A promising start at the Daytona 500 went downhill with mechanical issues for the No. 44 Grambling car on Sunday. Greg Biffle drove the NY Racing car to a 36th place finish after temporarily leaving the race to replace a faulty fuel line.
Biffle rolled off the grid at the No. 28 position and drove the car into the top 20 early in the race. He reported over the radio early in the race that he felt like he was losing the engine. Biffle was the first car to leave the race and later returned after the repair.
The team was fortunate enough to avoid a last place finish after returning to the field. Biffle finished ahead of Denny Hamlin, William Byron, Harrison Burton and Ross Chastain who all were involved in an accident.
Biffle finished 136 of the 201 laps ran on Sunday at the Daytona 500 after an overtime finish.
Rookie Austin Cindric won the race after holding off a late Bubba Wallace charge. Wallace drives the No. 23 car, co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan. Wallace is currently one of the most successful African-American drivers in NASCAR history. He is the lone full time African American driver in the Cup Series.
John Cohen, a Grambling State alum and former Tiger football player, owns NY Racing. Cohen played for the late Eddie Robinson.