Ford Chase Drivers prepare for Michigan International Speedway

Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford Fusion, held his weekly Q&A session in the Michigan International Speedway infield media center to discuss a variety of issues.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF TONY STEWART AND RYAN NEWMAN AS TEAMMATES NEXT YEAR? "I think it will be a good combination. They’ve both proved on the race track and in the garage area that they’re competitive guys and competitive drivers and can get their race cars figured out. Ryan is a heck of a qualifier and racer, and so is Tony. I think it’ll make a good combination. They’ll both bring a lot of information to the table, I think, and they’ll both bring a lot of good people, and being in the equipment that they’re gonna be in – with Hendrick power and chassis and information and what-not – I think they’re gonna be in great shape. I think they’ll run really well."

WILL IT BE HARD FOR THEM TO RACE AGAINST THE HENDRICK CARS SINCE THEY’RE AFFILIATED? "Yeah, that’s the same thing I face. We create an alliance and have to race the 28 and 38. Those cars are running really well now with Travis and David and they’re gonna face the same thing. They’re gonna help, technically, Tony and Ryan and then have to race against them on Sunday and that’s something we all have to do in the sport to help the manufacturer – to help Ford – and to help that progression."

IS THERE ANY ROOM LEFT IN THE NASCAR ENGINE REGULATIONS TO IMPROVE FUEL MILEAGE WITHOUT SACRIFICING HORSEPOWER? "Yes. We’ve been working really hard at that. I think we’ve worked harder at the road courses because road courses are so important. Last weekend it proved that maybe Watkins Glen is not as important as Sears Point because of the track size and the fuel consumption and the amount of laps. Sonoma always seems to be a fuel mileage race, who can get on pit road first and get track position at Sonoma tends to be the key. So we’ve worked really, really hard. We work hard on oval track fuel mileage, but not every race is a fuel mileage race. It certainly can be, but we know Sonoma is a fuel mileage race going there and showing up, but we don’t know that Michigan is gonna be one. There could be a caution with 18 laps to go and everybody comes and get four tires and that’s kind of out the window, but we do try to balance the power and how much fuel mileage we can get all the time. We’re always balancing that out and I think our engine shop and all the guys that work on that stuff have done a great job. Our fuel mileage is incredibly better road racing and that has spilled over into our oval track as well."

YOU’VE HAD SUCCESS HERE EXCEPT FOR THE LAST THREE RACES. ANY CHANGES YOU CAN MAKE AND DO YOU FEEL YOU NEED A GOOD RUN HERE? "Yeah, a little of both. One thing is the last races here, of course the last time here we were running third and fourth and got the air hose caught on the splitter, so the results on the piece of paper show we finished 21st or 20th and that’s certainly not where we ran all day. We feel good about this weekend and getting a good, solid run. We feel like this is a good opportunity for us and I wouldn’t say desperation, but we know where we’re at in the points. We know that we need to finish 10th or better in these next four events – we’ve been saying that for the last six – we know if we do 10th or better we’re technically gonna lock ourselves in because we feel like those are good enough finishes. Certainly we want to win, get in the top five, that’s the focus we have, but we feel the urgency to be in the top 10 for sure."

HOW IMPORTANT IS MANUFACTURER SUPPORT AND IS THERE A CHANCE THEY COULD PULL AWAY? "I think that the support from the manufacturers is really important, especially Ford. Ford supports our programs very well – 100 percent – technology-based and where the sport is going in the future, so they’re very active in that. They also realize that the NASCAR community is a large part of their customer base and they want to be involved in this sport. They know that this sport and this exposure with their product helps them sell cars and helps them solidify themselves as one of the major players in the automotive market. They’re not gonna leave this market because they sell so many vehicles and they get so much support from race fans. To be quite honest with you, Ford is really coming with a strong smaller car lineup and fuel-mileage-based cars. I think you’re gonna see them emerge better. They’re producing better vehicles than Honda and Toyota right now and just as soon as the population figures that out, I think they’re really gonna be strong. They put a lot of stock in the Ford F-Series truck. They had forever and that’s been the stronghold, and now they’ve committed that technology into small cars and it’s really been surprising what they’ve been able to develop."

YOU’VE BEEN WITH ROUSH YOUR WHOLE CAREER. WHAT IS IT ABOUT ROUSH THAT HAS KEPT YOU THERE? "There the old saying about the grass always being greener on the other side of the fence, and you think that and think that and think that, and then when you really do hard research and investigate if it’s really greener on the other side of the fence, a lot of times there are plusses and minuses to everything. Competition-wise, maybe this team might be a little bit better. Marketing-wise, stability-wise, infrastructure-wise, maybe not as big as our organization, so there are pros and cons everywhere. When my contract has been up the last two times, I’ve researched what my competition looks like and I’m very thankful to have a bunch of offers from other team owners. I felt like with where the 16 car is, we were seventh in points at that time, I didn’t feel like it was a smart move for me to get out of that seat and leave that car and go somewhere else. Typically, most of the opportunities were with no points – a lot of them were and that doesn’t necessarily scare me because I feel like the cars would be fast enough and competitive enough to qualify, but there’s always that what-if. What if the crew chief, the team isn’t perfect? We’ve seen start-up teams really, really struggle. In fact, one of the most recent ones that comes to mind is the 11 car with Gibbs. That car struggled desperately. They switched crew chiefs. They switched drivers and then they finally got some chemistry going. With where I’m at in my career, I didn’t feel like I wanted to take that chance."

