STATESVILLE, N.C. — A small airplane registered to a company managed by former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle crashed at an airport in North Carolina on Thursday. There has been no confirmation of who was on board.
The Federal Aviation Administration and Statesville Regional Airport confirmed that an aircraft crashed while landing shortly after 10 a.m. ET at the airport about 45 miles north of Charlotte. The Cessna C550 was registered to GB Aviation, with Biffle listed as the company’s manager.
There was rain in the area of the airport Thursday morning, and a witness on the scene described seeing smoke and fire after the incident.
“There was a big plume of black smoke, and I saw some fire trucks coming up (the street),” said Scott Sain, an electrical worker who was on a job at the airport. “… I didn’t hear anything, but I went across and the whole end of the runway was on fire.”
The 55-year-old Biffle, named one of NASCAR’s 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023, won 19 Cup Series races in a career that spanned two decades and claimed championships in both the Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series. He’s one of the few Pacific Northwest drivers to head south and make an impact in the stock car world. He drove full-time in the Cup Series from 2003-2016.
He grew up in Vancouver, Wash. — just over the river from Portland, Ore. — and found success on local short tracks. The late Benny Parsons noticed Biffle in the mid-1990s and recommended him to NASCAR team owner Jack Roush; Biffle then produced his big break by winning a total of 56 times across NASCAR’s three top series.
Biffle’s last victory was a remarkable one. In 2019, he had a chance for a one-off race for Kyle Busch Motorsports at Texas Motor Speedway. Despite being three years removed from his Cup career, Biffle came out of what was essentially retirement and won the race.
Biffle was nominated for the NASCAR Hall of Fame and is expected to eventually be inducted.
In 2024, he was known for providing aid to the North Carolina mountains after Hurricane Helene with countless helicopter flights, an effort that earned him the prestigious NMPA Myers Brothers Award, which recognizes an individual who made outstanding contributions to stock car racing.
This story will be updated.