Battle of the Bad Luck Drivers at Darlington
Greg Biffle or Jeff Gordon, take your pick. Neither has delivered on pre-season promise so far, due mostly to bad luck, so it's
kind of ironic that the two battled in the closing laps of the Dodge 500 on Saturday night at Darlington.
I actually thought it would go to Gordon, but he came up short. Biffle collected his first win of the year - after experiencing at least 7 instances of lead killing or racing killing bad luck so far this year.
Matt Kenseth - again quietly - finished third, keeping him near the top of the standings, behind points leader Jimmie Johnson, who finished fourth.
"We've had tough luck, and you just have to be positive all the time," Biffle said after the race. "What happened yesterday was yesterday and what
happens tomorrow I can control. I know I can come here and try again, and I know I can go to Charlotte next week and try. I can't change the past, so I always just look to the future. Even though it was a good race and even though we won here at Darlington, our focus is going to be Charlotte now."
Gordon's chances came a little undone as he approached Ken Schrader early on in the race.
"[Schrader] gave plenty of room to the No. 16 {Biffle], and I carried," Gordon said. "I needed to be able to go up and then turn down and come back down to the bottom. That was my line I ran all night long. I'm not saying [Schrader] knew that, but I felt like the air off his car was pushing my car into the outside wall. I felt like it killed all my momentum and made the car push worse up in the wall, so I lost every chance we had."
Results of the Dodge 500:
1) Greg Biffle, No. 16 National Guard Ford, 367 laps
2) Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, 367, -0.209sec
3) Matt Kenseth, No. 17 DeWalt Tools Ford, 367
4) Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 367
5) Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet, 367
6) Ryan Newman, No. 12 Alltel Dodge, 367
7) Kyle Busch, No. 5 CarQuest Chevrolet, 367
8) Mark Martin, No. 6 AAA Ford, 367
9) Jeff Burton, No. 31 Cingular Chevrolet, 367
10) Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet, 367
11) Reed Sorenson, No. 41 Target Dodge, 367
12) Tony Stewart, No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet, 367
13) Robby Gordon, No. 7 Menard's Chevrolet, 367
14) Martin Truex, No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, 367
15) Ken Schrader, No. 21 U.S. Air Force Ford, 366
16) Joe Nemechek, No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet, 366
17) Casey Mears, No. 42 Havoline Dodge, 366
18) Kyle Petty, No. 45 Tire Kingdom Dodge, 366
19) Kurt Busch, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, 366
20) Tony Raines, No. 96 DLP/HDTV Chevrolet, 366
21) Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 366
22) Bobby Labonte, No. 43 Cheerios Dodge, 366
23) Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet, 365
24) Dale Jarrett, No. 88 UPS Ford, 365
25) David Stremme, No. 40 Lone Star Dodge, 365
26) J.J. Yeley, No. 18 Boniva Chevrolet, 365
27) Dave Blaney, No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge, 364
28) Sterling Marlin, No. 14 Ginn Clubs Chevrolet, 364
29) Ellott Sadler, No. 38 M&Ms Ford, 364
30) Travis Kvapil, No. 32 Tide Chevrolet, 364
31) Scott Riggs, No. 10 Stanley Tools Dodge, 363
32) Jeff Green, No. 66 Best Buy Chevrolet, 363
33) Scott Wimmer, No. 4 Aero Exhause Chevrolet, 363
34) Terry Labonte, No. 44 Kellogg's Chevrolet, 361
35) Michael Waltrip, No. 55 NAPA Dodge, 359
36) Kevin Lepage, No. 49 Freightliner Dodge, 353
37) Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, 350
38) Jeremy Mayfield, No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 346
39) Carl Edwards, No. 99 Office Depot Ford, 281, engine
40) Stanton Barrett, No. 95 theracespace.com Chevrolet, 255, engine
41) Brian Vickers, No. 25 GMAC Chevrolet, 246
42) Jamie McMurray, No. 26 Crown Royal Ford, 223, engine
43) Derrike Cope, No. 74 Royal/Sundance Dodge, 11, oil pressure
Greg Biffle or Jeff Gordon, take your pick. Neither has delivered on pre-season promise so far, due mostly to bad luck, so it's
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| Greg Biffle crosses the finish line for his 2nd straight Darlington Cup race win. (Photo: Autostock) |
I actually thought it would go to Gordon, but he came up short. Biffle collected his first win of the year - after experiencing at least 7 instances of lead killing or racing killing bad luck so far this year.
