Greg Biffle said Thursday that he plans to remain with Roush Fenway Racing despite speculation that he could replace Tony Stewart at Joe Gibbs Racing should Stewart leave that team.

 

Fueling the speculation is that Biffle's contract expires after this season and he was vocal about his team's woes at Darlington. He led 95 laps despite a loose wheel and fell out becuase of engine problems. Biffle was pointed in his criticism of the team after climbing from the car.

 

Biffle admits he was frustrated after finishing last, knowing a top-three finish would have put him in a much stronger spot in the points. Instead, he's 11th in the points, but he added that's not going to impact his decision on where he'll race after this season.

 

"I doubt very seriously that I'll end up someplace other than Roush,'' Biffle said, speaking in a suite during the pit stop competition at Charlotte's Time Warner Cable Arena.

 

He repeated the line and then said:

 

"I expect to be back there. I haven't talked to anybody else. I haven't talked to Gibbs. I've had plenty of inquiries but that's to that extent. The whole Tony thing or whatever, they haven't been burning my phone down or trying to get me or talk to me.''

 

Biffle stated that it's been difficult to to do any contract talks because he's been so busy testing. He tested for a couple of days in his Cup car at Lowe's Motor Speedway after Richmond. There was more testing at Lowe's after Darlington (this time in the Nationwide car) and he's got a test scheduled next week to prepare for the Sonoma race.

 

"It's so hard to spend time working on a contract or looking it over and thinking about what you want,'' Biffle said, alluding to his busy schedule.

 

Biffle also explained what set him off at Darlington was the loose wheel. A loose wheel at Texas in 2005 cost him the title that year. It still hurts him.

 

"The fact of the matter is is this is a tough business,'' Biffle said. "A lot of is expected of me. A lot is expected of all these crew guys. You cannot leave wheels loose on these cars. People make mistakes. That happens. Probably the thing that gets under my skin a little more than not is that you've got to remember I lost the championship in 2005. Think about what my career would look like if I had the 2005 Nextel Cup trophy. That was a loose wheel at Texas that cost me that title. Straight out. So, when a wheel is loose, it's like the light switch goes on instantly and it pulls on my heartstrings even harder.''

 

# Brian Vickers' pit crew won the pit stop competition, beating Denny Hamlin's team by a tenth of a second in the finals, incidentally an all-Toyota finals.

 

You might recall Vickers' team. I wrote about them in late March about their unique training methods and how they could revolutionize pit road. They are a dedicated group, meaning they don't work in the shop as many other teams do. Their training varies from standard pit practice to mental training (which can be juggling for hand-eye coordination) to mountain bike riding and so forth. Check out the story.

 

Vickers'  team beat Kevin Harvick's team in the semifinals. Hamlin's team beat teammate Kyle Busch's team in the semis. Twenty-four teams competed.

 

The Elite Eight consisted of the pit crews for Brian Vickers, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards.

 

The advantage of winning is that the top team gets to chose its pit stall first. One problem with Vickers' team winning. He's not in the all-star race yet. He'll have to quaify through the Sprint Showdown. A NASCAR official said an announcement is likely Friday that Hamlin's team will get first choice of pit stalls since it's already in the all-star race.

 

# Individual winners from the competition:

 

Gas man: Caleb Hurd (Jeff Gordon's team), 10.031 seconds -- breaks old record of 14.2 seconds set in 2006 ...Hurd is a former Virginia Tech football player.

Catch can: Jamie Frady (Jeff Gordon's team), 10.031 seconds -- breaks same record as Hurd.

Front tire changer: Nick Odell (Kyle Busch's team), 14.739 seconds

Front tire carrier: Brad Donaghy (Kyle Busch's team), 14.739 seconds.

Rear tire changer: Dave Smith (Matt Kenseth's team), 14.462 seconds

Rear tire carrier: Jason Binger (Matt Kenseth's team), 14.462 seconds

Jackman: Eric Wilson (Kasey Kahne's team), 5.431 seconds -- breaks former mark of 5.94 seconds set in 2007.

 

# Bobby Labonte contract update.

 

Labonte was at the pit stop competition Thursday and said he's about two or three weeks away from announcing anything. That's within the timeframe the folks at Petty hope to announce the investment group becoming a partner in the team. Labonte is in the last year of his contract with the Pettys. Previous reports have stated that Labonte will remain with the Pettys. Labonte won't confirm or deny those reports.