2012 season in the rear view: Greg Biffle

Vitals: 5th in the points standings. 2 wins, 12 top 5s, 21 top 10s. 0 DNFs.

Moment to remember: After winning at Michigan in August, Biffle issued this statement:

Biffle was battling with Jimmie Johnson in the waning laps when Johnson lost an engine. On the ensuing restart for the oil that Johnson's car dropped on the track, Biffle pulled away from Brad Keselowski for his second win of the season.

The win also vaulted Biffle to the Sprint Cup Series points lead for the second time of the season and he'd hold that lead until the points were reset before Chicago.

Moment to forget: Biffle's proclamation at Michigan wasn't supported by finishing outside the top 10 in the first three Chase races. But the final blow to his championship hopes came at Kansas, when Biffle hit the turn four wall. He finished 27th, his lowest finish of the season, and left the track 11th in the points standings.

The wrap: Heck, it's almost like Biffle and Carl Edwards swapped places at Roush from last year to this year. After only three top fives and 10 top 10s all of last season, Biffle was a mainstay at the front of the field this season. And the fact that Kansas was the lowest finish of the season for Biffle was a testament to how well the team ran on a weekly basis. Biffle finished outside the top 20 an astonishing four times in 2012 and on two of those occasions, he finished 21st.

If we're looking for a stick-and-ball sports comparison, Biffle's closest comp could be the 2001 Seattle Mariners; a team with a fantastic regular season that gets lost in the lights of a playoff loss.