Plane Owned By Retired NASCAR Driver Greg Biffle Crashes In North Carolina

Praying hard for The Biff and everybody involved.

A plane registered to retired NASCAR Cup Series driver Greg Biffle crashed this morning at the Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina, leaving the NASCAR community holding their breath to find out who was onboard.

The private Cessna Citation II with tail number N257BW reportedly crashed while taking off from the airport. Biffle is an avid pilot who recently made headlines for flying rescue missions in his helicopter to help victims of Hurricane Helene.

Officials have confirmed multiple fatalities in the crash, though it has not been confirmed who was piloting or whether Biffle was onboard the plane.

According to flight tracking data, the plane took off today from the Statesville Regional Airport at around 10:06 AM eastern time before immediately turning around and attempting to land before crash landing near the runway. It’s reported that the pilot had reported having engine trouble while attempting to return to the airport.

The plane was headed to Bradenton, Florida, which as many have pointed out, is where driver and social media personality Cleetus McFarland was hosting his Christmas Tree Drags race at Bradenton Motorsports Park on December 20. Biffle and McFarland were close friends, and teamed up for the rescue efforts following Hurricane Helene.

Officials held a press conference just a few minutes ago but had few details, and didn’t reveal who was onboard the aircraft.

Of course the NASCAR community immediately began asking for prayers for Biffle and his family, while hoping for the best:

The Vancouver, Washington native got his start racing on short tracks around the Pacific Northwest, and began his NASCAR career driving full-time in the Truck Series in 1998. The following year, he won an incredible nine wins while finishing second in the final points standings. He would go on to win the Truck Series championship in 2000 before moving up to the then-Busch Series (now O’Reilly Auto Parts Series) in 2001.

He won his first and only Busch Series title in 2002 while also making a limited number of Cup Series starts for various teams, including Roush Racing and Petty Enterprises. And the following year, Biffle finally got his shot in the big leagues when it was announced that he would be joining Roush full time as the driver of their #16 car.

He remained with Roush for his entire Cup Series career, winning 19 races and finishing as high as second in the points standings during the 2005 season. Biffle retired from full-time racing after the 2016 season, but returned to the Cup Series in 2022 to make a handful of starts for the NY Racing Team, his first races in the Cup Series in six years. Over his nearly two-decade career, Biffle won 56 races across the sport’s top three series.

Biffle is an avid pilot, who worked tirelessly in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene to deliver supplies and Starlink internet to those who were stranded and cut off due to the storm and resulting floods. He was later recognized by NASCAR for his heroic efforts and served as the honorary starter for the 2024 Bank of America 400 at the Charlotte Roval.

Earlier this year, he returned to the skies over North Carolina in his helicopter, this time to spread some joy to children with some help from the Easter bunny by air-dropping over 1,000 Easter eggs.

Biffle has been married to his wife, Cristina Grossu, since 2023. The couple have one child, 5-year old Ryder Jack, while Biffle has another child, 14-year old Emma Elizabeth, from a previous marriage.

Obviously it’s a tragedy no matter who was onboard, but I’m really hoping Biffle and his family are alright. The man is a hero in his community and a NASCAR legend, and still has so much good left to do for the world.The post Plane Owned By Retired NASCAR Driver Greg Biffle Crashes In North Carolina first appeared on Whiskey Riff.