A Tribute to "The Biff" - Remembering Greg Biffle
- Adam Tropper
- Jan 12
- 7 min read
ADAM TROPPER - STAFF WRITER
The 2025 NASCAR offseason may have been the worst of its modern era. The infamous antitrust trial between NASCAR and 23XI Racing stole the show, but even with that in the rearview mirror, the entire community was hit with another shockwave. On the morning of December 18th, Greg Biffle, along with his entire family, was killed in a private plane crash near Statesville Regional Airport in Raleigh, North Carolina. Biffle, who was 55 years old, will be remembered not only for his on-track success, but for his humanitarian efforts during Hurricane Helene in 2024. This article will highlight Biffle’s life, plus some of the key moments from his NASCAR tenure.
Early Days:
Born in Washington state, Biffle didn’t come from any of the hotbed areas where the NASCAR pipeline typically stems from. He actually didn’t even start racing until he was 14, when his father took him to Portland Raceway. He’d end up earning modest success over the course of the next decade, winning local races and championships. However, there wasn’t much of a path for a 20-something-year-old from the Pacific Northwest to be able to break into the sport.
Making his racing aspirations more than just a hobby took a massive turn in early 1996. Biffle traveled down to Tucson Raceway Park in Arizona to participate in a NASCAR Winston West Series race for its annual Winter Heat showcase. With help from Benny Parsons, he was put in contact with Jack Roush. By 1998, he was officially racing full-time for Roush in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Lower Series Success:
The 1998 season was an up-and-down one for Biffle, earning rookie of the year honors and finishing 8th in the points. It was his sophomore season that we first caught a glimpse of what Biffle was truly capable of. In 1999, Biffle recorded a whopping nine wins (a record that would stand until Corey Heim’s 12-win campaign in 2025). However, inconsistency still got the best of him, as he finished 2nd in championship standings, only 8 points behind Jack Sprague.
The old saying “third time's a charm" proved to be true, as Biffle finally emerged victorious. The 2000 season saw him score five wins, four runner-ups, and 18 top-tens, beating his teammate Kurt Busch to earn the title. With this, Biffle was promoted to the NASCAR Busch Series to compete in the second-tier division.
Immediately making a splash, Biffle finished 4th in the 2001 Busch Series points with five wins to his name. With names such as Kevin Harvick moving up to Cup in 2002, Biffle had his chance to strike. Just like his stint in trucks, Biffle took home the series championship in his 2nd try. At the time, Biffle became the only driver in history to win the championship in both NASCAR’s second and third tier divisions (Austin Dillon and Johnny Benson later accomplished this feat).
The only thing left for Biffle was to try to win a NASCAR Cup Series Championship, a pursuit that began with the 2003 season, when Roush Racing tapped him as the full-time driver of the #16 entry.
Cup Series Career:
2003 would mark the start of Biffle’s 14-season tenure with Roush at the top level. While he notched a win per year his first two seasons, it was during the 2005 campaign when “The Biff” had his breakout year. Biffle led an absolutely stacked Roush organization that saw all five drivers make the cutoff for the 10-driver “Chase for the Nextel Cup.” Recording six wins on the year, Biffle ultimately finished 2nd in the standings, falling to eventual champion Tony Stewart. Little did anyone know, however, that this would be the closest Biffle would get to reaching the pinnacle of stock car racing.
Following this 2005 campaign, Biffle remained someone who could be trusted to find victory lane once or twice a year, but never was able to get to the top. This was due to a variety of factors, such as his competition (going up against legends including Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, etc.), and a general decline in Roush performance over time.
Notable performances for Biffle included the 2008 season. Here, he earned his only other top-three points finish (3rd). Unfortunately for him, this was during the height of Jimmie Johnson’s iron grip on the field. Overall, the season did assist in cementing Biffle as a perennial contender for the championship.
Another showcase of “The Biff’s” talent was his 2012 season, in which he finished 5th in the standings. In that year’s Daytona 500, he helped his teammate Matt Kenseth get to victory lane, but ended up with his second 3rd place finish in the Great American Race in a three year span.
