Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion, led BOTH practice sessions today in preparation for tomorrow’s pole qualifying runs for the Daytona 500. Biffle spoke about today’s performance and if it means anything for Sunday.
GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – HOW DO YOU FEEL AFTER TAKING BOTH PRACTICE SESSIONS? “I feel really good. It’s a testament to how hard these guys have worked because here the driver really doesn’t do anything in qualifying. So it’s Matt (Puccia) and all these guys on the team who work at the track and the shop. They’ve worked really hard on these cars and the motors have been awesome. Doug and the guys have this fuel injection really dialed in and figured out. They’re really paying attention to detail and worked really hard on the dyno and I’m just lucky I get to drive it. Trust me, I’ve been down here a ton of time where you’re 23rd or 18th or whatever, so it’s nice to be near the front or at the front.”
SO ARE YOU THE ONE TO BEAT FOR THE POLE? “We’re definitely one of them, but some other guys still have some speed left. The thing that concerns me a little bit is that’s about all we’ve got. That’s our hubs, our gears, our oils, that’s about it. I know more and more people have been showing up and just doing three or four run and have a lot of their stuff already on the car, but we really don’t have many more tricks in the bag. So if guys come out and pick up a couple tenths, they’re gonna put some pressure on us because look at how tight it is. It’s so close right now, but we’re one of them. We’re gonna be one of probably eight cars that has a stab at it.”
SO YOU WON’T GO TO SLEEP TONIGHT THINKING THIS POLE IS YOURS TO LOSE AS LONG AS YOU DON’T MESS IT UP? “No. It doesn’t work like that. Maybe if we were at a Texas or a Phoenix or someplace like that, but you just never know what can happen. You’ve got to have good wind. You’ve got to get through tech really good. The car is cooled off. We go about ninth tomorrow, which will help us, so all the stars have to line up like everything else.”
