In an emotional day at Michigan International Speedway where tribute was paid to Jason Leffler, Greg Biffle came away with the victory. Greg Biffle was ready to pounce on the misfortune of the Hendrick Motorsports team cars for his first victory of the season. With his victory at Michigan International Speedway, Biffle put himself solidly into the chase. Biffle’s gain came at the expense of just a nightmarish day for the Hendrick team. Gordon, Kahne, Earnhardt Jr. and Johnson all had trouble.
For Biffle it marked the second consecutive time he has won at Michigan winning the fall race here last August. Biffle, like many other drivers was thinking of Jason Leffler and his family. “We were thinking of little Charlie Leffler that doesn’t have a father today.”
Folks had barely sat down in their seats when at lap 10 Jeff Gordon got caught up in a wreck when Bobby Labonte crashed and spun out in front of the 24 car. Gordon, who is fighting to get into the Chase fell to 16th in points. After the race Gordon was subdued. “Seems like when we have a bad car we run all day but whenever we have a good car we have something happen. Our car was great today. I thought we really had something.”
Kasey Kahne, the leader at the halfway point blew a right front tire and hammered the outside wall hard. The impact was so hard that it briefly caused Kahne’s car to catch fire. Kahne escaped injury but his day was ended with a 38th place finish. Kahne sang the praises of his car after the incident: “We were just cruising around…… I thought we were really good. I felt really good about it (the car).” The 38th place finish knocked Kahne into the 12th spot in the Chase standings.
Dale Earnhardt Jr., much to the delight of the Michigan International Speedway crowd, was leading when on lap 131 his engine began to make unhappy sounds. Many spectators groaned as the Superman Themed #88 car began to fall off the pace. The engine finally gave in and spilled oil on the track, bringing out a caution. Junior’s day was done. A disappointed Earnhardt said, “I hate we have engine problems. I was really proud of the car. We were struggling in practice but the car was flying at the end. We had certainly made some gains on it.” Earnhardt Jr. finished 37 and he fell to 7th in the Chase standings.
Jimmie Johnson was running down Biffle when with 3 laps to go a tire blew, causing Johnson to hit the outside wall. Johnson finished 28th but maintained a comfortable 31 point lead in the Chase standings. Johnson has never won a race at Michigan. “I thought this would be the year,” he said. “Most of the time we’re leading and something happens but I thought ‘OK, maybe coming from behind would be the difference.’ But something happened.”
The race paid tribute to Jason Leffler who was killed earlier in the week while driving Sprint Cars on a track in New Jersey. Denny Hamlin changed his paint scheme to the scheme Leffler ran for FedEx in 2005. “He was the reason FedEx came into the sport and it just made sense,” Hamlin said after the race.
One of Leffler’s best friends, Kasey Kahne was visibly moved after the race. “It’s been a tough week for a lot of people. Jason Leffler was a good buddy of mine, and it’s neat to see how the racing world and fans and friends and everybody has supported him over the last four or five days. That shows the type of person and racer he was. I’m glad to say he was one of my really good friends.”
A fund to help Jason Leffler’s 5 year old son Charles Dean has been established by his Nationwide team. Donations may be sent to: The Charlie Dean Leffler Discretionary Fund, C/O Suntrust Bank, 232 Williamson Road, Mooresville, NC 28117.
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