Biffle breaks through, Busch breaks in Loudon

After finishing runner-up twice this season Greg Biffle finally found his way to Victory Lane on Sunday in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, passing Jimmie Johnson with just 11 laps remaining.

Johnson, won the previous two Sprint Cup Series events, is now in a tie with Carl Edwards for the points lead. Kyle Busch, who has dominated the standings this season had trouble early and finished 34th.

Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet dominated the day, leading a race high 96 of the 300 laps.

A caution flag fell on lap 284 for Patrick Carpentier’s spin. The restart fell on lap 287 and Biffle took advantage of the newfound track position, swooping in for the lead in the No. 16 Ford just two laps later.

He made the pass using the inside lane off of Turn 2 when Johnson drifted high.

“Really, I just took care of my car through the middle part of the race,” said Biffle, who last won 33 races ago in Kansas.

“My car just kept getting better and better as the day went and that’s not normally the case, so that’s why I didn’t adjust much on it,” he continued. “I knew I had a little bit left at the end. I backed way off trying to save some brakes and fuel for the end and I’m sure that Jimmie did as well.  Greg (Irwin, crew chief) told me we were catching him about a 10th (of a second) a lap, so either he slowed down or his car was starting to slow down and at that point I felt like we’d have an opportunity to pass him if the caution came out, so that’s what we were hoping for.”

“We'd love to be in Victory Lane celebrating right now but (in) the big picture, second place is not a bad day at the office,” Johnson said. “The only weakness we had all day long was on the restarts. From the very first start of the race, we were loose in spots. It would take a while to get the tires up and get going. I really felt after the two or three restarts we had on that set of tires, my tires would be good and I'd be able to get away from Greg. But his stuff must have been coming in as well and he was too strong on the short run.”

Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. closed out the top 5.

Edwards and Johnson now lead Biffle by 30 points in the standings. Busch, who dominated the point standings prior to the Chase reset, now sits eighth.

Busch started the day off on the right foot, leading the field to the green flag after inheriting the pole after rain washed out qualifying on Friday and was set by owner points. Just four laps in, his demise began as Edwards took the lead.

Busch has had a dream season thus far, winning eight races and leading the points for the majority of the season. But, 20 laps into the 300-miole Sylvania 300, Busch got sideways and slapped the wall with the back end of his Toyota, the result of a broken hind joint on his sway bar.

On lap 35, the first caution flag of the day flew, a competition yellow mandated by NASCAR, since early morning rain had washed away any residual rubber from Saturday’s Craftsman Truck Series race.

Busch’s troubles continued however, as he pitted too early under the yellow. The penalty dropped him down a lap.

On lap 83, Busch spun again, collecting Roush Fenway Racing teammates Jamie McMurray and David Ragan. Busch however, wasn’t the only Chase contender suffering an ill fate in the first of the final 10 Chase races. There were eight caution flags on the day and a red flag that was displayed for over 10 minutes.

On lap 230 Chad McCumbee, driving Kyle Petty’s No. 45 Dodge, got loose while running five-wide and collected Matt Kenseth, Casey Mears, Brian Vickers and David Gilliland.

Kenseth finished 40th and fell to the 12th and final Chase position.

“Everybody makes mistakes,” Kenseth said. “I know I’ve made my share and caused my share of wrecks, so you hate to ever point fingers at anybody, but, yeah, it was crazy. There were some of the lap cars that, instead of being in one line or instead of being three-wide, were trying to be three-wide with one of the lead lap cars outside of them.”

Kurt Busch, Martin Truex, Jr., Tony Stewart, who overcame a speeding penalty, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick closed out the top 10.

Eight of the top 10 finishers are in Chase contention.

In addition to Busch and Kenseth, the remaining Chase contenders, Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon, hung around throughout the day, but fell short of a top 10 at the finish.
 
Bowyer won the Sylvania 300 last year, but finished 12th on Sunday while four-time champion Jeff Gordon continued his string of inconsistency, finishing 14th.

Stewart’s 2009 replacement in the No. 20 Toyota, Joey Logano, made his Sprint Cup Series debut in New Hampshire. Based on points, Logano started the race 40th in Hall of Fame Racing’s No. 96. He didn’t improve much, finishing three laps down in 32nd.

Logano had troubles of his own, exiting the pit box late in the race with the jack still attached underneath his car. He was then penalized for taking equipment out of the box.

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