By 2013, though, the aforementioned Roush decline had truly come to the surface. What was once the most dominant team in the series, the organization turned into a shell of its former self. Matt Kenseth made the move to Joe Gibbs Racing, while rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. took his place and struggled. Plus, the team was down to just three full-time entries on their roster. On top of this, age was becoming a factor, with Biffle heading into his mid 40s at this time. Even though he got a win at Michigan, it would end up being his final in the Cup Series.
The next three years saw a major dip in performance, as he fell farther and farther into the mid-pack. Biffle only recorded 7 top fives and 18 top tens during this stretch, and ended his final full-time campaign (2016), 24th in points.
By the time 2017 came around, “The Biff” finally saw himself without a ride, and just like that, it was assumed he would retire from full-time racing. Although Biffle never officially announced his retirement, he was never again able to compete full-time on the Cup Series Circuit.
Post Full-Time Racing:
After a couple of years away from the sport, Biffle returned for a one-off start in the Truck Series, racing for Kyle Busch Motorsports at Texas in 2019. In his first truck start since 2004, the now 50-year-old Biffle showed that he didn’t miss a beat, winning the race by holding off three-time series champ Matt Crafton.
"The Biff" made an additional truck start for GMS Racing in 2020, before returning to the Cup Series briefly in 2022. NY Racing inked a deal with Biffle for him to run some races in their unchartered #44 entry. Biffle was seen as a veteran who could help the team figure out the Next Gen car, which was introduced to the Cup Series that season. Mechanical failures hindered most of these runs, experiencing three DNFs in five starts. His one standout performance with the team happened at the newly reconfigured Atlanta, in which he finished in 20th on the lead lap.
Outside of NASCAR, Biffle had a brief stint racing stadium super trucks from 2018 to 2019, and again made an appearance in 2021. Also in 2021, Biffle participated in the inaugural Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) event. Here, he finished 2nd at Stafford Speedway behind track legend Doug Coby. Following this race, Biffle continued to be a part of SRX, running one more race in 2021, and racing in all six events in 2022, before making one last attempt in the 2023 season.
Recent Endavors:
More recently, Biffle has made headlines outside the driver’s seat. Biffle became a close friend and mentor to Garrett Michtell (aka Cleetus McFarland). He worked with Cleetus throughout the 2025 season and helped McFarland as he made four starts in the ARCA Menards Series. Biffle was even in talks to try to run an ARCA race alongside Cleetus in 2026.
While reading this, you’ve probably noticed that this entire article has talked strictly about Greg Biffle’s racing career. In actuality, his greatest accomplishment occurred away from the track. In fact, it involved a helicopter instead of a racecar:
In September 2024, North Carolina was devastated by Hurricane Helene. In what became the deadliest hurricane since Hurricane Katerina in 2004, over 250 people were killed, and countless houses were completely destroyed. Biffle, who prior to this became an aviation enthusiast, took his private helicopter out during the storm to deliver necessary goods to people across the state who were trapped in their homes. In the aftermath of the storm, Biffle also assisted in Hurricane relief efforts throughout the state. Gaining widespread notice for his efforts, Biffle remained incredibly humble, just wanting to help his community.
Legacy:
On the track, Greg Biffle represented what is becoming a rarity in the sport, an “old school” racer who worked his way to the top from humble beginnings. Along with earning the respect of his competitors, he amassed 19 Cup Series victories, 20 in the Busch Series, and 17 Truck Series triumphs. With these wins along with his lower series championships (1999 Truck Series and 2002 Busch Series) on his resume, Biffle was named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers of all time. This honor, awarded in 2023 by NASCAR, was created to acknowledge the best of the best throughout NASCAR’s 75-year history. He was also named to the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2022.
The world was a better place with Biffle in it, and people knew it. Just in the past few weeks, virtually everyone in the motorsports community has shared their condolences, with many sharing personal experiences they had with Biffle. His former team, now known as RFK Racing, has already put together an exhibit in their race shop to honor him. Additionally, on January 16th, there will be a public memorial service for fans and other members of the community to mourn the loss of not only Greg but also the rest of the Biffle family, plus all the other passengers involved in the accident.
The NASCAR community lost a legend. The world lost an incredible human being.
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