Editor's note: NASCAR driver Greg Biffle will document his journey through the Chase for the Sprint Cup in an exclusive online diary for USA TODAY:
I don't think I've ever been more excited about a 12th-place finish than I was after the checkered flag flew at Martinsville last week.
Our strategic plan at Martinsville was to finish in the top 10 and we only missed that by two positions. We didn't count on Jimmie Johnson leading the most laps and winning. We felt like he'd be strong. We knew that, but to not go to Martinsville and finish 20th or 18th or 30th ? and get back to the lead lap ? was key for us to have a shot at this title.
Obviously, with where we're at in points, we are certainly looking forward to trying to win at Atlanta this weekend. I know everybody goes there to win, but we feel really confident. We finished fourth in the spring race, but we were chasing down the leader, Kyle Busch, at the end. We were second but just ran out of tires a little bit late in the race and ended up slipping back a few positions, but Atlanta is one of our better race tracks and I look forward to trying to close in on the 48 there this weekend. At Texas and Phoenix and Homestead, all four of these race tracks are literally my best race tracks on the circuit, so I think we're in a good position. We'd like to be closer than 149 points, but I don't think that's too much to overcome.
A lot of people will be focusing on tires this weekend after what happened the first race. I certainly think that we've put Goodyear in a box with this new car and many of these new track surfaces and their ability to react. They just can't upset the apple cart and start over, so it's been a work in progress for them. They've missed on some and hit others right on the nail. Darlington was a brand new surface that was really, really fast, probably too fast of a place, but they tested twice and they picked the perfect tire. Then the other extreme is Indy, where we had a tire that wouldn't last, so you're not gonna hit it right every single time.
The thing at Atlanta at the beginning of the year, to defend them, is they went to the conservative side of things. Maybe it was a little too conservative, but, at the same time, they were trying to build some of that into it. The car didn't have a lot of grip, but the surface of Atlanta is much like Darlington before the repave.
We know that race track wears tires out and that's what makes it such a great race track and why it's so competitive. The problem is the new car threw a little curveball at the tire because it used the tire much harder on the right side only, so that was a difficulty for Goodyear to try and figure that out in a short amount of time. I think it was just very, very difficult to drive. The tires didn't have a lot of grip all day, so it just made it difficult inside there. It was elbows up all day long.
No matter the conditions, all you can do is try your best. I mean, if I tried anymore at Charlotte, I would have been backwards in the fence. I tried all I could and I'm gonna do the same at Atlanta and the same at Texas and Phoenix and Homestead. I'm gonna put it all on the line because I really don't have anything to lose, I have a lot to gain. I certainly don't want to crash the car and fall back to sixth in points, but, at the same time, we have to beat the 48 and we have to get the best finish we can. I'm gonna continue to do what I've done in the first six Chase races and that's to try and win.
Normally, you're always looking in front and back ? you're looking in the rearview mirror and looking forward ? but at this point in the season, it seems like I haven't even thought about who is behind me. I don't even care who is behind me because all I care about is the guy in front of me. All I can do is try and beat that guy. He's 149 points ahead of me.
Whatever happens behind me, if they end up beating me or end up finishing in front of me, it would be a moot point. My goal right now is in front of me. At that point, I'm not saying it doesn't matter to me, but what matters right now, and what I'm focused on, is the guy in front of me. If I end up not making that goal, certainly I'm trying to finish the best I can, but if those guys end up faster than me and end up in front of me, there's not a lot I can do about it. Obviously, I'm gonna do my best.
I know that there are a lot of things that can happen inside of a race car. There's a grocery list of things that can happen to put us even in the points with Jimmie, and all you can do is do your best and not worry about him ? just let nature take its course for lack of better terminology. We had the Talladega wreck, of course, and then we had the Carl Edwards' ignition problem. We've seen guys get flat tires or engine failures. All kinds of things can happen, so we'll just do the best we can and see what happens.
The thing is, I'm not out of this Chase. Not by any means. Not with the four tracks we still have left.
