"We let technology pass us by": Greg Biffle names the culprit behind Roush's NASCAR downfall

Former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle spoke about what went wrong with Roush Racing. Biffle, who raced in the Cup Series till 2016, was a part of Roush Racing, which later became Roush Fenway Racing in 2003, until his full-time retirement.

Recently, in a conversation with Dale Earnhardt Jr. on his podcast, Biffle was asked by the show's host where Roush went wrong. He simply answered in one word, 'technology.' This prompted Junior to press Biffle to elaborate on it.

"We let technology pass us by. Robbie Riser is a great guy, very smart guy, but Robbie tried, we were really late to having a competition director. Joe Gibbs Racing had one, RCR had one, we didn't have a competition director and Jack Roush prided himself in doing more with less and we were way late putting Robbie in charge of competition director.

"And then we left Robbie in charge way too long and didn't provide more support. Robbie should have been in charge of the shop floor. He was super good at that and we should have had other people layered up for technology and we were just behind," Greg Biffle added.

Bifle claimed that when it came to 'the front bar' of a driver and a crew chief, Jack Roush gave them 'everything' they needed. In fact, he mentioned how they were 'unbeaten' for some years with all of their five cars.

Biffle recalled RCR running terribly and not winning races while they had their 'chest stuck out'. Eventually, tables began to turn, and other teams figured out things on the technological front.

Greg Biffle on whether the driver or the car contributes more to success in racecar driving

During a 2013 interview with Jeff Gluck, Greg Biffle shared his take on the aspect of luck in a driver's success in motorsports. The former #16 driver admitted that luck has 'a lot to do with it', but sometimes, a driver makes his/her luck on the track. He elaborated:

"You have a bad pit stop, you're in the back, you get in a crash -- is that bad luck? Or you spin out, go through the grass and get involved in a wreck on the restart -- is that luck, or is it that you screwed up and you're just going to call it bad luck?"

Biffle mentioned that the driver and car percentage subject is an evergreen topic of discussion because once a car is set up and running, any of the top 20 drivers can win a race. However, it takes a lot of driver skill to get a car into that position.

The former Roush driver said that it's easy for a driver to do well by simply jumping into a fast car. But that, to him, is not a driver having a good day but having a fast car.

Biffle emphasized that the combination of those two things takes a good driver. But at the same time, it takes a good team to build a car with that potential 'at a fundamental level.'