Roush cars lagging

DOVER, Del. -- Greg Biffle is missing something, other than wins.

Biffle was last season's early surprise in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, opening the 10-race playoff with back-to-back wins at New Hampshire and Dover.

He eventually finished third in points and appeared set -- much like his Roush Fenway Racing teammate Carl Edwards, who won nine times last season -- to contend again for the 2009 title.

Biffle and Edwards are back in the Chase, but so far that's about the only similarity to last season.

They have no wins between them and both face an uphill climb if they are going to win the title. Entering today's AAA 400, Biffle is 92 points behind series leader Mark Martin, and Edwards is 113 back with nine races left.

There has been a lot of speculation about why Roush teams have fallen off this season.

Most striking has been Bobby Labonte's performance in Yates/Hall of Fame Racing's No.96 Ford, which gets cars and engines from Roush.

Labonte has struggled with speed. The past several weeks, however, Labonte has driven the No. 71 Chevrolet fielded by a single-car team, TRG Motorsports, and has been much faster.

And Friday, the No. 71, this time with driver David Gilliland, qualified better than all but two of the Roush and Yates cars.

"To be perfectly honest with you, it's a little bit disheartening that they're that much different," Biffle said.

"... We all have the same equipment, and we're just not getting it done. I don't know what else to say. It's apparent, but we're working hard at it."

Also confusing for Biffle is how drivers at Roush will run the same setups yet be drastically different on the speed charts.

Yet for the problems that exist, Biffle remains the most viable chance for Roush to earn a series championship this year.

And Biffle, who will line up fourth for the start today, has been particularly strong at Dover, where he has two Cup wins and has finished eighth or better in eight of his past nine races.

"Certainly, the Fords have struggled recently," Biffle's teammate, Jamie McMurray, said after final practice Saturday. "Greg, probably, has been our most consistent car.

"They've worked really hard at the shop to get us some different setups, and I think that what we have seems strange compared to what our norm is. But they've done a really good job and our cars are driving a lot better this weekend."

Of the other Ford teams, Paul Menard will start 10th. David Ragan, Matt Kenseth, McMurray, Edwards and Labonte will line up 21st or worse.

During the final practice, Biffle was sixth fastest and McMurray eighth. None of the others were among the 10 fastest cars.

"Everybody has criticized us about being a little bit slower than the rest of the Chase guys right now," Biffle said. "We're trying to close that gap.

"Maybe we can learn a little bit [from our teammates] ... and make us a little bit more competitive as they get ready for next year."

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