Biffle riding N.H. bounce

LOUDON, N.H. - New Hampshire loves a dark horse.

How else do you explain what happened to NASCAR driver Greg Biffle yesterday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway?

Eight months after John McCain's victory in the New Hampshire primary gave the Arizona senator new life in his bid to secure the Republican presidential nomination, Biffle yesterday fashioned a victory of his own with an unbridled gallop over the last 11 laps of the Sylvania 300, bolstering his candidacy in the Chase for Sprint Cup Championship.

"I can't describe it," said Biffle, after the driver of the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford snapped a 33-race winless drought with the 13th victory of his career, which helped him climb six spots to third in the Chase standings with 5,190 points.

"I needed a lot of help to get here and all these guys behind me and the engine department, everybody has just given me so much help and support."

McCain was on hand to get the Chase rolling when he addressed the drivers at the driver/crew chief meeting, then glad-handed with them during the introductions.

"There [are] a bunch of great racetracks for us in the Chase," Biffle said, referring to the venues at Dover (the next stop), Texas, Kansas, and Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he won three consecutive finales from 2004-06.

"There was some I was a little nervous about and one was Loudon and the other two were Martinsville and Talladega, so we've gotten through the one a little better than I expected, which is here. So I feel like we're definitely the dark horse like a couple people said we are."

To call Biffle's victory unlikely would not have been a stretch. He had not won all season and had been installed as the ninth seed of the 12-man Chase after wrapping up the regular season ranked eighth in points, 598 behind runaway series leader Kyle Busch.

Jimmie Johnson, winner of the last two Sprint Cup championships, and Carl Edwards, Biffle's teammate, loomed as big threats, and still are after they finished runner-up and third, respectively, to depart NHMS tied for the Chase lead following Busch's 34th-place finish and precipitous plunge to eighth in the Chase.

"Man, I feel like I won that thing just because of how terrible we were in practice," said Edwards, who is considered the leader because he has two more wins than Johnson.

"To finish this well and to be tied with Jimmie there in the points, that's a huge day for us."

But Biffle? Greg Erwin, Biffle's crew chief, knew what people thought of his driver.

"Overlooked, dark horse, not the favorite, it really makes no difference to me," Erwin said.

"I look at it, it's common sense. You've got a guy out there [in Busch] who's won eight races, you've got a guy [Edwards] who's won six and you've got a guy [Johnson] who's won two [in a row and] three of the last [seven races]. Of course, they're going to be the favorites. That's just human nature. It's like that in any sport."

Be it politics or stock car racing.

Biffle's start to the Chase seemed to follow that of Clint Bowyer here a year ago. Bowyer, who clinched the final spot in the Chase despite going winless in the first 26 races, recorded the first victory of his Cup career with a dominant triumph from the pole in last year's Sylvania 300, which helped him climb eight spots to fourth.

Buoyed by a strong runner-up finish to Johnson at Fontana, where his car and pit crew were as fast as Johnson's, Biffle came to NHMS and turned the tables.

Fittingly, the dark horse drove a dark car that "just drove phenomenal right off the truck" and needed little in the way of adjustment except for "a half-round of wedge out of it," Biffle said.

After conserving his brakes and fuel, Biffle drove it to the front when it mattered most, blowing the doors off Johnson's car with a strong Turn 3 takeover on Lap 289.

"I don't want to brag, but it was a textbook pass," Biffle said. "I got in the corner good. I got after the throttle early and I got close enough to him that I got a little bit of air off the back of his car.

"Soon as I had the opportunity, I had a little run, I got my nose inside of him and got him loose . . . I was completely clear of him getting into [Turn] 3, which I was surprised about. Normally, I figured I'd have to race him hard down there."

But Johnson, who had been strong on the long runs after leading four times for 96 laps, was unable to fight off Biffle.

"We'd love to be in Victory Lane, celebrating right now," said Johnson, who entered the Chase riding an incredible wave of momentum after winning back-to-back races for the second year in a row at Fontana and Richmond. "But the big picture, second place is not a bad day at the office."

It was an even better day at the office for Biffle, who like McCain, emerged from the Granite State as a serious contender.

Asked if he enjoyed his stealth candidacy in the Chase, Biffle said, "I think it inspires me a little bit to want to make a statement, I guess.

"I've been thinking about it for quite some time and I just thought about what I need to do for the next 10 weeks. I've thought over and over about it. We've just got to get my car right on Friday and Saturday and drive the best race I can on Sunday and the best man is going to win at the end of 10 weeks.

"I just can't wait to go to Dover."

Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com.