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Former NASCAR driver Greg BiffleThe 55-year-old was one of seven people killed in a plane crash in North Carolina on Thursday.
Biffle, his wife and two children, and three others were aboard one Cessna C550 owned by Biffle when it crashed at Statesville Regional Airport.
According to Spotrac, Biffle earned more than $58 million in career earnings. Spotrac’s data ranges from 2002 through 2015, as NASCAR has not announced wins since 2016, Biffle’s final year as a full-time racer. That season he finished 23rd in the standings. The year before, when he finished 20th, he earned over $4.9 million, so you could assume he may have crossed the $60 million mark.
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Greg Biffle poses with the green flag on the flagpole prior to the NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America ROVAL 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on October 13, 2024 in Concord, North Carolina. (Meg Oliphant/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Biffle’s most profitable seasons came in 2005, 2012 and 2014, the only campaigns in which he amassed $5 million. In 2005, when he captured a career-best six of his 19 checkered flags, he earned $5,574,083. Seven years later he took home $5,561,538, and in 2014 he added another $5,257,708.
Figures from his races in the Craftsman Truck Series, where he became champion in 2000, are not public. Nor are there any numbers from the Xfinity Series, which he won in 2002. Biffle has 20 wins in the Xfinity Series and 17 checkered flags in the Craftsman Truck Series.
Biffle had retired from racing in 2016, but returned six years later for five races, including his final Daytona 500. His best race finish was third in 2010 and 2012. However, Daytona was his most profitable track, grossing $6,279,606 in 29 races. It was almost $2 million more than his next best number (Texas Motor Speedway).
NASCAR Cup Series driver Greg Biffle during practice for the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. (Mike Dinovo/USA TODAY Sports / IMAGN)
GREG BIFFLE’S WIFE SENT CARING TEXT MESSAGE MOMENTS BEFORE PLANE CRASH
Biffle’s first checkered flag in a professional race came at the 2001 Tennessee Lottery 250 in Nashville. He won four more races that year before winning four more in his championship season. He achieved 26 other top-five finishes during that period.
Although he never won the Daytona 500, he scored his first Cup Series victory at the famed 2003 Pepsi 400 track. His best season in the Cup Series came in 2005, when he won a career-high six races en route to finishing second in the points standings to Tony Stewart.
After his racing days, Biffle put his flying skills to good use. Last year, he helped the victims of Hurricane Helene by providing goods and internet services to those who needed them. Biffle provided Starlink services to residents of Western North Carolina and even found a family stranded while flying thanks to their use of a mirror against the sun.
The unimaginable tragedy killed seven people, including the former NASCAR star, his wife, their son Ryder, his daughter Emma, ​​Dennis Dutton, Dennis’ son Jack and Craig Wadsworth.
Greg Biffle, driver of the #44 Grambling State University Chevrolet, waves to fans on the podium during driver intros prior to the 64th annual Daytona 500 NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona International Speedway on February 20, 2022 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
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The Cessna C550 erupted into a large fire when it hit the ground at the Statesville Regional Airport, authorities said. The plane initially took off and returned to the airport in an attempt to land. The cause of the crash was not immediately known, nor was the reason why the plane attempted to return to the airport.
