Racebeat (06/23/03)
by Rich Romer

NASCAR Winston Cup: Greg Biffle thought he was in trouble with former Winston Cup champion Bobby Labonte close behind as the laps wound down. But Labonte ran out of gas on the last lap as Biffle and his Roush Racing crew played the fuel strategy game to perfection in the Pepsi 400, giving the rookie his first Winston Cup victory. Biffle, a former Busch Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, was in position to earn his first win in 23 Winston Cup races because of a spur-of-the-moment decision midway through the 160-lap race on Daytona International Speedway's 2.5-mile oval. Biffle ducked into the pits to top off his gas tank under caution on lap 79.

That gave him just enough to make it the rest of the way on one more stop and cost favorites Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Michael Waltrip a shot at another restrictor-plate victory. On his last stop, on lap 120, Biffle yelled at his crew over the radio because he thought they held him a half-second too long. Jeff Burton, Biffle's teammate, running the same fuel strategy, finished second, 4.102 seconds -- about 20 car-lengths -- behind the winner's Ford Taurus. The winner also gave a lot of the credit to series points leader Matt Kenseth, another Roush entry, who was running second and kept Labonte behind him until Kenseth had to pit for a splash of gas at the end of lap 156.

Kenseth got back out fast enough to finish sixth, just behind Labonte, who coasted to the finish line. Ricky Rudd finished third. Dale Earnhardt Inc., teammates Earnhardt and Waltrip came into the race as heavy favorites, having won eight of the last 10 races at Daytona and Talladega, the two big tracks where NASCAR requires the carburetor restrictor plates to keep the cars under 200 mph. But both of them stayed on the track when the other cars ducked in to top off for fuel and had to make an extra stop. Earnhardt appeared to have the strongest car in the field and led two times for 43 laps. Waltrip, coming up well short of his third straight Daytona win, wound up 11th.