Three’s company

A victory in the Dodge Avenger 500 would make Biffle the third driver to win three straight races in Darlington

Greg Biffle ceLEbrates his victory in the 2006 Dodge Charger 500, his second victory in two years at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C.

Greg Biffle can do something Saturday night that would put his name in the news with a couple of guys you might have heard about over the past few weeks.

In the storied history of Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, which opened in 1950, only two drivers have ever won three straight races there. They are Dale Earnhardt (in 1989-90) and the guy that recently passed Earnhardt on the all-time victory list, Jeff Gordon (in 1995-96).

Biffle can match that with a victory in the Dodge Avenger 500, and if he can pull that off he’d also break the Hendrick Motorsports stranglehold on car of tomorrow races and help Ford fight back against Chevrolet’s dominance this season.

“I really, really love Darlington, obviously,” Biffle said. “The truth be known, it was almost three in a row (already). We had a dominant car that was probably going to win the last race that Terry Labonte won, but we broke a flywheel.

“I like the racetrack because it is tough. It’s the toughest racetrack we go to. It’s just a very, very challenging place.”

Biffle ran one day of a two-day Goodyear tire test with the COT earlier this year and was happy with what his No. 16 Ford did that day.

“We were the fastest COT car there and ran probably the most consistent laps, it looked like, or real, real close to it,” he said. “So, I’m real confident that I have a chance at winning again.”

Biffle compared Darlington to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, saying the fact the track is a little bumpy means the car may move more on the springs and shock absorbers than at other places where the COT has been used.

“I think that what Hendrick kind of has dialed in as much may not be as big a factor there,” he said. “It’s the smooth places where you’re right down locked onto the track. They got that program a little bit better than we do right now.”

Biffle said it’s not hard to figure out why the Hendrick teams have won all of the races with the new car so far.

“This just may be rumor, but they say that Hendrick has almost 100 days of testing in the COT car,” Biffle said. “I don’t know if it’s true or not. … But I do know that they’ve done a tremendous amount of testing and have spent a lot of time working with that car.

“The second thing is, everybody said that this car was going to level the playing field for everybody. It has raised up a few of the other teams, which it’s intended to do. … So maybe it has brought the teams a little bit closer together. But it’s not the great equalizer that everybody suspected it to be to in the beginning.

“You’ve got to catch up. But the hardest thing about catching up is it’s like trying to catch up to someone that’s older than you in age; you’re not going to get any closer. Because the more that they learn, the more you’re learning. So you’re both learning at the same acceleration, but you’re behind them. So, it’s really hard to leapfrog and get to their level. It’s difficult to do.

“(And) the thing that gets you that far behind is having success. We’ve won championships, we’ve won a lot of races without those things, so it’s hard to justify yourself and say ‘Gosh, that’s what we need.'”