Greg Biffle's NASCAR season got off to the worst possible start Thursday as a multi-car crash forced the Roush Racing driver to his back-up car for Saturday night's non-points Budweiser Shootout.
Biffle's 3M backed Ford Fusion was just one of half a dozen cars caught up in the crash, the first since NASCAR relaxed their controls on bump drafting.
“It's aggressive bump drafting,” Biffle said after the accident, which ended the session. “That's what we were looking for – aggressive bump drafting.”
The accident occurred as a pack of ten cars approached turn one. Denny Hamlin, being bumped from behind by teammate Joey Logano tapped Mark Martin into the outside wall, with Hamlin bouncing down into Biffle, forcing him across the infield. Jamie McMurray, in his first drive with Earnhardt-Ganassi was also involved.
While the damage to Biffle's car appeared relatively minor compared to that suffered by Hamlin, Martin and McMurray Ford Racing soon confirmed that he would be using the back-up car for the remainder of the Shootout weekend.