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| Biffle celebrates second 2012 win at MIS Photo – Mathew T. Thacker/AP Autostock |
A late turn of events sent Greg Biffle to victory lane Sunday afternoon in Michigan
With just five laps to go, Biffle was running second until the leader of the race, Jimmie Johnson, blew his engine and that ended Johnson’s day. Johnson has never won at Michigan and he thought Sunday was the day. Johnson’s frustration was apparent on the radio when he said “you’ve got to be kidding me.” When Johnson’s engine let go, Greg Biffle stormed to the lead and never looked back. This is Biffle’s second victory of the season; he won at Texas in April as well. This win is a major momentum booster for the whole No.16 team as they look ahead to the Chase.
The first yellow flag flew early when the No.38 of David Gilliland spun off turn four.
The first round of green flag pit stops began on lap 35. After the stops cycled through, pole sitter Mark Martin regained the lead.
Just laps after the stops ended, we saw a big crash involving leader Mark Martin. Coming off turn four Juan Pablo Montoya got into the No.47 of Bobby Labonte, spinning Labonte. Leader Mark Martin approached the wreck and was forced into a spin to avoid getting into Labonte or Montoya, but couldn’t avoid collecting Kasey Kahne. Martin spun himself and then slid down pit road towards the pit wall. Martin’s No. 55 car slid between the gap of pit wall, followed by a vicious hit when his car hit an open edge of pit wall. The wall just hit behind the driver’s side and Martin was able to exit the car without injury. If the wall made contact with the car just a few feet ahead, Martin could have been seriously injured.
Many thought Martin had a chance at victory today but this wild wreck thought otherwise. This isn’t the last time in this race when the leader experiences trouble.
After the wreck was cleaned up, racing began again with Clint Bowyer as the new leader.
On lap 76, the caution flew for Regan Smith who made contact with last week’s winner Marcos Ambrose, sending Smith into the outside wall.
Wild card contender Joey Logano hit the wall hard in turn three after hitting the wall a lap before to bring out another caution. The initial hit Logano took was when he got loose while racing Juan Pablo Montoya.
Martin Truex Jr was the new leader on the restart.
Another wild card contender experienced troubles when Jeff Gordon went down a cylinder just before the halfway point of the race.
At the halfway mark, Martin Truex Jr led followed by Biffle, Hornish Jr, Kenseth and Harvick.
On lap 101, Biffle took the lead for the first time in the race when he passed Martin Truex Jr.
Lap 135 was a bad lap for Kurt Busch because he hit the wall hard in turn three to bring out the caution.
On the restart, Dale Earnhardt Jr was the leader. Earnhardt Jr was trying to sweep both Michigan races in 2012 after winning his first race in four years at newly repaved track in June.
Earnhardt Jr’s teammate, Jimmie Johnson, passed him for the lead on lap 141.
On lap 143, Juan Pablo Montoya blew a tire to bring out the next caution.
After Earnhardt Jr regained the lead from the No.48, he lost it again with 48 laps to go.
The final round of green flag pit stops began with 37 laps to go.
After having a great run on the day, Trevor Bayne blew a tire and hit the wall hard in turn one to bring out the yellow flag.
Brad Keselowski’s crew got Keselowski to the lead following this final round of pit stops. Keselowski led until ten to go when Johnson passed him for the lead.
Disaster struck for Johnson with five to go when Johnson blew his engine after having the dominant car of the day.
Johnson’s troubles created a green-white-checker finish that would put Biffle in position to gain the lead. On the restart, Biffle got a push from Earnhardt Jr powering him to the lead. Then Biffle held of Keselowski for the win.
Although Biffle wasn’t showing all of his excitement in victory lane, he said that this is a huge momentum builder for his race team going into the Chase.
Another point’s shake up sent Biffle to the points lead as well. He leads his teammate Kenseth by 20-points.
After Johnson’s engine issues, his team has fallen from first to fourth in the standings.
Wild card holders stayed the same as Kahne and Newman still hold the wild card spots.
With just one win, Edwards – currently 12th in points and ahead of Newman, who sits in the 13th spot – could move into the second wild card position.
Currently at 14th-place in the point standings, Kyle Busch needs to run well, to move up spots or win to move into a wild card spot. Busch has some of his best tracks coming up with Bristol and Richmond; so Busch will have to take advantage of a great opportunity to make the Chase.
Biffle gets that much needed second win so he has added more bonus points for when the Chase starts.
Next week the Sprint Cup Series heads to the world’s fastest half mile in Bristol, Tennessee for what promises to be an exciting race on Bristol Motor Speedway’s revamped surface.