WHAT ABOUT JACK’S COMMITMENT? "His commitment to the performance end of the business definitely keeps me there. They’re committed to giving us quality and good cars and engines and that’s important. Sure, that’s certainly important."

HOW FAMILIAR ARE YOU WITH THE CONCEPT OF HYPER-MILING? "I had not heard of that yet, but I feel like I do a form of that when I’m driving my street car because I hate to give those guys anymore of my money than everybody else in this room – to the Third World countries or whoever has all the oil. I don’t know where it’s at. I’m still trying to learn all that, but it’s not a term I’m familiar with. Jimmie Johnson said it right 100 percent. The crew chief will tell you 20 laps into the run that we need to save some gas and we’ve got 10 laps to go. (He chuckles and says) ‘I could have been saving some gas if you told me 50 miles ago when I was driving 100 miles an hour. Now the next gas station is up there and you want me to save all of a sudden.’ That’s kind of funny. That’s the stereotype of saving gas."

HOW DOES THE RUMOR MILL HAVE AN EFFECT ON YOU? "A lot of times it’s surprising. Some of the stuff has a small bit of truth to it and then some of it, I think, is people fantasizing about what somebody might do or dreaming about what they might do. A bunch of people said that I was a perfect candidate for the 20 and I should drive the 20. ‘Tony is leaving, it was just announced, and Biffle would fit over there perfect.’ After about a month of that, I finally ended up crossing paths with J.D. and we got to talking about what their organization had going. I think some of the times, possibly, the rumor mill provokes some of that stuff to happen because some people don’t think it could happen or it’s not true, and then some of it has some truth to it as well – where the information comes from. But I think that some of those rumors were far-fetched – that I was a lock in the 20. I heard that I was driving the car for sure and had already signed a deal. I heard a lot of things before I had even received a phone call or even talked to them about what they were doing with that car. There have been a lot of them, but thank goodness they’ve all been positive."

DO THEY MAKE YOU THINK WHEN YOU READ RUMORS? "Yeah. Certainly, it does make you think about it. And, like I said, sometimes it makes you go investigate or research or what-if. Sometimes it does that."

Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Office Depot Ford Fusion, and Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 DeWalt Ford Fusion, held their Q&A sessions following Friday’s practice session at Michigan International Speedway.

WAS IT SLICK OUT THERE TODAY? "Yeah, it is a little slippery and that’s fun. That’s Michigan in August. I think it’s gonna be pretty warm on Sunday, so it should be a pretty exciting race for the drivers, too."

CAN YOU BASE ANYTHING OFF THE LAST RACE HERE? "Yeah, I mean your basic setup carries over, but we’re trying different things and with the track being hot and slippery it’s gonna be a little bit different race track, so hopefully it’s sunny tomorrow in practice on Saturday and we can figure out how to set the cars up for Sunday."

DO YOU HAVE CONFIDENCE COMING HERE WITH THE SUCCESS ROUSH FENWAY HAS HAD? "Yeah, coming to Michigan is a lot of fun just because we run so well here. I think it takes every aspect of your team to run well here, the engines, your strategy, the body, the setup, everything has to be good and I think it shows the strength of our team."

THIS TRACK IS LIKE FONTANA AND WE’RE GOING THERE IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS. "Yeah, I like these two-mile ovals. They’re a lot of fun to drive, especially when it’s hot and slippery and that will be Fontana when we go back there, so that should be fun."

DOES ANYTHING CARRYOVER FROM MICHIGAN TO FONTANA? "The tracks are very similar. Fontana is just a little flatter, it seems like, and a little wider with a couple more bumps. They’re both different, but they’re both fun. I like them both."

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON RYAN NEWMAN JOINING TONY STEWART’S TEAM? "Yeah, I just read that the other day. I don’t think anyone is surprised. Everybody kind of thought that’s what was gonna happen. They’re both really great racers and I wish them a lot of luck."

KANSAS MAY ASK FOR A SECOND RACE IF THEIR CASINO PROPOSAL IS APPROVED. HOW WOULD YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT? "Another race at Kansas would be great for me. That’s almost home, so that would be nice."

WHERE SHOULD WE LOSE A RACE IF KANSAS WANTS ANOTHER ONE? "Martinsville would be fine because I don’t run well there (laughing). I don’t know. Nothing against Martinsville or anything, in a way, it’s really impossible to say one track deserves a date and another one doesn’t. You take a track like Martinsville, for example, the fans there deserve a race and deserve to see these cars run and the owners deserve it just as much as any other track. That’s what’s so tough when you see a place like Darlington lose a date or something like that. That’s the business side of it and, luckily, I don’t have to make those decisions."

