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| | Saturday, July 22 Biffle earns fifth trucks win of season | |||||
| Associated Press BROOKLYN, Mich. -- As easy as it looked, Greg Biffle insisted his latest victory in NASCAR's Craftsman Truck Series was anything but. "For a while, I didn't know if my blood pressure was going to take it," Biffle said Saturday after beating rookie Roush Racing teammate Kurt Busch in the Michigan 200. "I was gritting my teeth all the way." Maybe so, but the 30-year-old Vancouver, Wash., native still managed to lead 90 of the 100 laps on the 2-mile Michigan Speedway oval, beating Busch to the finish line by 1.324-seconds -- about 10 truck-lengths. Biffle earned his fifth win of the season and raised his series lead over third-place finisher Mike Wallace to 193 points. It was the first time in six tries this season that Biffle has been able to successfully defend a victory from a year ago. The 1998 rookie of the year won nine races last season on the way to finishing second to Jack Sprague in the championship. "At the end, I had to go for all I was worth," Biffle said. "In the battle behind me, both drivers had to drive defensively and that helped me get away a little bit." Biffle's Ford took the lead from first-time pole-winner Jamie McMurray's Dodge on the first lap. Busch and Wallace were able to keep him in sight the rest of the way, but didn't have enough to keep Biffle from winning for the 14th time in his truck career. "I couldn't catch Greg," Busch said. "I think I diced it up a little early. I had to stay in front of Wallace. It's a fun place to race. As I crossed the finish line, I clicked the radio and yelled 'Yeehaw!' " Wallace, who also drives a Ford, shrugged and said, "I couldn't battle both the No. 50 (Biffle) and the No. 99 (Busch) by myself." Andy Houston, third in the standings, trailing Wallace by just 16 points, was fourth in a Chevrolet, followed by the Dodges of Dennis Setzer and McMurray. Biffle averaged 138.408 mph, breaking his own race record of 121.889, set last year. The race was slowed by four caution flags for 14 laps. | ALSO SEE Michigan 200 results McMurray uses 'perfect' truck to win Michigan pole AUDIO/VIDEO   Greg Biffle takes the checkered flag at the Michigan 200.avi: 838 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 It is tough to break away from the pack according to Biffle.avi: 1314 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1   Biffle's performance in the corners aided him in his fifth win this season.wav: 256 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Second-place finisher Kurt Busch says Biffle was just too good.wav: 171 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Mike Wallace believes drafting help from a teammate was key to Biffle's victory.wav: 359 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Andy Houston talks about his pitting technique.wav: 256 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 | |||||