Greg Biffle back on top with Michigan win
Greg Biffle cosses the line to at Michigan
Greg Biffle broke a seven-race winless streak for his team Roush Fenway Racing, taking victory in the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Biffle claimed his third victory at the 2-mile track and his second win for 2012.
His success also put him back in the points lead, passing Jimmie Johnson who finished 27th after his engine failed in the closing laps.
Brad Keselowski tried to catch Biffle during a two-lap run to the finish but fell 0.416s short, taking second in a photo finish over fast-closing Kasey Kahne.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. came home fourth ahead of Australian star Marcos Ambrose, who continued his strong form.
Ambrose was pleased to keep the momentum from his Watkins Glen win rolling along.
“It was a really strong day for the Stanley Ford Richard Petty Motorsports team,” Ambrose said.
“After you come off a win, sometimes it’s a struggle to keep that mojo going.
“We had a fast car all day long, got track position late and really made the most of it.
“We’ve got to look back and rewind the race, we were holding off (Greg) Biffle with 25-30 laps to go, and he won.
“I’m proud of my guys for carrying that momentum through, it’s great to run top-five, but winning’s what it’s all about for us right now.”
Carl Edwards was sixth with Clint Bowyer, Ryan Newman, Paul Menard and Martin Truex Jr rounding out the top 10.
Johnson took the lead from Keselowski on Lap 191, but four laps later his engine expired, handing the lead to Biffle, who had passed Keselowski for the second spot on Lap 192. NASCAR called a caution for oil in the tri-oval, the result of Johnson’s engine failure.
That set up a restart that sent the race one lap past its scheduled distance of 200 laps.
Pole-sitter Mark Martin suffered a huge accident on Lap 64, when his #55 Toyota slammed into the end of the pit road wall. Martin was an innocent victim of a wreck involving Juan Montoya and Bobby Labonte, who spun off Turn 4 in front of the race leader.
Kahne spun alongside Martin and slid through the grass but suffered no significant damage and rallied for a top-five finish.
Results, Michigan
| FIN | ST | CAR | DRIVER | MAKE | SPONSOR | PTS/BNS | LAPS | STATUS |
| 1 | 13 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M | 47/4 | 201 | Running |
| 2 | 19 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 43/1 | 201 | Running |
| 3 | 5 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | Farmers Insurance | 41/0 | 201 | Running |
| 4 | 22 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | National Guard / Diet Mountain Dew | 41/1 | 201 | Running |
| 5 | 8 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Stanley | 39/0 | 201 | Running |
| 6 | 2 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Geek Squad | 39/1 | 201 | Running |
| 7 | 12 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Toyota | 5-hour Energy | 38/1 | 201 | Running |
| 8 | 15 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Wix Filters | 36/0 | 201 | Running |
| 9 | 10 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Menards / Pittsburgh Paints | 36/1 | 201 | Running |
| 10 | 7 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 35/1 | 201 | Running |
| 11 | 21 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Office | 34/1 | 201 | Running |
| 12 | 17 | 22 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil | 0 | 201 | Running |
| 13 | 23 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Interstate Batteries | 31/0 | 201 | Running |
| 14 | 24 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / Mercury | 30/0 | 201 | Running |
| 15 | 30 | 93 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | Burger King / Dr Pepper | 29/0 | 201 | Running |
