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| Biffle takes the checkered flag at Texas Photo – Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR |
Greg Biffle takes the checkered flag Saturday night in Texas after making a late race pass on Jimmie Johnson with 30 laps to go.
Johnson for the second straight week lost his chance of getting team owner Rick Hendrick win number 200 as Biffle gained a decent lead over Johnson and crossed the line first.
The biggest story of the night is the 234 laps that were run under green flag conditions. This is a record-breaking statistic and once again, some race fans found the race boring. Will Texas Motor Speedway suffer from the “boring race” syndrome with a drop in attendance in November?
Pole sitter Martin Truex Jr. led the first 30 laps before eventual race winner Greg Biffle passes Truex Jr. for the lead.
The first caution of the day came out on lap 67 for debris, letting the field line up again for some action on the restart.
The second and final caution of the day came out when 2011 Daytona 500 champion Trevor Bayne got into the turn three wall. Bayne found little success during the race weekend in Texas after not being able to race Friday nights’ Nationwide race due to lack of sponsorship. Bayne won the 2011 Nationwide Texas race last November. Bayne had a fast Sprint Cup car but couldn’t show results Saturday night.
On lap 113 Jimmie Johnson passed Greg Biffle for the lead. Eventually pole sitter Martin Truex Jr. would gain the lead after green flag pit stops, then in the midst of the 234-lap green-flag-run, Jimmie Johnson would regain the lead, leading almost every lap to the finish. With 30 laps to go, Greg Biffle would take over the lead for the final time. Johnson was trying to catch Biffle but Jimmie tried too hard and got into the wall slightly, never catching up with Biffle’s No. 16 car.
On the last lap Marcos Ambrose, who had been so strong throughout the race, ran out of fuel, taking a good finish away from his efforts.
Greg Biffle crossed the line just behind two lap cars, taking the win. Biffle was ecstatic to break his 49-race winless drought.
When addressing media members following the race Biffle said “I knew it was a matter of time until I was going to win one of these.”
Biffle also grows his points lead over teammate Matt Kenseth. Rounding out the top five in the Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway are Jimmie Johnson second, Mark Martin third, Jeff Gordon fourth and Matt Kenseth fifth.
Greg Biffle is looking to continue his success next week at Kansas Speedway, striving to become the only driver in NASCAR history to win a championship in all three premiere series’.
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Jason, Thanks for your Texas race recap. It was nice to see Biffle maintain his points lead. With the competition looking rather tight last week, there was a big chance that he'd lose the points lead at TMS. Instead, his win further solidifies his drive for the championship this year! Could be a historic year for Biffle and NASCAR!
Biffle certainly appears to be the one to beat right now. I wouldn't be surprised to see him win Kansas this weekend.