Biffle wants Logano to show respect for veteran drivers

THE OLYMPIAN | • Published October 16, 2009

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Vancouver, Wash., native Greg Biffle apologized for forcing Joey Logano into the wall during last week's Nationwide Series race, an incident that sparked a post-race confrontation between Biffle and Logano’s father, Tom.

Logano recovered to win his fifth Nationwide race of the year while Biffle finished 14th.

But Biffle remains miffed Logano smashed his fender during the Nationwide race at Kansas while going three-wide into a corner. Logano went on to win while Biffle salvaged fifth. Biffle approached Logano afterward and said the rookie was less than receptive when Biffle suggested the teenager didn’t have enough respect for his elders, a lesson Biffle learned as a young driver.

“I got talked to by Sterling Marlin and a few other guys and I learned a lot from it because there were things I was probably doing on the race track being a younger guy and not realizing probably what I was doing,” Biffle said. “But I had the best in my teammate, Mark Martin. I learned a tremendous amount from him. You have to have guys to look up to and learn things in this sport.”

Elsewhere

Points leader Jimmie Johnson captured the pole for Saturday’s Banking 500 in Concord, N.C. Mark Martin, who is second in points, will start second. Enumclaw’s Kasey Kahne qualified third, and Biffle will start 23rd. … The family of late NASCAR champion Alan Kulwicki is donating $1.9 million to the motorsports engineering program at UNC-Charlotte.

ETC.

LeBron James and Cleveland Cavaliers teammates Darnell Jackson and Coby Karl have tested positive for Influenza A, and are being treated as if they have the H1N1 virus. James returned to practice Thursday. … Washington Wizards forward Antawn Jamison will miss the rest of the team’s exhibition games with a right shoulder injury. … Top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark overpowered Britain’s Katie O’Brien, 6-0, 6-1, to advance to the quarterfinals of the Japan Women’s Open. … Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic had straight-set wins to advance to the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters. … Portland Timbers coach Gavin Wilkinson has been named USL First Division Coach of the Year. … AC Milan is hoping for compensation from the U.S. Soccer Federation because defender Oguchi Onyewu was injured in a World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica. He tore the patellar tendon in his left knee Wednesday. … Kohei Uchimura of Japan ran away with the men’s title at the world gymnastics championships in London, adding it to his silver medal from the Beijing Olympics. Britain’s Daniel Keatings was second, and Russia’s Yury Ryazanov was third. The United States’ Tim McNeill took seventh.

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