With just five laps to go, Biffle was running second until the leader of the race, Jimmie Johnson, blew his engine and that ended Johnson’s day. Johnson has never won at Michigan and he thought Sunday was the day. Johnson’s frustration was apparent on the radio when he said “you’ve got to be kidding me.” When Johnson’s engine let go, Greg Biffle stormed to the lead and never looked back. This is Biffle’s second victory of the season; he won at Texas in April as well. This win is a major momentum booster for the whole No.16 team as they look ahead to the Chase.
The first yellow flag flew early when the No.38 of David Gilliland spun off turn four.
The first round of green flag pit stops began on lap 35. After the stops cycled through, pole sitter Mark Martin regained the lead.
Just laps after the stops ended, we saw a big crash involving leader Mark Martin. Coming off turn four Juan Pablo Montoya got into the No.47 of Bobby Labonte, spinning Labonte. Leader Mark Martin approached the wreck and was forced into a spin to avoid getting into Labonte or Montoya, but couldn’t avoid collecting Kasey Kahne. Martin spun himself and then slid down pit road towards the pit wall. Martin’s No. 55 car slid between the gap of pit wall, followed by a vicious hit when his car hit an open edge of pit wall. The wall just hit behind the driver’s side and Martin was able to exit the car without injury. If the wall made contact with the car just a few feet ahead, Martin could have been seriously injured.
Many thought Martin had a chance at victory today but this wild wreck thought otherwise. This isn’t the last time in this race when the leader experiences trouble.
After the wreck was cleaned up, racing began again with Clint Bowyer as the new leader.
On lap 76, the caution flew for Regan Smith who made contact with last week’s winner Marcos Ambrose, sending Smith into the outside wall.
Wild card contender Joey Logano hit the wall hard in turn three after hitting the wall a lap before to bring out another caution. The initial hit Logano took was when he got loose while racing Juan Pablo Montoya.
Martin Truex Jr was the new leader on the restart.
Another wild card contender experienced troubles when Jeff Gordon went down a cylinder just before the halfway point of the race.
At the halfway mark, Martin Truex Jr led followed by Biffle, Hornish Jr, Kenseth and Harvick.
On lap 101, Biffle took the lead for the first time in the race when he passed Martin Truex Jr.
Lap 135 was a bad lap for Kurt Busch because he hit the wall hard in turn three to bring out the caution.
On the restart, Dale Earnhardt Jr was the leader. Earnhardt Jr was trying to sweep both Michigan races in 2012 after winning his first race in four years at newly repaved track in June.
Earnhardt Jr’s teammate, Jimmie Johnson, passed him for the lead on lap 141.
On lap 143, Juan Pablo Montoya blew a tire to bring out the next caution.
After Earnhardt Jr regained the lead from the No.48, he lost it again with 48 laps to go.
The final round of green flag pit stops began with 37 laps to go.
After having a great run on the day, Trevor Bayne blew a tire and hit the wall hard in turn one to bring out the yellow flag.
Brad Keselowski’s crew got Keselowski to the lead following this final round of pit stops. Keselowski led until ten to go when Johnson passed him for the lead.
Disaster struck for Johnson with five to go when Johnson blew his engine after having the dominant car of the day.
Johnson’s troubles created a green-white-checker finish that would put Biffle in position to gain the lead. On the restart, Biffle got a push from Earnhardt Jr powering him to the lead. Then Biffle held of Keselowski for the win.
Although Biffle wasn’t showing all of his excitement in victory lane, he said that this is a huge momentum builder for his race team going into the Chase.
Another point’s shake up sent Biffle to the points lead as well. He leads his teammate Kenseth by 20-points.
After Johnson’s engine issues, his team has fallen from first to fourth in the standings.
Wild card holders stayed the same as Kahne and Newman still hold the wild card spots.
With just one win, Edwards – currently 12th in points and ahead of Newman, who sits in the 13th spot – could move into the second wild card position.
Currently at 14th-place in the point standings, Kyle Busch needs to run well, to move up spots or win to move into a wild card spot. Busch has some of his best tracks coming up with Bristol and Richmond; so Busch will have to take advantage of a great opportunity to make the Chase.
Biffle gets that much needed second win so he has added more bonus points for when the Chase starts.
Next week the Sprint Cup Series heads to the world’s fastest half mile in Bristol, Tennessee for what promises to be an exciting race on Bristol Motor Speedway’s revamped surface.
