The Biff gets braces

All I have to say is....I feel your pain Greg Biffle. Greg got braces a few weeks ago and I am sure he was in for a rude awakening after his first day. I can say this since I too had braces as an adult. I made the decision in September 2007 and had to wear them for 14 months. I even threw myself a party the day the devils came off.

I am sure a lot of people (myself included) wonder why Greg didn't get invisalign or veneers but the answer lies in this video. He mentioned that he is getting 3M braces (a perk of driving for 3M??). According to their website they are "self-ligating" and do not require your orthodontist to use elastic bands. Why wasn't this an option when I got braces?!

What my made my situation so awful was that I had the upper and lower rubber bands which kept my jaws in line. I lived off of soup, mashed potatoes and french fries for 6 months. I was completely insecure over having braces as an adult and to make matters worse, I got ridiculed at the race track. For instance, Sterling Marlin teased me for weeks that I was 27 and had a face full of metal. I was in pain, I was teased and it felt like middle school all over again. Here's hoping that The Biff has a more pleasant experience than I had.

A Dog's Vest Friend

Here is a chance to support Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart and a fantastic charity. You will also have an opportunity to split the raffle pot. In this economy, that is hard to pass up!

Dogs’ Vest Friends, Too

CHARLOTTE (April 29, 2009) – What do Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart and Susie Jean have in common? They are K9 dogs “vest friends”. Greg and Tony have partnered to help Susie provide bullet-resistant and knife-resistant vests for K9 officers located throughout the United States. Through grassroots efforts, Susie has already provided 317 vests to police dogs in 34 states and she’s been dubbed “Dog’s Vest Friend”. Now, Greg and Tony are urging their fans as well as supporters of our officers & their K9s to support this Charity Splits raffle starting April 30, 2009 and concluding June 14, 2009.

Tony Stewart fans may recall that last summer his foundation awarded a sizable grant to Vest ‘N P.D.P. providing 40 bullet-resistant & knife-resistant vests for all 30 dogs of the Indiana State Police K-9 Unit and 10 additional dogs from Georgia, New Mexico, North Carolina and Minnesota. Drawing significant media coverage, Tony presented the vests to the Indiana State Police during the Allstate 400 Brickyard. Tony invited Greg to partner with him in this effort to potentially provide vests for all those in need nationwide. “It’s a great fit for our Foundation since we support animal welfare groups across the country” said Biffle.

The publicity highlighting Susie’s work sparked considerable interest and she found her one-person shop inundated with requests from law enforcement agencies located throughout the U.S. Today, Susie has 175 K9 ‘officers’ in 37 states waiting on vests. Departments rarely have allocations for purchasing these custom-made vests, ranging from $1,200 to $1,500, for each dog. Susie expressed, “My efforts are a small price to pay for our police dogs that protect their human partner as well as our communities.”

Greg and Tony are asking their fans to “pay a small price” and team together in support of Vest ‘N P.D.P. and our brave law enforcement officers – two-legged and four. To participate, log onto either driver’s foundation Web site or directly on to www.vest4K9.com.

Don’t delay as the winner will be announced June 14!

To learn more about Vest ‘N P.D.P. visit Susie’s web site, www.vestnpdp.com. To catch up with Greg and Tony and their philanthropic work, visit www.gregbifflefoundation and www.tonystewartfoundation.org.

Greg Biffle...Ouchie!

Greg Biffle will not compete in Saturday's Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway after suffering a rib injury from a boating accident earlier in the week.Biffle, a Sprint Cup Series regular, said he slipped and fell while attempting to jump from the dock to the boat. He said the slip resulted in his right side striking the edge of the boat. Biffle was boating with friends near his home in Charlotte, North Carolina.

As a precaution, Biffle opted not to drive in the 300-lap race at Bristol, with Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth taking his place. Biffle and Kenseth have agreed to swap Nationwide races, with Biffle substituting for Kenseth in the No.16 Ford in an upcoming event this season.

Biffle, who is currently 10th in Sprint Cup points, is expected to compete in Sunday's Food City 500 at Bristol.

Greg!!! I dont want to be a mom here, but please can you go boating in December so you don't hurt yourself during the regular season!! Our thoughts are with you!

Greg Biffle Interview from Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Greg Biffle NASCAR Nationwide Series Champion Interview – Las Vegas Motor Speedway
The following is a transcript of the Q&A with Greg Biffle following his victory Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway provided by Nationwide Insurance, title sponsor of the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

Greg Biffle had an interesting afternoon in Las Vegas during the third 2009 Nationwide series race, the Sam’s Town 300. First he had a cold, was caught speeding before running out of gas and then fought for the lead with two laps to go against Carl Edwards.

Greg Biffle: You know he was uh he had a pretty good run on me coming off turn two and uh I tried to keep him behind me but he snuck inside me about half way down the backstretch and so then I just figured I’d run the top down the three and four because I knew um my car would run across the top but I felt like I could beat him being on the top side so I arced a way out and kept it flat and then uh pulled down a little on his door in the middle of the corner. There not a lot of run when you’re too wide anyway but he got loose underneath me and then I moved up to the edge of the black because I wasn’t sure if he was gonna get in the side of me. Uh I don’t know how loose he was uh I just heard him coming out of the gas.

Biffle cruised through the final lap to grab his 19th career Nationwide series victory. Edwards says that he did not cut Biffle any slack just because they were teammates.

