BIFFLE MOVES INTO SECOND PLACE IN THE CHASE STANDINGS
Carl Edwards was the top Ford driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup race in Martinsville, Va., finishing third in the No. 99 Fusion. Edwards remains fourth in the standings, 198 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson.
Rick Crawford was the top Ford driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in Martinsville, Va., finishing third in the No. 14 F-150. Crawford remains seventh in the standings, 322 points behind leader Johnny Benson.
Ford Racing fans enjoyed a NASCAR weekend in Martinsville, Va., that saw Carl Edwards came away with a third-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup race, while Rick Crawford finished third in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, as positions for the championship run solidified in both series.
Points leader Jimmie Johnson dominated the Cup race, leading 339 laps of the 500-lap race. Edwards hung with the leaders all day and didn’t lose much ground to Johnson in the standings after taking third place. Edwards remains fourth in the standings, 198 points behind Johnson after earning his 15th top-five finish through 32 races this season.
“For us, this is almost a win,” said Edwards. “We’ve never run this well here, so that was good for us. It’s just Jimmie is doing an unbelievable job.
“We obviously had some misfortune last week that really made this race important,” he added. “I felt like we could come here and if we ran like we did today, that it keeps our hopes alive and if we didn’t, it would really put us in a hole, so it’s a great day for us.”
Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 17 Fusion, was involved in an early race accident, but rallied back to the front to grab an eighth-place finish for his 18th top-10 performance of the season. He moved up one spot in the standings to 10th place.
Greg Biffle entered the race third in the standings, but struggled to contend for the win after pitting under the green flag because of low fuel during lap 256. He fought hard the rest of the way and came away with a 12th-place finish to move up one spot in the standings into second place, 149 points behind Johnson.
When Biffle was asked if Johnson’s lead in the standings was too large to overcome, he said: “We’ve got four more chances and we’re going to some of our best places, so they better be on their A-game. I know they have been so far, but we’re gonna bring the heat to Atlanta and all the rest of the places and see what we can do.”
With only three laps to go, David Ragan appeared to be on his way to a top-10 finish in his back-up car when he made contact with another car and spun. Ragan would finish 13th and remain 13th in the standings to keep the top spot outside of the Chase.
One day earlier, Rick Crawford led all Ford drivers across the finish line in the Truck Series race to finish third. Crawford remains seventh in the standings, 322 points behind points leader Johnny Benson.
“It was a steady, solid run and a lot of pulling power with this Ford PowerStroke Diesel by International,” said Crawford. “I can’t say enough for Circle Bar Truck Corral. Tom Mitchell has been with me 17 years. Today is his 77th birthday, so for a top-three that’s pretty good. These Fords, everybody needs to drive one. It’s Built Ford Tough.”
Next weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will head to Atlanta, while the NASCAR Nationwide Series will be in Memphis, Tenn.
