Is Greg Biffle ready to move on?
Submitted by Nancy
Resendez-Battram
May 11, 2008
As the 2008 racing
season moves forward, you can’t help but hear the satisfaction of Greg Biffle with
his team begin to decline. With this
last race in Darlington, Greg even went so far as to state he is giving 150% as
a driver why can’t everyone else do the same thing? Naturally we were speaking directly to him a
few moments just after what looked like a run away win go right down the
tubes. Greg was upset, as any driver
would be but this rhetoric was different.
He began to make it personal.
As far back as October
of 2007 Greg stated he was 90% confident he would stay with Roush Fenway Racing
(RFR). However, he also stated he wanted
to have his contract extension completed over the winter season and before the
Daytona 500. At the same time his team
obtained a primary sponsor and multi-year partnership for RFR with 3M. Between these announcements and the race in
Darlington talks have slowed for some unknown reason and we are now well into
the 2008 racing season.
We were informed in
March that contract negotiations between Greg and Roush Fenway were 90%
complete according to Geoff Smith, President of RFR. However he also states they are “working with
a sponsor to finalize the Biffle deal.” Then
onto April and another story emerges.
Contract negotiations were in a holding pattern according to Greg
Biffle. Fans didn’t need to worry; they weren’t
in big hurry to get it done. Now it is May
and we have new information from Greg. He
has stated that he is looking to make his decision like Dale Earnhardt, Jr. did
last year. He decision will be based on
aligning himself with a team that will be “about winning races and
championships and contending for the title and having good equipment.” Although he does not see himself with any
other team in the Sprint Cup Series he is looking for the same qualities Dale
did last year with his team and owner choice.
Moving to the race
Saturday night in Darlington and Greg Biffle’s comments after another
mechanical issue takes him out of the race; fans have to question where do the negotiations
stand at this point? Greg commented on
how he had experienced the same mechanical type issues in Texas and
Phoenix. If you reflect back on what
would be important qualities for Greg to make his decision you have to wonder
if Roush Fenway Racing is meeting the bar that has been set by the driver.
It would be a huge
decision for Greg to leave Roush Fenway no smaller than the one made by Dale
Earnhardt, Jr. last year. However, Greg
is a hot commodity in this market, time is slipping away and the cars he is
being given to drive this season have been less than the quality of other
teams.
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