Q&A: Greg Biffle.

Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 60 Grainger Taurus in the NASCAR Busch Series, will be attempting to qualify for the Daytona 500 next month. The plan is for Biffle to run as many as seven Winston Cup races in 2002 before joining the series full time next season.

Q:
Greg Biffle - [No. 60 - Grainger Taurus] - Talk to us about testing here at Daytona?

Greg Biffle:
I've tested down here a few times in Winston Cup cars, testing for Mark and a couple of our other guys, so I'm excited to be back with my own Winston Cup car this time. I'm hoping we'll be able to get out there and then come back in February and be competitive.

Q:
It was a tough year for Roush last year.

GB:
Yeah, they did [have a tough time]. We did okay in the Busch Series. We won five races and won rookie of the year, so we're pretty excited about that. Hopefully, we can come back and win a championship. We're gonna run two to seven Winston Cup races [this year]. We're looking for some sponsors right now, but we're definitely doing Daytona and California so we're excited about that.

Q:
How does it feel to finally prepare for a Winston Cup race after so much success in the truck and Busch series?

GB:
Daytona is a tough place because the driver is really less of an element here as far as getting into the race through qualifying. It really has to do with restrictor plate power and how good the body is, and what it really takes is years of experience to get into the 500. I'm a little nervous right now about qualifying and where we need to be. I certainly want to get on the track and find out how we are, but I'm excited about going to California and running some of these other Winston Cup races where we think we could be a factor.

Q:
Kurt Busch and Casey Atwood came to Winston Cup fairly quickly. Are you happy with your progression and timetable?

GB:
Yeah, absolutely. I'm extremely happy with where we're at. When I enter the Winston Cup Series next year, I think I'll have enough experience to be fairly competitive. What I mean by that is targeting top-20 finishes and not making mistakes the rookies make their first couple of years in Winston Cup. I think we can short-cut a lot of those things by the experience I've gained along the way.

Q:
As far as the Busch series goes, is the championship your main focus?

GB:
Yeah, that's certainly what we're focussed on is winning the championship. We think we have the equipment and the guys and the tools to do it, so we're certainly gonna try and get the job done.

Q:
Who do you see as your main competition?

GB:
It's funny because in the Truck Series in 2000, a lot of good guys left and I thought, 'Boy, this is really gonna be a lot easier,' and it turned out to be harder. It seemed a lot of guys raised their competition level and some other guys came in, so I'm sure it's gonna be as competitive or more than it was last year, even though Kevin (Harvick) and Jeff Green are leaving. Andy Houston is gonna be full-time and Jason Keller is certainly gonna be tough. He's got a new teammate coming into the 10 car and Scott Riggs should be competitive in that car. Plus, there are a couple of other guys I've heard that might be coming back, so we'll wait and see if they show up and race for a whole season. There are gonna be a number of guys that are gonna be tough, just like last year.

Q:
What did you learn last year?

GB:
I learned so much. It's incredible the amount of things you learn. I learned things clear up to the last race. Normally what you learn is about the guys you're racing with, that's typically what you learn. That's such a factor because you learn what to expect out of him and what not to expect. I feel I really conquered that. We really got the aero package down pretty decently. I understand how the cars work, so we really just started touching on shocks. I mainly had the springs and swaybars kind of ironed out, but I learned things about the whole setup every race. I feel we've got a lot of those mistakes behind us and I think we're gonna be in good shape.