Coming off a season where he won a series-high six races and finished a mere 35 points behind Tony Stewart for the Nextel Cup title, Greg Biffle entered the 2006 season as one of the championship favorites. A run of bad luck to start the season had Biffle mired as low as 23rd place in the standings and put his title chances in jeopardy, but a win at Darlington was just what he needed to turn his season around and begin his run at the
championship.

Even as Biffle led late in the race at Darlington, he had to feel deep
down that something was going to go wrong – and who could blame him. His season up to that point had been nothing short of a disaster. Every week he would bring a good car to the track, and every week something would go wrong. He was caught up in a wreck at Daytona and finished 31st. He led the most laps at California and seemed to have a sure victory in hand until he suffered engine trouble and finished 42nd. He led early at
Bristol but suffered a cut tire and spent the rest of the race trying to
get back on the lead lap. He led by more than 10 seconds at Texas but finished 42nd after Kurt Busch put him in the wall. He was again the victim of a big wreck at Talladega and finished 38th.

It takes some drivers a full season to overcome a slump (Dale Earnhardt Jr.), and some drivers never recapture the success they once had (Jeff Burton), but Biffle’s driving mentality and path to NASCAR success make him more capable than most of overcoming on-track struggles quickly. Biffle struggled early in his Nextel Cup career, so he never takes success for granted. He races just as hard on the first lap as he does on the last lap, and he raced just as hard during his rookie year when he was running
mid-pack as he does now that he is a proven race winner. He is a good driver, and good drivers can make their own luck.

Under the lights at Darlington Saturday night, Biffle’s luck finally
turned around. Instead of something going wrong, Biffle held off a late charge from Jeff Gordon and pulled into victory lane for the first time this season. For a team that had such high expectations entering the year, getting their first win had to feel like getting a gorilla off of their back. More importantly, the win vaulted Biffle six spots in the standings to the 14th position, only 97 points out of making the Chase.

In NASCAR, like most sports, luck, momentum or whatever you want to call it can change at the drop of a hat. Once a driver gets that first win, the victories usually start to pile up. Ask Tony Stewart, who won five out of seven races at one point last season and rode that wave of momentum all the way to his second championship. Biffle is a talented enough driver with a good enough team to go on the same kind of run.

With a checkered flag in hand, Biffle’s next priority is to get into the
top 10 in the standings to ensure himself a shot at the Nextel Cup title. The upcoming schedule favors Biffle, and he should be in the top 10 midway through June. He has always run well at Charlotte and Pocono, and he already has wins at Dover and Michigan. If the rest of the drivers had forgotten about Biffle, the next four races should serve as a reminder that Biffle is one of the most talented drivers in the sport.

Biffle is back as a legitimate title contender, and he is going to win
more races before the season is over. If he can capture the Nextel Cup this season, he will become the first driver to win a championship in each of NASCAR’s three major series.

Let Brian know what you think about Biffle at brian.polking@atomicsportsmedia.com