Greg Biffle’s chase for NASCAR history continues.

 

Biffle, who won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series title in 2000 and the NASCAR Busch Series championship in 2002, is entering his 10th full season at the Cup level and has dreams of becoming the first driver to win championships in all three of NASCAR’s top divisions.

 

He has come close to fulfilling that dream on two occasions. In 2008, Biffle opened the Chase for the Sprint Cup with back-to-back victories (at New Hampshire and Dover)—the first driver ever to accomplish that feat—en route to a third-place finish in the final standings. Three years earlier, he finished the season tied for second, with teammate Carl Edwards, just 35 points from the top spot.

 

In order to achieve that goal, Biffle will have to improve on a 2011 season that saw him finish 16th in the final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings and miss the Chase.  Even though Biffle did not reach Victory Lane last year, it wasn’t due to a lack of speed.  He sat on three poles (Michigan, Kansas and Texas) and led at least one lap in 15-of-36 races.

 

Biffle became the first driver in history to win driver championships in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and what was then known as the NASCAR Busch Series. In addition, he joined a select group of drivers who have won races in all three of NASCAR’s major divisions. Biffle completed the Truck-Busch-Cup triple by winning the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in 2003.  That proved to be the high point for Biffle, who ended up his rookie season 20th in the final point standings.

 

Biffle made his debut at NASCAR’s top level in 2002 when his Roush Racing entry qualified 29th and finished 13th in the NAPA Auto Parts 500 at California Speedway. Following that, Biffle gained further experience as a substitute driver for an injured Bobby Hamilton (four races) and Jerry Nadeau (one race).

 

Much of Biffle’s success can be traced to good equipment and a solid team, but if it wasn’t for the watchful eye of the late Benny Parsons, he may have never gotten a chance.

 Parsons watched Biffle compete in the NASCAR Winter Heat Series in the mid-1990s and personally championed his talents to anyone who would listen. When car owner Jack Roush had an opening for a driver in 1998, he remembered Parsons’ endorsement and hired Biffle to fill out his Truck Series roster.

 

After winning Rookie of the Year honors in the 1998 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, Biffle took the circuit by storm one year later as he won a series-record nine races.

Despite that dominance, he finished second in the championship race by eight points to Jack Sprague after being penalized 120 points by NASCAR for an illegal manifold after Las Vegas—a penalty Roush deemed unfair.

 

The 2000 season, however, provided no controversy as Biffle dominated on his way to Roush’s first NASCAR championship. He won five races and beat rookie teammate Kurt Busch by 230 points in the final standings.

 

Biffle’s transition to the Busch Series in 2001 was seamless as he won five races and finished fourth in the point standings while grabbing top rookie honors. In 2002 he won four times en route to a 264-point championship win over fellow Ford driver Jason Keller and gave Ford its first Busch Series title.

 

Prior to joining Roush, most of Biffle’s racing took place in the great Northwest at places such as Portland Speedway in Oregon and Tri-City Raceway in Washington, where he was the top NASCAR Weekly Racing Series performer in 1997. One year earlier, he was the runner-up for the Pacific Coast championship as he won 27 times in 47 starts.