ShareThisForget for a moment that a Ford other than Carl Edwards's No. 99 won Sunday, forget that the NASCAR's most dominant driver was rendered insignificant in the Chase opener and forget that the Big Three just might not be unbeatable after all in The Chase for the Cup.Just remember Greg Biffle.While the Big Three -- Edwards, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson -- were receiving the lion's share of publicity entering the 10-race title run, Roush-Fenway Racing's Biffle was busy playing another role, one of the dark horse candidate, the driver whom everyone overlooks but somehow emerges on top at the end.Ask Edwards, who for once was relegated to being "the other" Roush-Fenway driver. Ask Johnson, who appeared to be well on his way to a Chase-opening win before Biffle swooped in. Ask Busch, so upset by his 34th-place effort, wasting the bonus points he had built up over 26 races, that he escaped the media by hopping a fence and being whisked away by a waiting golf cart.That's what dark horses do: They disrupt normal expectations and make the frontrunners re-evaluate where they stand. Edwards, Johnson and Busch each have to be concerned that there are now three title contenders to fight off, not two as expected one week ago.Most had seemingly conceded that the championship equation had a trifecta result, boxed in some order with the numbers 99, 48 and 18. With 18 wins in 26 starts between them, who could argue that these wouldn't be the drivers shaping the standings over the next 10 weeks?Then along came Biffle and his No. 16 Ford Fusion. The Biff. Biffster. Now Biffle the Dark Horse.In 2005, two years after winning his first race ever in the summer Daytona race, Biffle broke through as a favorite to win his first championship. He totaled a series-best six wins, but trouble down the stretch left him second in the Chase, 35 points behind champ Tony Stewart.The Biff of 2005 was a dominant one and appeared on the brink of being a championship favorite in 2006, but he missed the Chase over the next two seasons, creating speculation that the Vancouver, Wash., native would leave, perhaps joining Richard Childress Racing.But he re-signed with Roush-Fenway and is sitting prettier than ever -- the new surprise of 2008 as a dark horse. Just also forget one fact about dark horses: They rarely win what they suddenly become a factor in.Yet if you're a Biff backer, history should make you happy. He won the pole and led the most laps at Dover in June before ignition trouble left him in third. He's the defending race winner at Kansas Speedway, next week's race. Plus, he runs well on the 1.5-mile superspeedways, and has been victorious in three of the last four Homestead races.Instead of being a frontrunner as he was in 2005, the 2008 version of The Biff is different entirely -- intense lurker, silent stalker, underrated driver, overlooked competitor. He's been fitted for and now wears the suit of a driver playing the role of a dark horse.So far, he wears it pretty well.(Bill Whitehead covers NASCAR for Scripps Treasure Coast (Fla.) Newspapers, The Stuart News, Fort Pierce Tribune and Vero Beach Press Journal. E-mail wwhitehe@ircc.net.)
Biffle comfortable as Chase dark horse
Submitted by SHNS on Fri, 09/19/2008 - 16:28
Paying taxes unites us. It also divides us. People can pay five and even six times more in state and local taxes than other folks in similar circumstances making similar incomes.
Who's got your number?
In one of the fastest-growing forms of identity theft, crooks are stealing tax refunds by swiping personal information and using it to trick the Internal Revenue Service.
