Decision to break off talks was Biffle's
By Marty Smith
ESPN.com
LONG POND, Pa. -- Contract negotiations between Nextel Cup driver Greg Biffle and Roush Fenway Racing have stalled, Biffle told ESPN.com Friday at Pocono Raceway.
Biffle said the decision to break off talks was his and is based largely on improving the performance of a No. 16 team that has been up-and-down of late and in a state of transition following the firing of crew chief Pat Tryson two weeks ago and subsequent hiring of crew chief Greg Irwin.
Following an accident early in the Coca-Cola 600 that eliminated him from competition, Biffle decided the time had come to focus on the present, not the future.
"We have to focus on improving the performance of the car, so we're going to stop working on [negotiations] for now," Biffle said. "Contract negotiations are on hold."
Biffle expects negotiations to resume in about a month.
Biffle remains one of the hottest commodities in the garage and chooses not to divulge the teams with whom he's spoken. He does admit, though, that he's spoken with several. Among those, if you believe the garage scuttlebutt, is Dale Earnhardt Inc., to replace Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the No. 8 Chevy.