Kansas City, Kan. ? Two weeks ago, people began tossing around these phrases to describe Greg Biffle’s chances in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase. None of them were too flattering.

Dark horse. Underdog. Long shot.

Two weeks ago, the people saying those things may have been right. The 10-race Chase hadn’t started and Biffle lingered in the middle of the top 12-driver pack.

Biffle insisted those words didn’t bother him or shake his confidence in his Roush Fenway Racing team. They only meant that outsiders had no faith in his team. Mostly, though, it meant nobody pestered him back then.

“Before, I used to sit here and be able to have a cup of coffee, and it was quiet,” Biffle joked as he stood outside his No. 16 hauler on Friday.

My, how a couple of successful race showings can change things. Because the tranquil early afternoon media sessions by his hauler are long gone.

“It’s OK with me,” Biffle said amid a flurry of press members. “I understand success breeds attention. We were picked as a dark horse, but now two wins in a row, we’re sort of at the forefront.”

That’s right. Two weeks – and two wins to kick off the Chase – later, and Biffle has catapulted himself from middle-of-the-pack racer to legitimate contender.

In doing so, he vaulted from ninth place and 80 points out into a tie for second in the Chase standings, 10 points behind current leader Carl Edwards. Biffle also asserted ownership of a bit of history. No other driver can lay claim to winning the first two Chase races in the event’s five-year history.

Today, he’ll aim for three consecutive victories when he races in the Camping World RV 400 at the Kansas Speedway.

And recent history suggests he has a decent shot. After all, Biffle won on this very mile-and-a-half track a year ago when he defeated Emporia native Clint Bowyer.

“I don’t want to handicap myself or predict, but I think they’re good,” Biffle said of his chances at Kansas. “Obviously, we run well on mile-and-a-halfs. I like this race track.”

Biffle will start today’s race out of row nine in 18th position.

His back-to-back Chase triumphs this season are not something Biffle is taking for granted, either. These opportunities don’t just come along every year. Not for him, anyway.

It’s been three years since Biffle even qualified for the Chase. In 2005, he finished second overall, 35 points behind Tony Stewart. He hadn’t been back since.

“People were saying that I lost the title in ’05 by just a little bit,” Biffle said. “I thought, ‘Well, OK I’ve lost one now. In ’06, now I can win one.’ But it didn’t work that way.”

Biffle’s ascension back to the top has been either surprising or expected, depending on which racing competitor is asked.

“Coming into the Chase, I didn’t hear a lot of folks talking about Greg Biffle, and there he goes and wins the first two races,” said Edwards, who is Biffle’s Roush Fenway Racing teammate. “So, yeah, it’s a surprise, but that’s how this goes. You’ve got to expect the unexpected.”

Jimmie Johnson, who currently is tied with Biffle in the Chase standings, had a different take.

“I’ve always looked up to his hard-nosed driving and aggression on track and getting everything he can out of a car,” Johnson said. “The last two years have been more of a shock to me that he hasn’t been in contention, (rather) than seeing him where he is right now.”

Biffle said he was trying to use that second-place finish three years ago as motivation for his current situation.

Maybe his coffee breaks are more infrequent this racing season, but he’d gladly trade caffeine depravation for this run at the Chase.