Biffle! Bang! Pow! Greg Biffle—after the best rookie performance in series history—hopes that his second Busch season has that championship pop - Busch - Interview

Auto Racing Digest, May, 2002 by Larry Woody

WHEN GREG BIFFLE MIGRATED south from Vancouver, Wash., to pursue a NASCAR racing career he had a carefully crafted plan. "First I wanted to win a championship in the Craftsman Truck Series and use that as a springboard into the Busch Series," he says. "I'd then win a Busch championship, and use that to propel myself into Winston Cup, which is my ultimate goal."

So far the 31-year-old driver is zipping right along the career path he mapped out for himself. He won the Craftsman Truck Series title, and last season jumped into the Busch Series. He didn't win the championship--he had to settle for fourth place--but he still recorded the most, wins by a rookie in Busch history. Biffle won five races--including two of the final five of the season--had 16 top-five Finishes, and 21 top 10s.

This year, with the series losing its No. 1 and No. 2 drivers (Kevin Harvick and Jeff Green are concentrating on their fulltime Winston Cup duties this season), Biffle appears to be poised to add the second plank to his career platform: a Busch championship. "That's our goal," says Biffle, who combines a natural driving talent with a top Roush Racing ride. "We had a good season last year and we're looking forward to an even better one in 2002. I think all the pieces are there, we just have to fit them together on race day. I couldn't be more pleased."

Biffle is scheduled to compete in seven Winston Cup races this season as a tune-up for his long-range big-league goal, but he won't allow that dreaming to distract from his present Busch duties. "I want that Busch championship," he says. "It means a lot to me and to my team. Everything has proceeded according to schedule to this point, and a Busch championship would be another big step in that direction. Busch is a tough, competitive series. If you can succeed there, it not only gives you a lot of valuable experience, it gives you confidence that you can take it to the next level."

Harvick and Green were the dominant Busch drivers last season, with five and four wins, respectively. Green, the 2000 Busch champ, lost early ground and was never able to catch Harvick, but between them they turned the title hunt into a two-man affair. Because that duo are now teammates in Richard Childress Racing's Winston Cup stable, Biffle is a strong favorite to fill the void at the top. "It's a good feeling to know that you're considered a contender every time you go out on the track," says Biffle. "But the bottom line is, you still have to do it. Nobody's going to roll over and give you anything. It's not going to be easy."

Several Busch veterans will make Biffle work for the title, starting with Jason Keller, who finished third in the 2001 standings. Fifth-place Elton Sawyer and sixth-place Tony Raines both went winless but could come back strong this year.

Former champion Randy LaJoie started the season with a bang, winning the opener at Daytona but struggled with bad luck and inconsistency for much of the year. LaJoie was able to capture only one more victory after Daytona, and finished a disappointing 12th in the standings. But he and 13th-place David Green (another past Busch champion) are proven racers who are capable of making a serious run for the title.

Kerry Earnhardt, eldest son of seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, will run the full Busch schedule this season for a potentially powerful team co-owned by Armando Fitz and former NFL great Terry Bradshaw. FitzBradshaw Racing, based in Mooresville, N.C., will have the support of Dale Earnhardt, Inc. DEI will supply the team with engines, aero support, and engineering direction, as well as help with marketing. "This is the best opportunity I've had so far in my racing career," says the 32-year-old Earnhardt. "This is going to be a very strong team."

Earnhardt, whose early family obligations caused him to delay his racing career, is determined to catch up quickly. He won three ARCA races in five starts last season and sees his Busch ride as another big step in his march to Winston Cup. "Kerry is going to be a great race driver," says Fitz. "It's in his blood. All he needs is experience and opportunity--and we're going to make sure he gets that."

If one is looking for a possible outside favorite--someone other than the usual suspects--there is Jeff Purvis. A veteran racer from Clarksville, Tenn., Purvis is a seasoned and talented driver, but One whose career keeps hitting a series of speedbumps. Last season Purvis was breezing along when suddenly his team owner, Joe Gibbs, ran into sponsorship difficulties and made a decision to shift Purvis' MBNA sponsor to the car of teammate Mike McLaughlin. Purvis' team subsequently folded, leaving Purvis left out, puzzled and peeved. "It really hurt," says Purvis. "But it made me even more determined to come back and show people what I could do."

Purvis did just that a few weeks later when he drove a Richard Childress car to victory at Pikes Peak as a temporary replacement for injured Mike Skinner. Now he has a full-time ride with Brewco Motorsports, which has formed an alliance with Bill Davis' Winston Cup program. Davis will supply engines for Brewco and if the cars are as strong as team president Todd Wilkerson expects, Purvis could find himself at the front of the pack. "Jeff Purvis is a tremendous racer," Wilkerson says. "If he has the team and equipment behind him, he can win races. There's no doubt about that. We're going to make sure that he has that support."