Biffle Enjoys Grand Time at Phoenix

Greg Biffle won NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck race Friday at Phoenix International Raceway as defending series champion.

On Saturday, he returned to win the Busch Grand National race as a rookie.

Biffle fell nearly two laps down in mid-race after his Grainger Ford cut a tire and nearly damaged the right front fender. But he passed Chad Little for the lead on Lap 124 of the Outback Steakhouse 200 and never gave it up.

Points leader Kevin Harvick and defending series champion Jeff Green offered serious challenges on restarts, but Biffle held them off.

“Greg snookered me a little bit there on the last restart,” Green said.

“He took off a little quicker than he should have, but when you’re leading you can do that. I’ve done it so I can’t complain.”

Eight drivers led at times, but Biffle dominated, leading for 112 of the 200 laps around the mile oval.

It was Biffle’s fifth Busch victory, a record for rookies.

In a race slowed by seven cautions for 30 laps, Biffle averaged 99.834 mph.

Harvick’s third-place finish gave him 4,596 points.

With only two races remaining on the 33-race schedule, Harvick leads Green by 198 points and Jason Keller by 225.

Biffle is fourth, but is assured of winning rookie-of-the-year honors.