Carl Edwards: For a win we all race really hard, uh Greg would race me extremely hard and I did the same with him and you know you just want to race as hard as you and try not to cause a problem because you know right now we’re 1 and 2 and we coulda been backed in the wall and that woulda been really bad so uh I guess in a way you race your teammate maybe a little bit differently more than that you’re able to swallow it if he beats you a little more you know what I mean it’s not that you don’t race him differently it’s just that you can accept it if he beats you.
It was a wild race with 12 cautions and two red flags from multi-car may legs. Top drivers spun also spun wrecking all by themselves.

Brian Vickers talks about why so many drivers lost control of their Nationwide series machines.

Brian Vickers: These cars you’re sitting your trying to run wide open uh around this track uh with these car with no power no horse power not a ton of down force and uh you know it’s all about momentum. You know and you gotta keep it free, gotta keep it on the right rear and you gotta keep it turning’ to run wide open and uh I think everyone was just pushing’ that to the limit and uh a couple guys didn’t hold on to it and and you saw a lot of crashes.

Brendan Gaughan is one point ahead of Bush while this is Biffle’s first Nationwide series victory since California in 2006.

Biffle: You know you race 15, 20, 18 races a year. It’s hard to catch up to those guys that you know. Whether they run 15 to 18 races, if they’re better than you it makes it difficult to close in on them, you know and there have been some teams that have been a little bit better than us. You know we’re starting to close that gap a little bit.

The Nationwide Series will take a couple weeks off before heading to Bristol, TN.

To see the video race review of the Las Vegas race, go to www.nationwide.com/series and click On Your Side Race Review. To hear the audio, go to www.nationwide.com/series and click On Your Side Race Review and follow to "Listen to post-race interview."

Finally, a valid reason to drink A LOT of wine

From the The Greg Biffle Foundation:
During March through June of 2009 Benny Parsons's Rendezvous Ridge Vineyard will be donating $5.00 from the price of every bottle of wine sold at their Tasting Room and on their website to The Greg Biffle Foundation.

Benny Parsons and Greg were great friends and Greg participates in many events honoring Benny’s life. The Parsons are long-time animal lovers and big supporters of animal welfare efforts in their community. The Vineyard wanted to find some way to thank Greg and help animals in need and came up with the idea of donating a portion of proceeds to the Foundation.

Located in Western North Carolina between Boone and Wilkesboro in the foothills of both the Blue Ridge Mountains and Brushy Mountains, Rendezvous Ridge Vineyard offers several wine varieties in their Tasting Room and via their webpage. Wines range in price from $14.99 - $24.99. Please consider supporting this Vineyard and The Greg Biffle Foundation with your purchase today! Click here for the link to their on-line store.

The Greg Biffle Foundation was founded in 2005 by Greg and Nicole Biffle to create awareness and serve as an advocate to improve the well-being of animals by engaging the power and passion of the motor sports industry. Financial support for the foundation comes from a variety of sources including individual contributions, NASCAR Pets Calendars, and the sale of various racing and other sports memorabilia. Since its creation, The Greg Biffle Foundation has awarded grants to humane societies and animal shelters from coast to coast. Representing the best interests of the animals and using the full potential of each participant's involvement is the purpose for the Greg Biffle Foundation. Greg and Nicole have three dogs – Foster and his daughter Gracie, a pair of Boxers who are very familiar to race fans across the country. Foster even graced the front of a Milk Bones box in 2004. The latest addition is Savannah, who was rescued from a Georgia shelter.

Third time was not a charm for Roush Racing

You know those bad days when it seems like a black cloud is hovering and wont let you go? Well, Jack Roush could probably write a book on that after the Shelby 427 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

It started on lap 6 with a fan favorite Matt Kenseth who won the season-opening Daytona 500 and last week's race at Fontana. Tonight his engine blew up and killed his chance of making history by winning the first 3 races of the year, which no driver in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has ever done.

Moving onto lap 72, where David Ragan also blew an engine.

On to the the final lap while running in the 4th position, the defending champion of the race Carl Edwards also blew his engine.

What is going on with the engines here?!

Edwards wound up 17th, Ragan finished 41st and Kenseth in 42nd. Almost sounds like the results of my fantasy team after tonight's race.

The Cat in the Hats saving grace? 2 of his 5 drivers finished in the top 10. Greg Biffle crossed the checkered flag in 7th and Jamie McMurray in 9th.

Pole winner Kyle Busch became the first driver in history to win the race from the pole position. Yet is he still considered a winner from the pole position when he had to go to the back of the pack since he changed his engine prior to the race? Again, what's with the engines?

Partner for Paws Spectacular

Feb 11th, join the NASCAR Foundation for Partner for Paws Spectacular Live and Silent Auction hosted by Greg Biffle and Ryan Newman. This warms my heart and it will be a great chance to get NASCAR memorbilla for a good cause. Click here for ticket information and the listing of silent and live auction items. Proceeds raised from the evening will benefit the Greg Biffle Foundation, Ryan Newman Foundation and Halifax Humane Society of Daytona Beach, three organizations that support improving animal welfare. Upon researching for this article I found a great blog that put a lot of energy compiting a NASCAR pet list from a few years ago.

It is always great to take a second and blog about the drivers like Ryan and Greg that gives back. Over the course of this race season we will feature some of these foundations and all the good that they do.