LONGVIEW, Texas (KLTV) – Former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle died Thursday, five days before his 56th birthday, in a plane crash that also claimed the lives of his wife, son, and daughter. <\/p>\n
The family was traveling from North Carolina to Florida when the plane went down during an emergency landing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t announce initially who it was, but I knew it had to be one of the drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bob Leavine, who lives in Tyler, was a NASCAR team owner for nearly a decade, from 2011 to 2020.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis demeanor was not the typical race car driver,\u201d Leavin said of Biffle\u2019s character.<\/p>\n
Leavine said NASCAR teams travel together for 36 weekends each year, often flying in and out of Statesville Regional Airport\u2014the location of the Biffle plane crash.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all flew out of there and flew on those planes,\u201d Leavine said. \u201cIt could\u2019ve been me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leavine remembered how Biffle\u2019s personality stood out within the organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe drivers are the stars of the whole deal, but he didn\u2019t act like that,\u201d Leavin said. \u201cHe was a celebrity. Those guys make millions, but he didn\u2019t take it that way. He was down-to-earth, quiet, respectful\u2014and it\u2019s a real loss to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
With only 16 teams in NASCAR, Leavine said losing a member of the close-knit community hits hard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I saw it and then saw it was him and his family, it was like a family member,\u201d Leavine said. \u201cHe was part of the group, part of the family\u2014the NASCAR family. And it was very gut-wrenching.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leavine said Biffle was a humanitarian who treated everyone as equals.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people leave an impact by not doing something, if that makes sense,\u201d Leavine said. \u201cI never saw him upset. I never saw him insult anybody or ignore anybody. Plus, he\u2019s a dang good driver\u2014one of the best that ever came around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leavine said Biffle had much more to offer NASCAR through coaching and experience, adding that he could have done anything he set his mind to.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess he was one of those people that the good Lord thought had done what he needed to do, and He took him home.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.<\/p>\n
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