Greg Biffle put on a heroic display in the Batman Begins 400 this weekend at Michigan International Speedway. Along with crew chief Doug Richert, Biffle decided not to pit during the last caution period, moving him into the lead for the final green flag run. Even without fresh tires, Biffle pulled away from the competition, winning the race by 1.675 seconds over second place Tony Stewart. For bringing Biffle his fifth win of the season, Doug Richert won the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Race award. Tony Stewart relinquished the lead on lap 170 to pit for fresh tires. Unlike his victories at Darlington and Dover earlier this season, Doug Richert didn’t call his driver in for tires during the late-race caution period. Biffle, who was running second at the time, inherited the lead and never looked back. “Here we had a car that was really good in the long runs,” said Richert. “We thought that if we got good track position we could get a jump on the guys who did take fresh tires, and that’s exactly what happened. Mark (Martin) had fresh tires and was coming up through the pack, but we had a good enough lead to keep him and Tony (Stewart) behind us. Now if the caution came out again, Mark Martin probably would have won this race. As it turned out, our strategy worked best.” The panel of voters; including Mike Pryson of the Jackson Citizen Patriot, a Wypall Wipers representative and Tony Eury Sr.; all cast their vote for Richert as the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Race. With five wins this season, Doug Richert is in first place of the Wypall Wipers Crew Chief of the Year standings. Alan Gustafson and Robbie Loomis are tied for second place with two wins. Tommy Baldwin, Scott Miller, Bob Osborne and Pete Rondeau are in a tie for third place, each with one win. At the end of the season, the crew chief with the most weekly wins will receive $20,000. Fans can also vote for their choice at wypall.com.(SMC 500)(6-20-2005)
