Legendary Tri City Raceway, NASCAR Champ Greg Biffle Dies in Plane Crash

The driver they called "The Biff" or just "Biff" has passed, the greatest wheelman to ever take to Tri City Raceway.

  Greg Biffle dies in plane crash

Biffle and his wife Christina, and son Ryder and daughter Emma along with 3 others were onboard a corporate commercial Cessna 650 aircraft that left Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina Thursday morning.  The field is widely used by NASCAR teams due to its proximity to Charlotte.

  The plane left, then witnesses said it appeared to turn around and return to try to land when it crashed, killing all onboard. A Carolina Highway Patrolman said it was the worst crash he'd ever seen. The plane got 11 miles away, then turned around  and appeared to be heading back, but crashed just off the end of the runway.

All 7 people on board were killed instantly.

Biffle, who grew up in Camas, WA, born in Vancouver, grew up racing on Northwest regional tracks, including Portland Speedway and Tri-City Raceway. After winning back-to-back Late Model Titles at TCR in 1995 and 1996, he caught the attention of announcer Benny Parsons when he won the prestigious Winter Heat event in Tuscon, AZ in 1995-96. Despite being held in the winter, the weather permitted hundreds of drivers to compete.

He was given a tryout with Jack Roush of Roush Racing, and the rest is history. He went from NASCAR Craftsman Truck Rookie of the Year to winning the title, also won a Busch Series (now Xfinity Series) Title, and won 19 Winston Cup NASCAR premiere races. And, a legendary fight with Kevin Harvik in the pits following a Busch Series Race!

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He narrowly missed winning the 2005 Cup title.  He was known as a hard charging skilled driver who also worked hard in the community, quietly, and encouraged many an up and coming driver.

At Tri City Racway, he quickly showed he was something well beyond just a great talent.  Several times he won in borrowed cars if his broke, and one legendary night the lights went out at the track. When they blinked back on seconds later, he had passed several cars and was in first place.

When his primer black 16 carshowed up, everyone would wonder who would run 2nd.  He recently returned to the track to compete in the ARCA Series race at the recently re-opened TCR at Red Mountain Event Center in August of this year, never forgetting his roots!

As the TCR co-announcer in the mid 90's, I can say The Biff will be greatly missed...!