| 16 | 20 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Jimmy Johns | 28/0 | 201 | Running |
| 17 | 4 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Fifth Third Bank | 28/1 | 201 | Running |
| 18 | 36 | 38 | David Gilliland | Ford | Taco Bell | 26/0 | 201 | Running |
| 19 | 32 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Wheaties | 25/0 | 201 | Running |
| 20 | 41 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | Eckrich | 24/0 | 201 | Running |
| 21 | 39 | 18 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Interstate Batteries | 23/0 | 200 | Running |
| 22 | 28 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Clorox | 22/0 | 199 | Running |
| 23 | 37 | 34 | David Ragan | Ford | Long John Silver’s | 21/0 | 199 | Running |
| 24 | 6 | 21 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center | 0 | 199 | Running |
| 25 | 9 | 83 | Landon Cassill | Toyota | Burger King / Dr Pepper | 20/1 | 198 | Running |
| 26 | 25 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 18/0 | 197 | Running |
| 27 | 3 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s | 18/1 | 195 | Engine |
| 28 | 11 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Drive to End Hunger / AARP | 16/0 | 167 | Engine |
| 29 | 18 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row / Farm American | 15/0 | 154 | Running |
| 30 | 26 | 51 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | HendrickCars.com | 14/0 | 135 | Accident |
| 31 | 16 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 13/0 | 132 | Running |
| 32 | 14 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Mobil 1 / Office Depot | 12/0 | 109 | Engine |
| 33 | 40 | 32 | T.J. Bell | Ford | Southern Pride Trucking / U.S. Chrome | 0 | 108 | Transmission |
| 34 | 31 | 30 | David Stremme | Toyota | Inception Motorsports | 10/0 | 72 | Electrical |
| 35 | 1 | 55 | Mark Martin | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 11/2 | 64 | Accident |
| 36 | 35 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves | 0 | 38 | Rear Gear |
| 37 | 29 | 13 | Casey Mears | Ford | GEICO | 7/0 | 36 | Vibration |
| 38 | 42 | 10 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | TMone.com | 6/0 | 34 | Vibration |
| 39 | 43 | 98 | Mike Skinner | Ford | Phil Parsons Racing | 5/0 | 25 | Electrical |
| 40 | 34 | 26 | Josh Wise * | Ford | MDS Transport | 4/0 | 21 | Susp. |
| 41 | 38 | 23 | Scott Riggs | Chevrolet | North Texas Pipe | 3/0 | 20 | Susp. |
| 42 | 27 | 191 | Reed Sorenson | Ford | Plinker Tactical | 0 | 15 | Overheating |
| 43 | 33 | 119 | Jason Leffler | Ford | Plinker Tactical | 0 | 14 | Fuel Pressure |
Points standings (top 30)
| 1 | +1 | Greg Biffle | 823 | Leader |
| 2 | +1 | Matt Kenseth | 803 | -20 |
| 3 | +1 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 801 | -22 |
| 4 | -3 | Jimmie Johnson | 795 | -28 |
| 5 | – | Brad Keselowski | 776 | -47 |
| 6 | – | Martin Truex Jr. | 763 | -60 |
| 7 | – | Clint Bowyer | 757 | -66 |
| 8 | +1 | Kevin Harvick | 738 | -85 |
| 9 | -1 | Tony Stewart | 728 | -95 |
| 10 | – | Denny Hamlin | 727 | -96 |
| 11 | – | Kasey Kahne | 694 | -129 |
| 12 | – | Carl Edwards | 689 | -134 |
| 13 | – | Ryan Newman | 680 | -143 |
| 14 | – | Kyle Busch | 669 | -154 |
| 15 | +1 | Paul Menard | 665 | -158 |
| 16 | -1 | Jeff Gordon | 650 | -173 |
| 17 | – | Marcos Ambrose | 639 | -184 |
| 18 | – | Joey Logano | 600 | -223 |
| 19 | +1 | Jamie McMurray | 571 | -252 |
| 20 | -1 | Jeff Burton | 566 | -257 |
| 21 | – | Aric Almirola | 548 | -275 |
| 22 | – | Juan Montoya | 530 | -293 |
| 23 | – | Regan Smith | 488 | -335 |
| 24 | – | Bobby Labonte | 483 | -340 |
| 25 | – | Kurt Busch | 436 | -387 |
| 26 | – | Mark Martin | 417 | -406 |
| 27 | – | Casey Mears | 412 | -411 |
| 28 | +2 | David Gilliland | 401 | -422 |
| 29 | -1 | AJ Allmendinger | 400 | -423 |
| 30 | -1 | David Ragan | 397 | -426 |
