Biffle (16) is having to make do without his favorite car. (Greg Aleck photo) MORE NASCAR PHOTOS » More Photos

CUP RACES FOR KVAPIL? Travis Kvapil, the 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion, is back in the Truck Series this year after a brief, frustrating stint in Nextel Cup. Kvapil is now driving for Roush Racing and is expected to contend for the NCTS title this year. He also could end up doing a few Busch and/or Cup races for Roush this season, too.

"I said to him (Roush Racing President Geoff Smith), 'What am I going to do with all my off-weekends?' And he said, 'Hopefully, we can find something to run you part-time, if we can find a sponsor, you can run some races here and there. If nothing else, you can come along and be a part of it.' I told him anytime he's ready for me, I'm ready, but there's nothing set in stone and no promises made or anything like that. First things first, is go out and win races and win the (NCTS) championship."

HARD HIT When Greg Biffle blew a rear tire and crashed hard at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during a test last December, he suffered in more ways than one. A broken shoulder was bad enough, but losing his favorite race car might have been even more painful.

"One thing that you've got to remember is that car meant a lot to me," said Biffle. "I've won seven out of my 11 career Cup races in that race car. I won at Homestead in it and it was clearly two to three-tenths (of a second) faster than Mark Martin's fast race car. Mark Martin took his best car and we took our best race car from the No. 16 team and the car almost drives itself. You know when Denny Hamlin won both of the Pocono races, just wasn't even in the same category? It was that kind of car almost everywhere I took it. We had to have it screwed up a little bit for it not to be that fast, so that was really disappointing that it happened. Plus, I got hurt. That's the first time I've been hurt in a race car."

NEW & IMPROVED Hendrick Motorsports surprised the Nextel Cup garage last week with the announcement that Darian Grubb would be moving from the position of engineer on the No. 48 Chevrolet of Jimmie Johnson to crew chief of the No. 25 of new team driver Casey Mears. The No. 25, which more than two decades ago was driven by Tim Richmond, has struggled through hard times in recent years.

Among its problems are some myths surrounding it – that Richmond left a curse on the car prior to his death in 1988, or that the team gets second-rate equipment. Not true, said team driver Kyle Busch, who shares garage space with the No. 25 team with his No. 5. "People say there's a curse with that car. People say they don't get the same equipment as all the other teams but none of that's true," Busch said. "It's all part of who you've got working for you, drivers, crew chiefs, and what kind of people are working with it. It's kind of tough to figure all that out and try to pinpoint a reason exactly why that car struggles but I'm looking forward to seeing Casey do well and Darian do well. There's no reason why that car shouldn't."

As for Grubb, the new crew chief said he was shocked to get the call. "There was just no way I could pass up this opportunity to work with Casey (Mears), this National Guard/GMAC Chevrolet team," Grubb said. "It is just an incredible opportunity with Hendrick Motorsports. I didn't see it coming but the company is always evaluating things year-round in this sport. It was just one of those things that they decided that a change was going to be made and it with everything being new, it was the perfect timing to go ahead and do it before the season started to get the relationships built as we go along."

ODDS & ENDS Next Tuesday, NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France will deliver his annual "State of the Sport" presentation as part of NASCAR's PR summit. ... Evernham Motorsports crewman Craig Curione, who was indefinitely suspended by NASCAR last November after a post-race shoving incident with Kevin and DeLana Harvick at Texas Motor Speedway, has been reinstated by NASCAR. ... Cal Wells is listed on the Daytona 500 entry list as the owner of the No. 00 Michael Waltrip Motorsports Toyota. ... Next Wednesday, Roush Racing and Fenway Sports Group will announce that the deal for FSG to acquire a minority stake in Roush has been completed.

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