Greg Biffle looks to start another roll as the Chase to the Championship looms

Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 National Guard/Subway Fusion, heads into this weekend’s Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway tied for ninth place in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup points standings after a third-place finish at New Hampshire last Sunday. Biffle now has eight top-10s in his last 10 starts – including a sixth-place finish at Pocono when the series visited the 2.5-mile track in June.

Greg Biffle

GREG BIFFLE, No. 16 NATIONAL GUARD/SUBWAY FORD FUSION

YOU HAD A GOOD CAR AT POCONO LAST TIME. WHAT MADE IT A GOOD CAR, AND HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO RETURN KNOWING THAT? “It’s important, first, going back there. We have about four cars in our fleet that are really good race cars that run good everywhere we take them. Unfortunately, we lost one of those cars at Indy. Testing, we blew a right-front tire right at the end of the test. That wasn’t good. But, we’re taking the same exact car back, same exact set-up, everything. We’re hoping that that is going to be the key.”

YOU HAD SOME BRAKE PROBLEMS THERE. WAS THAT BECAUSE OF THE TIGHTER CORNERS? “They’re long straightaways, and we used to downshift. We had a brake problem before. It wasn’t good having those brake problems two races in a row like that.”

IT’S THE SHOREST TURNAROUND BETWEEN THE TWO RACES THERE ON THE CIRCUIT. IS THAT IMPORTANT OR IS TIME NO LONGER AN ISSUE HERE? “It is important, and the set-up will be a little bit closer than some of these other places where we go in the spring and then in the fall. So, certainly it makes a big difference.”

YOU HAD A VERY SOLID RUN THAT COVERED SIX WEEKS THAT GOT YOU INTO THE CHASE, NOW THAT YOU’RE BACK IN THE TOP 10, ARE YOU STARTING TO RECAPTURE THAT MAGIC, OR DO THOSE RUNS JUST HAPPEN? “It just happens. I think we’ll be back on track. We ran good at New Hampshire. We’ll get back on that five, six real good runs in a row heading up to the Chase.”

If it’s a day that ends in “y,” then Ken Schrader is probably racing somewhere

Following Sunday’s race at Pocono, the series will take the next weekend off before embarking on a final 16-week stretch of races. But, that doesn’t mean any rest for Ken Schrader, driver of the No. 21 Little Debbie Fusion, who is scheduled to drive more than 100 races in various series this year.

Ken Schrader

KEN SCHRADER, No. 21 LITTLE DEBBIE FORD FUSION

JUST BECAUSE THE CUP SEASON TAKES A BREAK DOESN’T MEAN YOU ARE, DOES IT? ARE YOU STILL GOING TO BE RUNNING THAT WEEK? “Let’s see: Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday.” (Currently on his schedule, Schrader will be racing at Lebanon, Mo., next Tuesday; Clarksville, Tenn., on Wednesday; Pevely, Mo., on Saturday; and Granite City, Ill., on Sunday.)

IT DOESN’T GET OLD? “Not yet. Get tired, but it never gets old.”

THERE’S A SHORT TURNAROUND TIME BETWEEN THE TWO POCONO RACES. IS THAT RELEVANT? DOES IT HELP THAT YOU GO BACK SO QUICKLY? “No, because the notes – you got ’em, whether you go back a year later or a month later, there’s no big difference.”

HOW MUCH DOES IT CHANGE FROM WEEK TO WEEK? IS IT THAT SIGNIFICANT? “Yes. Just the weather. And, it’s not like we’re using the same car every week. The weather changes. When Goodyear changes tires, everything changes. Every change you make on a car – the part that touches the track is the tires, and every set is a little bit different. It’s a huge amount of changes.”

AT POCONO, WITH THE LONG STRAIGHTAWAYS, HORESPOWER IS ALWAYS AN ISSUE. BUT, WITH THE CORNERS AS TIGHT AS THEY ARE, DOES HANDLING BECOME MORE IMPORTANT? “Those days are over. You’ve got to handle good and have a lot of horsepower. If you have one and not the other, you’re in trouble. You’ve got to have everything.”