GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – “We had a great car. We were just a little bit on top of the race track right there. The wind is playing havoc with us and the track is a little slick, but it’s a tough day for us because the engine expired. We felt like we had an opportunity to run up front, for sure.”
WERE YOU TRYING ANYTHING DIFFERENT WITH THE MOTOR? “No, same old thing with the engine, but this one just didn’t make it.”
WHAT HAPPENED? “I really don’t know.
I had no indication. The engine just let go at the end of the backstretch. I let up on the throttle going in the corner and it broke. It probably broke a rod. That’s typically what happens at the end of the backstretch when you lift on the throttle like that. It looked like maybe it windowed the block and the oil pan, so probably something in the lower unit.”
DO YOU KNOW WHAT CAUSED THE PROBLEM?
“I’m not sure. The guys have been working really hard on the durability and something broke in the bottom end of the engine. It came out the bottom, but there was no indication. I don’t really know what happened. We had good oil pressure, the temperature seemed to be good, it was just unexpected. It’s unfortunate for us. This was our opportunity to get back in the chase and it doesn’t look like it’s gonna happen.” HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THIS DISAPPOINTMENT? “It’s disappointing, but what can you do? It broke. Everybody is giving this program 110 percent, so you can’t blame anybody. We were trying hard to win the title and it isn’t gonna happen this year.”