Biffle puts Ford back in Victory Lane at Michigan

Greg Biffle
Getty Images for NASCAR

Greg Biffle, Roush Fenway Racing and Ford all celebrated the end of a drought Sunday with Biffle's victory in the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway.

With his third victory at the 2-mile track, his second of the season and the 18th of his career, Biffle broke a seven-race dry spell for both Ford and owner Jack Roush. Biffle also grabbed the points lead from Jimmie Johnson, who finished 27th after his engine failed in the closing laps.

Brad Keselowski tried to catch Biffle during a two-lap run to the finish but fell .416 seconds short, taking second in a photo finish over fast-closing Kasey Kahne. Dale Earnhardt Jr. came home fourth, followed by Marcos Ambrose.

Johnson took the lead from Keselowski on Lap 191, but four laps later his engine expired, handing the lead to Biffle, who had passed Keselowski for the second spot on Lap 192. NASCAR called a caution for oil in the tri-oval, the result of Johnson's engine failure.

That set up a restart that sent the race one lap past its scheduled distance of 200 laps.

Crews put out fire from Mark Martin pit accident
Getty Images for NASCAR

Pole-sitter Mark Martin suffered a vicious hit on Lap 64, when his No. 55 Toyota slammed into the butt end of the pit road wall at an opening to the garage. Martin was an innocent victim of a wreck involving Juan Montoya and Bobby Labonte, who spun off Turn 4 in front of the race leader.

Kahne spun alongside Martin and slid through the grass but suffered no significant damage and rallied for a top-five finish.

“It’s an important win," said Biffle after the race. “We have been working really hard to get back into victory lane. Everybody has been working so hard and it’s been awesome to have the support of 3M and Ford and everyone behind us.

“We are going to make a run at the title," said Biffle. “I know they don’t talk about us a lot, but they will when we get to Vegas." The win marked Biffle’s second of the season and Roush Fenway’s third in the Sprint Cup Series. With three races remaining before the Chase cutoff mark (Bristol, Atlanta and Richmond), Edwards leaves Michigan 12th in the points; 38 points outside of 10th and most likely needing a victory in one of the final three races to secure another Chase berth.

More to follow…….

Results

FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 13 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 47/4 201 Running
2 19 2 Brad Keselowski Dodge Miller Lite 43/1 201 Running
3 5 5 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet Farmers Insurance 41/0 201 Running
4 22 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet National Guard / Diet Mountain Dew 41/1 201 Running
5 8 9 Marcos Ambrose Ford Stanley 39/0 201 Running
6 2 99 Carl Edwards Ford Geek Squad 39/1 201 Running
7 12 15 Clint Bowyer Toyota 5-hour Energy 38/1 201 Running
8 15 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Wix Filters 36/0 201 Running
9 10 27 Paul Menard Chevrolet Menards / Pittsburgh Paints 36/1 201 Running
10 7 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota NAPA Auto Parts 35/1 201 Running
11 21 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Office 34/1 201 Running
12 17 22 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Shell / Pennzoil 0 201 Running
13 23 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Interstate Batteries 31/0 201 Running
14 24 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Mercury 30/0 201 Running
15 30 93 Travis Kvapil Toyota Burger King / Dr Pepper 29/0 201 Running
16 20 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Jimmy Johns 28/0 201 Running
17 4 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Fifth Third Bank 28/1 201 Running
18 36 38 David Gilliland Ford Taco Bell 26/0 201 Running
19 32 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Wheaties 25/0 201 Running
20 41 43 Aric Almirola Ford Eckrich 24/0 201 Running
21 39 18 David Reutimann Toyota Interstate Batteries 23/0 200 Running
22 28 47 Bobby Labonte Toyota Clorox 22/0 199 Running
23 37 34 David Ragan Ford Long John Silver's 21/0 199 Running
24 6 21 Trevor Bayne Ford Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center 0 199 Running
25 9 83 Landon Cassill Toyota Burger King / Dr Pepper 20/1 198 Running
26 25 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet Target 18/0 197 Running
27 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 18/1 195 Engine
28 11 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet Drive to End Hunger / AARP 16/0 167 Engine
29 18 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet Furniture Row / Farm American 15/0 154 Running
30 26 51 Kurt Busch Chevrolet HendrickCars.com 14/0 135 Accident
31 16 20 Joey Logano Toyota The Home Depot 13/0 132 Running
32 14 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Mobil 1 / Office Depot 12/0 109 Engine
33 40 32 T.J. Bell Ford Southern Pride Trucking / U.S. Chrome 0 108 Transmission
34 31 30 David Stremme Toyota Inception Motorsports 10/0 72 Electrical
35 1 55 Mark Martin Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine 11/2 64 Accident
36 35 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves 0 38 Rear Gear
37 29 13 Casey Mears Ford GEICO 7/0 36 Vibration
38 42 10 Dave Blaney Chevrolet TMone.com 6/0 34 Vibration
39 43 98 Mike Skinner Ford Phil Parsons Racing 5/0 25 Electrical
40 34 26 Josh Wise * Ford MDS Transport 4/0 21 Susp.
41 38 23 Scott Riggs Chevrolet North Texas Pipe 3/0 20 Susp.
42 27 191 Reed Sorenson Ford Plinker Tactical 0 15 Overheating
43 33 119 Jason Leffler Ford Plinker Tactical 0 14 Fuel Pressure

* Denotes Rookie