACE SIX TIMES ENTERING SUNDAY'S RACE AT SONOMA. HE TRAILS JAMIE MCMURRAY BY FIVE POINTS (162-157) IN THE RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE OF THE YEAR STANDINGS. BIFFLE HAS RACKED UP ONE TOP-FIVE AND ONE TOP-10 FINISH THIS SEASON.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU RACED AT SEARS POINT? "I'm thinking that it's been probably four years. I think I only raced at Sears Point my first year in the truck series, 1998."

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THE PLACE? "I remember that it's tough to get grip. I love road racing and that wasn't my best racetrack to go to. I axle-hopped it into turn 11 and broke an axle and spent about 20 laps behind the wall changing the rear end gear so don't do that (laughs). That's about all I really remember. I don't remember a whole lot about it. We went and tested road Atlanta just to get some basic fundamentals down."

HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO GO FROM AN OVAL TO A ROAD COURSE? "It's difficult. You've really got to get your game face on for road racing. It's a whole different animal: the way you brake, the way you turn the wheel, where to shift at. A lot of those things are important and it's good to go test a generic road course like we did because I flat spotted four sets of tires, not all at once but at some point in the run, I skidded a tire. We see it all the time in road racing: smoke coming off the guy's tire. You ruin the tire real quick so you have to focus on not turning the wheel and braking. If you are turning the wheel you need to be off the brakes. If you are going too fast you need to keep going straight for a little bit more with a lot of brake on and then let up and turn. It's hard to get yourself to do that. Hopefully, I kind of broke the ice this week."

IS IT EASIER TO BURN THE BRAKES UP AT MARTINSVILLE OR AT SEARS POINT? "It's probably a toss up between those two. It's hard to say because they are such different animals. It would probably be easier at a road race because you can try to drive down in the corner further and you are going 180 (miles per hour) instead of 100 and that's a lot of time on that brake pedal. That's hard to stop that car from that fast to down to nothing. I would say road racing because of the pure speed it's easier to hurt the brakes."

WHAT WOULD BE A GOOD WEEKEND FOR YOU AT SEARS POINT? "I think we are going to run fairly well there. We've always run decent road racing. If I can keep the race car on the racetrack and I don't break any parts, which is going to be the major thing that's going to take us out, if I can do that I think we'll be well in the top-15."

RANDY GOSS, CREW CHIEF, NO. 16 GRAINGER FORD. GOSS WILL CALL HIS FIRST ROAD COURSE RACE AS A WINSTON CUP CREW CHIEF SUNDAY AT INFINEON RACEWAY.

"We didn't get our road course car started in time so we weren't ready to go out there (to test). Tuesday (June 10) ran at Road Atlanta trying to get ready but it was more of a shakedown than anything. You have to get so soft at Sears Point and there's no grip out there. We built a brand new car. We copied some of the stuff that the other Roush guys are doing. I think it's going to be all right."

WHAT DOES THE CAR HAVE TO DO AT SEARS POINT TO BE COMPETITIVE? "I haven't been to Sears Point since it was the old track. The last time I was there we raced trucks so it's quite a bit different. We went there three years just getting that one mastered. For me it's worse because there is no grip so you have to get off your rear springs and as soon as you get off your rear springs your aero is flopping all over the place. I think that it will be a harder track for us than the Glen. Greg's pretty good at the Glen; we ran our Busch car there in 2001. We're hoping to get some track time and keep it on the track. He's a really good road racer and as soon as we get some time under his belt then I think we will be all right."

WHAT DO YOU DO DIFFERENTLY TO PREPARE A ROAD COURSE CAR VERSUS AN OVAL TRACK CAR? "Well, they've got your rules pretty trapped down so you can't move too much to the right. You just try and get the right side weight right. They've got you pretty trapped on rules and just getting it to feel comfortable for him."

DURING THE RACE, DOES THE CAR TEND TO GET TIGHT OR LOOSE? HOW DO YOU FIX IT? "You've got compound problems at Sears Point because you have to get off your rear spring to get some forward grip. Also, you have the part of braking and flat spotting tires. It's real easy to flat spot a tire there. It just takes a little bit of brake. You see the smoke fly off the right front, like getting into turn 11, it just takes a little bit and that thing is almost to the cord. Not flat spotting your tires, staying on the track, getting up off the corners is the key."

HOW DIFFICULT OF A RACE IS A ROAD COURSE TO CALL? "Our truck races were shorter there. It's pretty simple, really. It was easier in the trucks because we were out front so that makes it a pretty simple call. It's different when you are 15th or 18th or something like that because you are trying to get something that you don't have. If you had it, you would have already started up front."

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