So much has been said this week about some of the greatest NASCAR Cup finishes at Watkins Glen International, including Marcos Ambrose’s late winning rally past Brad Keselowski in 2012, and last year’s battle between winner Chris Buescher and Shane van Gisbergen, whose rare late mistake cost him the win.
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But there is one other race finish that seems to have been forgotten: the 2011 battle to the checkered flag between Boris Said and Greg Biffle. Said, one of the best road course ringers at the time, beat Biffle — but The Biff wasn’t taking the loss easily: he took a swing at Said after the race.
Biffle’s attempt at fisticuffs wasn’t just because he lost; it was more of a protective measure to let Said know how wrong he was for causing a late-race incident, running into Biffle’s Roush Fenway Racing teammate David Ragan, and then collecting David Reutimann, whose car wound up on its roof.
Biffle first threw a full water bottle and beaned Said on the side of his head, then approached Said’s car and took a swing at him while the latter was still buckled in his seat in the garage. By the time Said got free and out of his car, Biffle had escaped and was surrounded by his crew members in much the same way a President is surrounded by Secret Service members.
While Biffle may have won the physical battle, Said won the war of words.
“(Biffle) is the most unprofessional little scaredy cat I’ve ever seen in my life,” Said told ESPN after the race.“He wouldn’t even fight me like a man after. So if someone texts me his address, I’ll go see him Wednesday at his house and show him what he really needs.
“He needs a whooping, and I’m going to give it to him. He was flipping me off, giving me the finger. Totally unprofessional. Two laps down. I mean, he is a chump.”
In the Meantime, Someone Actually Won The Race
As things turned out, Ambrose won the race (his first of two wins in his Cup career; the other came the following year, also at Watkins Glen in his battle with Keselowski), Said finished 22nd and Biffle finished 31st, two laps down after running out of fuel.
“He comes over and throws a few little baby punches and then when I get out he runs away and hides behind some big guys,” Said quipped of Biffle. “But he won’t hide from me long. I’ll find him. I won’t settle it out on the track. It’s not right to wreck cars, but he’ll show up at a race with a black eye one of these days. I’ll see him somewhere.”
Biffle got the last word in — via Twitter, of course. He didn’t stick around to talk to the media post-race but gave his take on what happened online.
“Let me tell you something: Boris, ‘the road course ringer’, caused that wreck,” Biffle posted. “Then Mr. Class pulls in behind my truck after the race today?! Shouldn’t you go check on David & David? How unprofessional & disrespectful!”
Boys Will Be Boys, But Real Men Apologize
It’s unknown if Said ever did attempt to go over to Biffle’s house to confront him. But a few days later, they settled things over the phone.
“[Said] understands and he apologized for running me off in the carousel,” Biffle told NASCAR.com (via Bleacher Report). “He didn’t know he did. That was probably the whole thing that led to him coming up to my truck because he didn’t understand why I was so mad at him.”
Said was actually surprised that the side show with Biffle got so much attention.
“It was shocking, really,” told Said. “I just don’t understand how it was news compared to the news of Marcos Ambrose winning his first race or Brad Keselowski racing and almost winning on a broken leg.”
Said then concluded by saying, “As far as I’m concerned it’s over with and I’m not gonna worry about it.”
But even though Said finished nine places ahead of Biffle, the Biff got the last laugh — and the last punch — in.
