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| | Tuesday, November 21 Reffner wins race; Biffle wins title | |||||
| ESPN.com news services FORT WORTH, Texas -- Tony Roper, a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver, died late Saturday morning after sustaining severe neck injuries when his truck slammed into a wall during the O'Reilly 400 at Texas Motor Speedway, the Associated Press has learned. Roper's truck crashed into the wall, burst into flames and spun out of control before stopping on the infield grass. Roper was airlifted to Parkland Hospital in Dallas after Friday night's accident. It's the first death at the Texas Motor Speedway. Bryan Reffner won the O'Reilly 400, his first victory in 112 series NASCAR Trucks starts. Greg Biffle won the season championship with a 25th-place finish, but was knocked out of the race when he lost control of his truck and slammed head-on into the second-turn wall on lap 81. He briefly lost consciousness and suffered a cracked rib and bruised sternum. Biffle entered the race needing a 27th-place finish to clinch the title. His mission was aided when Mike Wallace's truck suffered a clutch failure that kept him in the pits during the early stages. Reffner started from the pole and led 28 laps in the 167-lap race. He finished 1.277 seconds ahead of Andy Houston. Rookie Kurt Busch was third, followed by Jimmy Hensley and Jimmy Setzer. Reffner averaged 112.993 mph around the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway to break a 111-race winless streak, the longest in series history. "The team needed this, it's good momentum for next year and we are building a championship team for next year," said Reffner, who drives for team owner John Menard. "John is a humble guy and he is pretty proud of his team. I'm very happy he gave me the opportunity to show that I can win races. I went to him and he stuck behind me 110 percent." Reffner was the 1996 series rookie of the year but was fired after that season by team owners Ernie Irvan and Mark Simo. He continued to compete on the circuit but didn't enjoy success until he hooked up with Menard. "It's been a long journey and I've got to thank my wife, Rene, for sticking with me," Reffner said. "There was probably about two years where I was about the ugliest person on the earth to live with. Being a racer is a pretty focused person. He wants to win races and win only. I was with good teams, I was in good equipment, but they didn't have the money to win. I stayed there because I wanted to stay in the Craftsman Truck series." The race had seven caution flags for 39 laps, but the most serious were for the crashes involving Roper and Biffle. Biffle's crash was a one-truck accident that left him stunned but able to celebrate his title. "I don't know what really what happened down there in Turns 1 and 2. I thought I made a mistake and the truck started to get a little bit loose on me," Biffle recalled. "I corrected it and it shot violently to the wall. I didn't think I corrected that much. It's a hard lesson to learn, but when we got back to the pit area, the right front tire was flat. I feel like I probably made a mistake. "I wish we could have finished the race and been in victory lane, but we won the championship here and I'm excited for everyone involved." Biffle said he could only take half-breaths because of his injuries. "After the final practice, I envisioned myself winning the championship in victory lane," he said. "The truck was so strong, I didn't feel a lot of guys could run with us. But we just didn't have it. "The way we came in second last year was difficult. More than anything, this is the stage of my career where I'm moving to the Busch series and this was my last opportunity to clinch a title. It would have been more sour grapes if I didn't win the championship. This is nice to clinch the championship and move on to the Busch series for two years and then on to Winston Cup. Thank God I didn't get hurt tonight." Information from The Associated Press and SportsTicker was used in this report. | ALSO SEE Roper dies from neck injuries in O'Reilly 400 truck race Craftsman Truck Series O'Reilly 400 results Reffner sets track record, claims pole in O'Reilly 400 AUDIO/VIDEO   Truck Series champion Greg Biffle joins John Kernan and Benny Parsons in the studio.RealVideo: 28.8 Greg Biffle crashes into the 2nd wall.avi: 1477 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Bryan Reffner takes his first win at the O'Reilly 400.avi: 796 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 ESPN's Dave Burns gets in the line of fire to talk with Truck Series Champion Greg Biffle.RealVideo: 28.8   Greg Biffle was disappointed with his crash in today's race.wav: 273 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 | |||||