Biffle, who won the 2004 season finale in November, ran strong throughout the 250-lap race on California's two-mile oval, taking the lead for good on Lap 228 and building a big enough advantage to hold off a last-ditch efforts by runner-up Jimmie Johnson in the second race of the season.
"I lost all the rear grip there with three (laps) to go," Biffle said, grinning. "I just barely touched, skinned it, two or three times there at the end and I was just able to keep it under me."
Dawsonville's Bill Elliott, running a limited schedule again this year and racing for the first time this season, placed last in 43rd place after wrecking on the 23rd lap.
Roush Racing had a great day, with reigning Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch finishing third, Carl Edwards fifth and Mark Martin seventh.
Matt Kenseth also ran in the top 10 most of the day, but fell off the lead lap with a flat tire and wound up 26th.
The key came on Lap 218 when Busch, running second, and Biffle, in fifth, stayed on track while most of the other leaders pitted during the last of seven caution periods.
Busch, who faked toward the pits before, driving back onto the track, took the lead, with Biffle just behind, but Biffle was able to drive into the top spot seven laps after the green flag waved for the final time.
Johnson was one of several drivers who pitted for four new tires on the last stop and he charged back from 10th, passing Busch on the final turn of the race and his Chevrolet finished just 0.230 seconds -- about six car-lengths -- behind the winning Ford Taurus.
"We should have been able to win that race," Johnson said. "I got tangled up with some slower cars and it knocked me up in the marbles and I lost too much ground."
Jamie McMurray finished fourth, followed by Edwards and Kevin Harvick.
This was the first race in which the Cup cars ran with shortened rear spoilers and softer tires, an effort by NASCAR to make the racing more competitive and allow more passing by taking away downforce and putting more responsibility in the hands of the drivers.
It also was the first time that the teams have had to start the race with NASCAR holding the cars from the end of qualifying on Saturday until Sunday morning and allowing only minor adjustments.
"It was real hard to find the balance of the car out there at times," said Busch, off to a strong start after finishing second to Jeff Gordon a week ago in the season-opening Daytona 500. "I wished they'd have tried it more in the Busch Series before they brought it to Cup."
Kurt Busch took the points lead with his second straight top-five finish. Credit: Autostock
Busch moved into the series lead by five points over Johnson, with Martin 39 behind the leader.
Johnson said he didn't find the new rules to be a big problem.
"The cars definitely had some movement in traffic, but it didn't bother me much all day long," added Johnson, last year's series runner-up and the favorite to win this year's title.
Joe Nemechek appeared to have the strongest car for much of the race, leading a race-high 63 laps before his engine blew.
Nemechek was one of five drivers using Hendrick Motorsports engines, including Gordon, who had problems during the race.
Gordon, the defending champion in this race and a three-time winner in California, was still in contention when he lost a cylinder late in the race. He wound up 30th.
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