Friday Michigan Notebook

Notebook Items:

- Needing a win, Greg Biffle feeling positive about return to Michigan

- It's win or bust for Tyler Reddick

- Alex Bowman grateful for opportunity to drive

August 26, 2016

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

NEEDING A WIN, BIFFLE FEELING POSITIVE ABOUT RETURN TO MICHIGAN

BROOKLYN, Mich. – No doubt about it—Greg Biffle needs a win in the next three weeks if he wants to make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Biffle’s 2016 season has all but defined Murphy’s Law. Just about everything that could go wrong for the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing team has gone wrong. From catastrophic crashes to ill-timed pit stops, Biffle has suffered through a campaign that currently finds him in 22nd place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings.

Though Biffle has finished 39th in a 40-car field three times this season, after crashes at Texas, Indianapolis and Watkins Glen, there is a saving grace. Though the record doesn’t show it, Biffle and his Roush Fenway Racing teammates had shown significantly more speed than they did a year ago, when Biffle finished 20th in points.

Before last year, Biffle had qualified for the Chase in six of the previous seven seasons, but he won’t be able to make the playoff on points this year. With three races left before the Chase cutoff, Biffle trails Ryan Newman by 120 points. Newman, who also is winless, is 14th in the standings and currently in the last Chase-eligible position.

But Biffle comes to Michigan, historically one of his strongest tracks, with a much better handle on NASCAR’s lower-downforce configuration than he had when the package debuted at MIS in June.

“We feel good about going back there,” said Biffle of Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 (2 p.m. ET on NBCSN). “We were way off when we got there (in June), and by the end of the weekend, we felt like we were running where we want to run.

“So now that we’ve got that stuff out of the way, we can go back now and hone in closer on what we feel like we need. So I feel good about it.”

IT’S WIN OR BUST FOR TYLER REDDICK

After finishing second in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings last year, Tyler Reddick has suffered through a disappointing 2016 campaign that has seen him fall to 10th in points and outside the current cutoff for the inaugural Camping World Truck Series Chase.

The only antidote? A victory in one of the next three races. But Reddick, who won twice last year driving for owner Brad Keselowski, says he doesn’t feel added pressure because of the dire circumstances. 

“I have really tried to have the win-or-bust mentality all year long, understanding that if we win, it’s easier than worrying about points all year long,” Reddick told the NASCAR Wire Service on Friday at Michigan International Speedway. “We’ve had opportunities to win but not had things fall our way. It seems like we have had things go against us every way they can, getting wrecked or having a caution come out or whatever it may be. 

“I feel like there’s not a lot of pressure on us. This is something our team knows how to do. We have done it before. We did it last year twice. There is really no pressure. We just have to go out and do what we normally do and have a good weekend and make no mistakes. We’ve done that before. It’s no pressure. We’re doing something we know how to do—we just go out and do our normal deal.”

ALEX BOWMAN GRATEFUL FOR OPPORTUNITY TO DRIVE

Though he would prefer to be in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car under other circumstances, Alex Bowman hopes to make the most of his second chance to drive the No. 88 Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is still awaiting medical clearance after suffering concussion-like symptoms that have kept him out of the car.

Bowman subbed for Earnhardt at New Hampshire in July, running in the top 10 for much of the race, before a crash relegated him to 26th. Jeff Gordon took over the seat for the next four races, but a scheduling conflict kept Gordon out of the car at Michigan and gave Bowman his second shot.

“Honestly, for me being as close of friends as I am with Dale, I have just been hoping he gets to feeling better more than anything,” Bowman said Friday at Michigan. “Obviously, I’m more than happy to fill in whenever I can. New Hampshire was a lot of fun. Obviously, we ran a lot better than we finished. I hated that the race team didn’t get the finish they deserved. 

“Everybody at Hendrick Motorsports and Chevy and everybody—they have been so welcoming and easy to work with. It’s just been fun. Off the truck today we were really fast (14th in opening practice) and didn’t really get the qualifying run speed that we really wanted. But I feel like we have a good shot at it this weekend. It’s just so much fun to be able to come to a (Sprint) Cup race and be able to say that. I’m just really enjoying it and trying to make the most out of it.”