Biffle on Pocono: “Well, I’m definitely looking forward to Pocono this weekend for several reasons. It’s always good to go back to a track where you’ve won but I’m also excited that we started shifting there again this year. Pocono is really more like a road course than a traditional oval so shifting is important to make the car perform properly and allow for better racing. It can be a difficult track because all three corners are completely different which makes handling an obstacle. We can just go there and try to run as well as we did when we won and hope for the same result.”
Puccia on Pocono: “Pocono is similar to Indy in several ways but probably the most important is that track position is crucial. You really have to prioritize your practice sessions because of the way the schedule is laid out with no practice after qualifying. You have to get some race run in but track position and pit selection make qualifying extremely important. At Pocono you also might have to compromise handling at one corner to improve handling in another corner because they are so different. Brake managements and fuel mileage are two additional challenges to face at Pocono so we’ll just go and do our best.”
Pocono Notes
Biffle is currently 13th in the Sprint Cup point standings following his seventh-place finish at Indy. He is 46 points out of the 10th position with six races remaining until the Chase.
Biffle’s average finish at Pocono is 17.8 from an average starting position of 19.2.
This weekend the No. 16 3M Ford will have a special “811” logo in several locations to remind race fans to call 811 before starting any digging project to ensure safety.
Visit www.call811.com for more information.
Last Time At Pocono: Returning to Pocono as the most recent race winner, Greg Biffle had reasonably high expectations for the weekend. He had the 11th-fastest time in the two practice sessions on Friday but his 3M Ford was a little too loose during his qualifying lap. He ended up 37th on the board for a starting position on the inside of row 19.
Biffle started the race a little tight but the crew worked on the car and he seemed to be headed for a top-10 finish. On lap 166, however, the car got loose and Biffle spun coming out of turn three. No contact was made but Biffle was unable to recover the lost track position before the end of the race. He was credited with a 27th-place finish and dropped two spots to 14th in the point standings.