LAST WEEK WHEN RYAN WRECKED DID YOU HAVE ANY WARNING AS TO WHERE HE WAS? "Yeah, I saw him spin out and saw him roll back a little bit. It wasn’t really that bad. I guess it looked worse on TV. That’s just part of it. I’ve been that guy sitting in the middle of the track praying that nobody hit me."

CAN YOU CATCH CLINT IN THE NATIONWIDE SERIES? "Yeah, we can catch Clint in the Nationwide Series." HOW ARE THINGS BETWEEN YOU TWO? "Yeah, I guess they’re fine. Last week, it wouldn’t have mattered if it was the Dalai Lama in that car, I was hitting somebody in that spot because I couldn’t get stopped. I was just kind of holding on and hoping for the best at that point. We’ve never run into each other intentionally and I think we’re fine."

WAS IT SLICK OUT THERE FOR YOU IN PRACTICE? "You kind of threw me off with that one. We were actually just sitting in the front of the lounge looking at the time sheets and the track is about seven-tenths of a second faster than it was in the spring. I thought the track was alright. Like I said, we were just looking over our times figuring out where we were and the track is about seven-tenths of a second faster today than it was the last time we were here on a Friday getting ready to qualify, so it looks pretty quick out there to me."

CAN YOU LEARN ANYTHING FROM THE LAST TRIP HERE? "I hope there’s something that can carryover. It wasn’t that long ago, so we hope we can. We ran really well here in the spring. I think we had a car that could have won without that fuel mileage deal that went on there at the end. We were real competitive, but we seem to be a little bit off compared to what we were here a couple of months ago. We’re trying some new stuff trying to get better, but we seem to be just a tick off."

DOES THE ROUSH SUCCESS HERE GIVE YOU MORE CONFIDENCE? "Not really just because of the Roush stuff, but in general at the 17 we’ve always run pretty competitively here. I can’t think of many times we didn’t run very good here, so it’s one of our better tracks. Obviously, with where we are in points and not having a win yet this year, and all that stuff, it always makes you feel better coming to one of your better tracks."

HOW OLD DO FUEL MILEAGE RACES GET FOR YOU? "The fuel mileage thing and track position thing is really aggravating and gets old for everybody except for the winner. The winner likes it, but other than that it’s kind of frustrating. It would be more fun to have the fastest group of cars racing for the win at the end. That’s kind of what you always hope for and you hope to have the fastest car."

DO YOU FIND THINGS CARRYOVER FROM MICHIGAN TO FONTANA? "Yeah, they’re pretty similar. They’re a little bit different, but I remember Kurt winning both races at Fontana and then coming here and winning. Usually if you run good at one, you’ll run decent or good at the other. Hopefully, we get running good this weekend and carry some of that momentum to California."

IT WAS 114 DEGREES LAST YEAR IN FONTANA. HAD YOU EVER RACED IN CONDITIONS LIKE THAT? "Yeah, the last time I can remember it being that hot was out there when the Nationwide Series had a stand-alone race in May or July, I don’t remember when it was, but it was the second or third Nationwide race I ever went to out there and it was way over 100 degrees and was pretty unbearable."

DO YOU FEEL YOU’RE IN CHASE MODE ALREADY COMPARED TO SOME OTHER GUYS WHO ARE ALREADY LOCKED IN? "No, from Daytona all the way to here you’re in chase mode because if you don’t make the chase, you can’t win a championship. We’ve been working toward the goal of first getting in the chase since Daytona, really. We wish we were in a better spot than where we were, but, on the other hand, it could be worse as well. We’ll just keep working at it. We’ve been doing our best every week, we just have to keep doing that and hope the finishes will come."

WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE INSIDE THE CHASE OR MAYBE SOMEWHERE LIKE 13TH WHERE YOU CAN BE MORE AGGRESSIVE? "You’d rather be in than out no matter what time of the year it was. You want to be the highest you can possibly be in the points. Certainly, we’d like to be in better shape than what we are right now. We’d like to have some wins and we’d like to be securely in that top 12."

ARE YOU ON THE DEFENSIVE NOW? "No. The only time that would ever happen is like Jimmie last year at Homestead, whatever his points lead was and he finished something like 16th after he won four out of the five races before that. If something comes like that and it’s for the championship or you’re in that 12th spot and you’ve got 100-point lead at Richmond, you might be a little bit more careful, but, other than that, you’re gonna race the same all the time. You give it your all. You give it your very best and just do the best you can every week and you hope the finishes will come along with it."

DO YOU THINK ABOUT POINTS LIKE AT WATKINS GLEN DURING THE RACE? "No. I don’t think about anything in the race car, except for finishing and doing the very best we can do that day, and trying to figure out what we need to do strategy-wise and getting the car around the track, pit stop-wise – all that stuff – to get the very best finish we can for that particular day. You look at it during the week or on the way home. Usually on the way home Sunday night you look at it and see where everybody is stacked up and where everybody finished and where you are, but, other than that, you can’t really do anything about it. The only thing you control is your car in that particular race and if you do your best job with that, there’s not much else you can do."

- FORD --