Matt Kenseth - again quietly - finished third, keeping him near the top of the standings, behind points leader Jimmie Johnson, who finished fourth.
"We've had tough luck, and you just have to be positive all the time," Biffle said after the race. "What happened yesterday was yesterday and what
 |
| Greg Biffle celebrates winning the Dodge Charger 500. (Photo: Autostock) |
Gordon's chances came a little undone as he approached Ken Schrader early on in the race.
"[Schrader] gave plenty of room to the No. 16 {Biffle], and I carried," Gordon said. "I needed to be able to go up and then turn down and come back down to the bottom. That was my line I ran all night long. I'm not saying [Schrader] knew that, but I felt like the air off his car was pushing my car into the outside wall. I felt like it killed all my momentum and made the car push worse up in the wall, so I lost every chance we had."
Results of the Dodge 500:
1) Greg Biffle, No. 16 National Guard Ford, 367 laps
2) Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, 367, -0.209sec
3) Matt Kenseth, No. 17 DeWalt Tools Ford, 367
4) Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, 367
5) Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet, 367
6) Ryan Newman, No. 12 Alltel Dodge, 367
7) Kyle Busch, No. 5 CarQuest Chevrolet, 367
8) Mark Martin, No. 6 AAA Ford, 367
9) Jeff Burton, No. 31 Cingular Chevrolet, 367
10) Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet, 367
11) Reed Sorenson, No. 41 Target Dodge, 367
12) Tony Stewart, No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet, 367
13) Robby Gordon, No. 7 Menard's Chevrolet, 367
14) Martin Truex, No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, 367
15) Ken Schrader, No. 21 U.S. Air Force Ford, 366
16) Joe Nemechek, No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet, 366
17) Casey Mears, No. 42 Havoline Dodge, 366
18) Kyle Petty, No. 45 Tire Kingdom Dodge, 366
19) Kurt Busch, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, 366
20) Tony Raines, No. 96 DLP/HDTV Chevrolet, 366
21) Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 366
22) Bobby Labonte, No. 43 Cheerios Dodge, 366
23) Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Jack Daniel's Chevrolet, 365
24) Dale Jarrett, No. 88 UPS Ford, 365
25) David Stremme, No. 40 Lone Star Dodge, 365
26) J.J. Yeley, No. 18 Boniva Chevrolet, 365
27) Dave Blaney, No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge, 364
28) Sterling Marlin, No. 14 Ginn Clubs Chevrolet, 364
29) Ellott Sadler, No. 38 M&Ms Ford, 364
30) Travis Kvapil, No. 32 Tide Chevrolet, 364
31) Scott Riggs, No. 10 Stanley Tools Dodge, 363
32) Jeff Green, No. 66 Best Buy Chevrolet, 363
33) Scott Wimmer, No. 4 Aero Exhause Chevrolet, 363
34) Terry Labonte, No. 44 Kellogg's Chevrolet, 361
35) Michael Waltrip, No. 55 NAPA Dodge, 359
36) Kevin Lepage, No. 49 Freightliner Dodge, 353
37) Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, 350
38) Jeremy Mayfield, No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 346
39) Carl Edwards, No. 99 Office Depot Ford, 281, engine
40) Stanton Barrett, No. 95 theracespace.com Chevrolet, 255, engine
41) Brian Vickers, No. 25 GMAC Chevrolet, 246
42) Jamie McMurray, No. 26 Crown Royal Ford, 223, engine
43) Derrike Cope, No. 74 Royal/Sundance Dodge, 11, oil pressure