AllRacing

Greg Biffle, 1969-2025

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Veteran stock car racer Greg Biffle died Thursday in a crash of his private jet at Statesville Regional Airport along with his wife Cristina, his two children Emma and Ryder, and fellow passengers Craig Wadsworth and Dennis and Jack Dutton. Biffle was 55.

A native of Vancouver, Wash., Biffle began his racing career driving on short tracks around the Pacific Northwest. He first competed in NASCAR in 1995 and was the first of only three drivers to date who have won a championship in both the Busch/Xfinity/O’Reilly Auto Parts Series (2002) and the Craftsman Truck Series (2000), as well as being one of 36 drivers to win a race in each of NASCAR’s three national series. 

Biffle had 19 wins in 515 career starts over 16 years in the Cup Series, with his last win coming in 2013 at Michigan. His best Cup season was 2005 when he won six races (Fontana, Texas, Darlington, Dover, Michigan and the season finale at Homestead) and finished second in the Chase playoffs behind champion Tony Stewart. In 2017, Biffle stepped back from Cup competition to join NBC Sports’ “NASCAR America” show as an analyst, although he returned to make a handful of Cup starts with NY Racing in 2022.

Biffles biggest season in the Cup Series came in 2005, when he scored a series-high six wins and finished second in the championship standings. Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Semi-retired in recent years, Biffle competed most recently part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, having last raced in NASCAR’s Truck Series start for Kyle Busch Motorsports  in 2019 and ’20. Showing his versatility beyond stock cars, Biffle also raced in IROC, Stadium Super Truck  and the Superstar Race Experience (SRX) series.

A longtime aviation enthusiast, Biffle purchased a helicopter to fly to races, and was credited with helping save lives as a volunteer pilot in rescue flights after Western North Carolina was ravaged by Hurricane Helene last year. 

“I’ll tell you, the feeling you get when you win a race, you can only ask drivers, right?” Biffle said at the time. “Because the feeling you get when you win that race, that’s the feeling you get when you’re able to help people in need.”

North Carolina Governor Josh Stein gave tribute to Biffle’s rescue efforts in a social media post.

“Greg Biffle lived a life of courage and compassion and stepped up for western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene,” Stein said in a post on X. “My heart goes out to all those who lost a loved one in this tragic crash.”