Getting the "Bugs" Out in 2015: Biffle is Key to Roush Resurrection

Greg Biffle looks to heat up the track with new sponsor Ortho in 2015
(Google Images)

Last season was one to forget for Roush Fenway Racing. The team only scored two wins and, despite getting drivers Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards into the Chase, consistency only brought them so far and both were eliminated before they could shoot for the title. There was also a good deal of speculation about whether Edwards and Biffle would return to RFR in 2015. But while Edwards decided to depart the team that gave him his break for Joe Gibbs Racing, Biffle decided to stay put and try to right the ship.

This was not entirely surprising because, like his owner Jack Roush, Biffle bleeds Ford blue and he has been with the team since his truck series days began back in 1998. The Biff took a pay cut a few years ago to stay in his familiar No. 16 Fusion, so clearly he cares more about racing than money.  This season, Roush-Fenway added Elliott Sadler and Darrell Wallace Jr to their Nationwide Series fleet as teammates to Ryan Reed giving them a serious shot at the 2015 series title. The team also elevated Trevor Bayne to full-time Sprint Cup competition, so on the cup side the level of inexperience between Bayne and third-year driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr is going to mean a steep learning curve for both young drivers.

Enter Biffle, who won the 2000 Camping World (then Craftsman) Truck Series championship and the 2002 Xfinity (then Busch) Series title for Roush in addition to 19 Sprint Cup victories. Now he will be the elder statesman and his experience will be key in getting RFR back to a competitive level. His knowledge and expertise will only help boost the performance of Stenhouse and Bayne and return not only the No. 16 car to the front of the pack, but both of his young teammates as well. But while his fans have been known to "stick with the Biff," the 45-year-old veteran spoke about seriously debating whether or not he should stick with Roush Fenway Racing.

"You know, loyalty in this world only goes so far," Biffle told media members during the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour. "I felt like I had to wrestle with the decision on whether I leave or not. It makes it easy to leave, it's easy to kick a guy when he's down, right? So we were having tremendous trouble last year, and I've been there trough three of these cycles, and we're not going to sugar-coat it -- last year, we were at the bottom of the heap compared to the teams. We just were, and no light at the end of the tunnel, and so it would've been an easy way for me to leave at that point."



Biffle celebrating his most recent win, June 16th, 2013 at Michigan
(Google Images)

While Edwards might have taken the easy way out Biffle described, the Biff sticking around is the best thing that could've happened to RFR and, just like many of his fans, he believes Roush is due for a comeback in 2015. And he wants to be the one leading that charge back to the front.

"Knowing that the stock is at the lowest price that it's been at, sometimes that's the opportunity. It's going to go up," Biffle told reporters. "It doesn't have to, but logic says it's going to go up, and so I wrestled with it and sat long and hard about it, and I said 'I want to be the guy that brings the organization back out of where we're at. We're in a bad place. I could jump ship right now.' And I decided I didn't want to do that. I wanted to give it another opportunity."

Steve Newmark, president of Roush Fenway Racing, spoke about the idea of losing Biffle, a great driver who has also become a great company man and team spokesman.

"It was critical," Newmark said of re-signing Biffle. "Greg and I spent a lot of time talking. He was solicited by a lot of teams, which I would expect with a driver of that caliber. After a lot of discussions, I think he felt like Roush was the right fit for him and the right place, and he and Jack had some unfinished business. But he brings an element that we wouldn't have had without him. We have a lot of other talented drivers, but none of them has had the history with both our organization and the championships, so he's been fantastic."

One of the other bug reasons Biffle could've left is because of the loss of longtime sponsor 3M. Losing that kind of funding could be a big blow to any team. But now, with new sponsor Ortho Bug B Gone, both Biffle and Roush Fenway will be looking to work out the bugs from 2014 and return to the highly competitive level they're used to this season. As Newmark said, Biffle has an intimate knowledge of all things Roush and he has proven that when his Fords are right, he can contend for wins and championships. The No. 16 car might be coming out of a revamped shop and have some different stickers on the hood this year, but the same hard charging, talented driver will be behind the wheel. For that reason alone, there's no reason at all why Biffle, his team and his fans shouldn't be optimistic heading into this year.

"We're all confident," said Biffle. "Everyone's so excited about the way our company looks, about how everybody's getting along and how excited everybody is to work together again, and on a common goal. We all feel really good."