Ford Racing NSCS Notes & Quotes:
Brickyard 400 (Indianapolis Motor Speedway)
Saturday Advance (July 28, 2012)
Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion, stands in third place in the Sprint Cup championship standings heading into Sunday’s Brickyard 400. Biffle spoke with media members Saturday afternoon after posting the fastest lap in the final practice session at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
GREG BIFFLE, No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – HOW WAS THE PRACTICE SESSION? “It was a good session for us. It feels like the car is not real fast yet we are at the top of the board. I am curious to see if the track picks up speed or grip for qualifying. It is only a few hours but I am curious if it is going to do that. We are going to have to wait and see.”
WHAT IS YOUR COMFORT LEVEL WITH SUNDAY? “I feel really good. The car is driving extremely well in race trim. We never put a set of tires on in this practice, so we just worked on the old set of tires and worked on the track being slick and worked on good grip. If the track cools down and it is real overcast and gets faster then we will probably fight a little bit loose but we will have to wait and see. I think we will be good for a warmer, slick, rubbered up race track.”
WHAT WOULD A WIN HERE FOR YOU MEAN? “It would mean a lot. It would mean a lot for this race team. That would be something special to win at the Brickyard. It would be our second win of the season and it would certainly give us a little boost going into the Chase.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT ALL THE OTHER ACTIVITIES THIS WEEKEND? “I think it is good for the fans and good for the city and good for racing. Our schedule is a little bit cramped and we could have used a little more time in between practice. Maybe a late Friday afternoon practice would have been good. I understand though and we are used to weekends like this, no at this kind of venue though, but it seems like it is working well so far.”
WHEN YOU LOOK AT PLACES YOU WANT TO WIN IN THIS SPORT, WHERE DOES THIS PLACE RANK? “It ranks right up there in the top two or three. I want to win a Daytona 500 for sure and there are a couple other places that I would like to win. I want to win a road course race and winning here would be pretty special.”
DO YOU KNOW MUCH ABOUT CHAD NORRIS? HAVE YOU DEALT WITH HIM OVER THE YEARS? “Not that much. I have tested with him some and that is about it. About the same as Matt (Puccia) before I started working with Matt.”
ANY THOUGHTS ON HOW HE WILL MESH AS A CREW CHIEF? “I think he will do well. He will be excited about the opportunity and work hard at it like Matt did and he has a lot of friends in the garage here and with the team and these guys will help him.”
WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES TO A MID-SEASON CREW CHIEF CHANGE? “I think the first few weeks some of the challenges are expectations and kind of getting the lingo down. When you say the car is a little loose, what do you want me to do to it. Working through those things and what your driver preferences are and things like that. That will be about all they will face getting going.”
YOU SAID YOU WANT TO WIN A ROAD COURSE RACE. WE GO TO THE GLEN IN A COUPLE WEEKS. WHAT IS IT ABOUT THAT PLACE THAT YOU LIKE AND WHY DO YOU THINK YOU CAN WIN THERE? “I really like the Glen. I have won there in the Truck Series, sat on the pole and sat outside front row with Jeff Gordon there my second or third time there. I like that track. It is high speed with elevation changes and we have been working hard on our road course program and brakes and everything, I want to go there and be competitive. I know we can run in the top five and that is what we need to do to be able to win there. We need to have good pit stops and strategy and be there to shoot it out at the end.”
GREG BIFFLE CONTINUED — CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE TURNS AT POCONO? “Right now it is a little different than it used to be. Turn one – all the turns are much smoother than they were. That makes a huge difference. Back down to the very bottom in turn three and four. The tunnel turn is still kind of a struggle to get turned in there and get the power down and get the front to stay under it as it is exiting the corner. They are definitely three unique corners. I like it a lot better paved than I did before.”
THE STRAIGHTAWAYS ARE LONG. DOES YOUR MIND EVER WANDER? “No, you are thinking about the next corner and what the guy behind you and in front of you are doing. You are anticipating always at that race track. It is the same here.”
YOU ARE THE ONLY GUY THAT HASN’T SAID THEY WERE WONDERING IF A DEER WOULD JUMP THE WALL. “Yeah, we have seen deer all over the place up there. I have seen them at the track. We had to wait once because they were trying to shoo one off into the woods there because he was near turn one. It is fun to joke about but it would be pretty serious if one got out on the race track. We definitely need to watch out for that.”
DO YOU WISH THE CHASE STARTED TOMORROW OR DO YOU HAVE WORK TO DO OVER THE NEXT SEVEN RACES? “I don’t think we have work to do, I think we have races to win for bonus points. I want those opportunities before the Chase starts to try to get myself some more points. I think we can win here and at Pocono and Michigan and at the Glen. If things go right we can win those races. There are some race tracks coming up that we can definitely win at before the Chase starts.”
DID THE OFF WEEK COME AT A GOOD TIME FOR YOU? “Yeah, I got home from being out of town for a week and I said I was ready for a vacation. It always seems like vacations are a lot of work. I was out in Washington and had a good time. I was able to go back and visit the family and I snuck away a day to the Oregon sand dunes and that was a lot of fun. It is time to get back to work though. I was ready to get back to work.”
YOU HAVE QUALIFIED WELL HERE AND JUST IN GENERAL DONE WELL HERE. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ASPECT OF THE TRACK AND WHY ARE YOU SO GOOD HERE? “I think the challenge of it being four flat symmetrical corners. I love things that are challenging. The other thing is the prestige of this place. I focus hard on it and try to pay attention and do the best I can.”
THE NEXT THREE RACES ARE AN INTERESTING COMBINATION. “Yeah, it is a challenging stretch although even though Pocono is not the same as this, this place drives somewhat like Pocono with a long straightaway and flat corners. The transition between here and Pocono is not that much. The speeds are similar and corners are kind of similar. When you go to a road course you are stepping into something different.”
WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE ROUSH R&D DEPARTMENT THAT IS PRODUCING SO MANY CREW CHIEFS? “I don’t know. I think a lot of crew chiefs come out of engineering type situations and trying things outside the box and learning and they have all been crew chiefs in a Nationwide or Truck Series program before. They have that experience and engineering experience and that creates an opportunity to come on the Cup Series I guess.”
IT SEEMS LIKE THAT HAS BECOME THE FALL BACK FOR ROUSH WHEN THEY NEED TO FIND SOMEBODY. I GUESS THE TRACK RECORD HAS BEEN GOOD. “Yeah, it has been good. Let’s face it. Bob (Osborne) will do a great job in R&D or wherever it is he is going and I think Chad will do a good job.”
