Greg Biffle 2012 Fantasy NASCAR Preview
2011 Stats: Points Finish 16th, 0 Wins, 3 Top Fives, 10 Top Tens, Average Running Position 16.1, Average Finish 16.8, Laps Led 351, Driver Rating 85.9
Strengths- Biffle is at his best on intermediate tracks and big flat tracks.
Weaknesses- Consistency was a major issue for this team in 2011. Watkins Glen and Martinsville are also traditional weak spots.
Intermediate Track Grade- A-, Intermediate tracks are by far Greg Biffle’s best track type. Thanks to Roush’s prowess on this track type thirteen of his sixteen wins have come at these venues. Unfortunately last season was ultimately a disappointment for him on these tracks.
He had lots of good runs and was even dominant at times but it seemed like all to often something happened to him in the second half of races and he was relegated to a poor finish. A few examples would be
1) The Coca Cola 600. He was leading with a few laps to go but he had to pit late for fuel.
2) Biffle also had a super fast car at Las Vegas but the 16 pit crew had problems fueling the car.
3) Biffle also had a fast car at both Michigan races but he fell back in the second half of those races (Race #1 Yahoo Chart) (Race #2 Yahoo Chart).
In 2012 I think Biffle will have better performances on this track type. Roush Fenway Racing is arguably the best in the series on these aero dependent tracks. Last season his teammates Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth scored the most points on this track type. In 2011 he scored the 16th most points but this season I think he’ll be among the top seven in points accumulated. In a previous season Biffle led the series in points scored at these venues (2005).
Flat Track Grade- B+, Biffle had a top ten finish at every flat track this year except Phoenix. Recently Biffle has ranked among the best in the series on the big flat tracks. At Indy he has four straight top tens and at Pocono he won in 2010 and finished 8th in the second race last year.
Biffle has also had a level of success on the shorter flat tracks. Last season at New Hampshire he finished 3rd and in the last five races he’s averaged the 8th most points (31.6 points per race). Phoenix has also been a friendly track to him. He’s finished in the top fifteen in nearly 70% of his races.
Restrictor Plate Track Grade- B, Biffle has been very consistent at Talladega. In the last six races at NASCAR’s biggest track only Clint Bowyer has scored more points then him. He’s the only driver in the series who’s finished in the top twenty in every race in this six race span.
Biffle hasn’t been as consistent at Daytona though. In the last seven races at NASCAR’s most historical track he only has one finish better than 18th (finished 3rd in the 2010 Daytona 500). His points rank in these seven races is 25th and in this stretch Terry Labonte has outscored him and he’s only ran four races.
Short Track Grade- B, When it comes to short tracks I like Biffle at two of them. His best short by far though is Bristol. He sports a 11.8 average finish and in four of the last five races he’s finished in the top eight. Biffle is also a good qualifier here. He’s qualified in the top four in half the races over the last three years.
At Richmond Biffle is a consistent teens driver. Last season he finished 13th and 15th. He was really good in the fall race but he fell back in the last forty laps (Yahoo race chart). At Richmond Biffle has finished in the top ten in half his career starts (10 of 19).
Martinsville is by far his worst short track. He only has two top tens here in eighteen starts. An expected result would be a high teens finish. Nearly a quarter of his finishes fall between the 15th to 20th place range.
Last season Biffle scored the 16th most points on this track type.
Road Course Track Grade- B, Between the two road courses Biffle has fared better at Infineon. At this California track he has a 15.8 average finish. In six of his last eight starts at Infineon he’s finished in the top fifteen. In the last five years Biffle has scored the 9th most points at this track.
Watkins Glen has not been a good track for Biffle. He finished in the top ten in 2009 and 2007 but all of his other seven finishes were outside the top twenty. In the last five years Biffle has scored the 16th most points at the Glen.
How to use Greg Biffle from a Fantasy NASCAR Perspective in 2012? In 2012 I would focus on using Biffle at intermediate tracks, big flat tracks, Bristol and I think he would be worth the gamble at Talladega based on his recent history there.
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