Results and Point Standings via Nascar.com
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SPONSOR
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STATUS
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1
|
13
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16
|
Ford
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3M
|
47/4
|
201
|
Running
|
|
|
2
|
19
|
2
|
Dodge
|
Miller Lite
|
43/1
|
201
|
Running
|
|
|
3
|
5
|
5
|
Chevrolet
|
Farmers Insurance
|
41/0
|
201
|
Running
|
|
|
4
|
22
|
88
|
Chevrolet
|
National Guard / Diet Mountain Dew
|
41/1
|
201
|
Running
|
|
|
5
|
8
|
9
|
Ford
|
Stanley
|
39/0
|
201
|
Running
|
|
|
6
|
2
|
99
|
Ford
|
Geek Squad
|
39/1
|
201
|
Running
|
|
|
7
|
12
|
15
|
Toyota
|
5-hour Energy
|
38/1
|
201
|
Running
|
|
|
8
|
15
|
39
|
Chevrolet
|
Wix Filters
|
36/0
|
201
|
Running
|
|
|
9
|
10
|
27
|
Chevrolet
|
Menards / Pittsburgh Paints
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36/1
|
201
|
Running
|
|
|
10
|
7
|
56
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Toyota
|
NAPA Auto Parts
|
35/1
|
201
|
Running
|
|
|
11
|
21
|
11
|
Toyota
|
FedEx Office
|
34/1
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201
|
Running
|
|
|
12
|
17
|
22
|
Dodge
|
Shell / Pennzoil
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0
|
201
|
Running
|
|
|
13
|
23
|
18
|
Toyota
|
Interstate Batteries
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31/0
|
201
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Running
|
|
|
14
|
24
|
1
|
Chevrolet
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Bass Pro Shops / Mercury
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30/0
|
201
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Running
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|
|
15
|
30
|
93
|
Toyota
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Burger King / Dr Pepper
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29/0
|
201
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Running
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|
|
16
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20
|
29
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Chevrolet
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Jimmy Johns
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28/0
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201
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Running
|
|
|
17
|
4
|
17
|
Ford
|
Fifth Third Bank
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28/1
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201
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Running
|
|
|
18
|
36
|
38
|
Ford
|
Taco Bell
|
26/0
|
201
|
Running
|
|
|
19
|
32
|
31
|
Chevrolet
|
Wheaties
|
25/0
|
201
|
Running
|
|
|
20
|
41
|
43
|
Ford
|
Eckrich
|
24/0
|
201
|
Running
|
|
|
21
|
39
|
18
|
Toyota
|
Interstate Batteries
|
23/0
|
200
|
Running
|
|
|
22
|
28
|
47
|
Toyota
|
Clorox
|
22/0
|
199
|
Running
|
|
|
23
|
37
|
34
|
Ford
|
Long John Silver’s
|
21/0
|
199
|
Running
|
|
|
24
|
6
|
21
|
Ford
|
Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center
|
0
|
199
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Running
|
|
|
25
|
9
|
83
|
Toyota
|
Burger King / Dr Pepper
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20/1
|
198
|
Running
|
|
|
26
|
25
|
42
|
Chevrolet
|
Target
|
18/0
|
197
|
Running
|
|
|
27
|
3
|
48
|
Chevrolet
|
Lowe’s
|
18/1
|
195
|
Engine
|
|
|
28
|
11
|
24
|
Chevrolet
|
Drive to End Hunger / AARP
|
16/0
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167
|
Engine
|
|
|
29
|
18
|
78
|
Chevrolet
|
Furniture Row / Farm American
|
15/0
|
154
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Running
|
|
|
30
|
26
|
51
|
Chevrolet
|
HendrickCars.com
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14/0
|
135
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Accident
|
|
|
31
|
16
|
20
|
Toyota
|
The Home Depot
|
13/0
|
132
|
Running
|
|
|
32
|
14
|
14
|
Chevrolet
|
Mobil 1 / Office Depot
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12/0
|
109
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Engine
|
|
|
33
|
40
|
32
|
Ford
|
Southern Pride Trucking / U.S. Chrome
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0
|
108
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Transmission
|
|
|
34
|
31
|
30
|
Toyota
|
Inception Motorsports
|
10/0
|
72
|
Electrical
|
|
|
35
|
1
|
55
|
Toyota
|
Aaron’s Dream Machine
|
11/2
|
64
|
Accident
|
|
|
36
|
35
|
87
|
Toyota
|
AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves
|
0
|
38
|
Rear Gear
|
|
|
37
|
29
|
13
|
Ford
|
GEICO
|
7/0
|
36
|
Vibration
|
|
|
38
|
42
|
10
|
Chevrolet
|
TMone.com
|
6/0
|
34
|
Vibration
|
|
|
39
|
43
|
98
|
Ford
|
Phil Parsons Racing
|
5/0
|
25
|
Electrical
|
|
|
40
|
34
|
26
|
Ford
|
MDS Transport
|
4/0
|
21
|
Susp.
|
|
|
41
|
38
|
23
|
Chevrolet
|
North Texas Pipe
|
3/0
|
20
|
Susp.
|
|
|
42
|
27
|
191
|
Ford
|
Plinker Tactical
|
0
|
15
|
Overheating
|
|
|
43
|
33
|
119
|
Ford
|
Plinker Tactical
|
0
|
14
|
Fuel Pressure
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NOTE: No publishing or redistribution of any content is allowed
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