Race Weekend Central

Greg Biffle Ready to Handle New Crew Chief in 2007

AVONDALE, Ariz. – It was announced this week that Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 Roush Racing car, will be paired with a new crew chief next season as part of a multi-car crew chief swap at Roush. Pat Tryson, currently crew chief for the No. 6 team and driver Mark Martin, will be joining Biffle next season, replacing current crew chief Doug Richert.

Frontstretch spoke with Biffle about these changes Friday morning at Phoenix to get his take on the situation:

BIFFLE ON THE CREW CHIEF CHANGE

“It’s something that Jack [Roush] has kind of been, not adamant about, but I think he’s wanted to make a change with all the teams to try and reorganize for next year. He believes in that theory of breathing new life by matching things up and putting different people with different people. It’s something he wanted to do and I’m OK with it.”

BIFFLE ON HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH DOUG RICHERT

“Doug and I have a great relationship on and off the racetrack and during all this we’ve been very successful together, and Doug is going to be very successful wherever he ends up or whatever driver he ends up with.”

ON WHETHER TOO MANY CHANGES AT ONE TIME WITHIN ROUSH COULD HAVE A DESTABILIZING EFFECT

“It might all work for the better, because we can get it all taken care of at one time. We can get everybody reorganized and we can all work together to get all five cars strong and running good. It may look like we’re upside down right now, you know, emptying out the basket and reorganizing, and that can be kind of hard. But it’s done with.”

Biffle remains hopeful that his team can turn things around in 2007. On the heels of a strong 2006 season in which he won six races and finished second in championship points, he failed to make the Chase this year and is currently 13th in the standings.

“I’m searching around to get ready for next year. Doug and I are learning together, even though we’re not going to be together. Doug and I are both learning a tremendous amount. We ran very well at Atlanta. We were very happy with our car at Charlotte and relatively happy at Texas.”

“I feel confident that we’ll make [the Chase] next year. I’m not really skeptical at all.”

About the author

The Frontstretch Staff is made up of a group of talented men and women spread out all over the United States and Canada. Residing in 15 states throughout the country, plus Ontario, and widely ranging in age, the staff showcases a wide variety of diverse opinions that will keep you coming back for more week in and week out.

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