{"id":378689,"date":"2025-12-31T04:49:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T04:49:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/378689\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T04:49:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T04:49:21","slug":"nascar-planning-charlotte-remembrance-event-for-greg-biffle-family-others-killed-in-plane-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/378689\/","title":{"rendered":"NASCAR planning Charlotte remembrance event for Greg Biffle, family, others killed in plane crash"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – NASCAR was planning a January remembrance event in Charlotte for former driver Greg Biffle and his family and others who were killed in a plane crash<\/a> this month, officials confirmed Tuesday.<\/p>\n

A remembrance event was expected to happen at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte on Jan. 16, 2026, for the Biffle family and three others killed in a plane crash at Statesville Regional Airport earlier this month<\/a>. <\/p>\n

NASCAR said on Tuesday, Dec. 30 that the event will be open to the public, and more details were expected to be announced soon. <\/p>\n

\"SympathySympathy flowers lay at Greg Biffle’s honorary plaque in downtown Mooresville, signifying his induction into the NC Auto Racing Hall of Fame.(WBTV)<\/p>\n

—> More: Greg Biffle plane crash: Federal investigators share new details about crash, wreckage, investigation<\/a><\/p>\n

On Dec. 18, seven people died when a Cessna C550 crashed shortly after takeoff<\/a> at the Statesville airport in North Carolina\u2019s Iredell County. <\/p>\n

The fire from the crash prevented investigators from definitively identifying all of the victims right away, but it was believed that Greg Biffle, his wife Cristina Grossu, his 5-year-old son Ryder, and his 14-year-old daughter Emma were among those killed in the crash.<\/p>\n

Biffle shared his 14-year-old daughter with his ex-wife Nicole Lunders.<\/p>\n

\"GregGreg Biffle greets fans before the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Texas Motor Speedway Saturday, April 14, 2012, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo\/Ralph Lauer)(Ralph Lauer | AP)<\/p>\n

NASCAR later identified the other passengers killed<\/a> as Craig Wadsworth, Dennis Dutton and his son Jack Dutton. The medical examiner\u2019s office was expected to officially identify all of those killed in the crash.<\/p>\n

Private funeral services were also being planned for the victims of the plane crash.<\/p>\n

Officials said that there were five passengers and two crew members<\/a> aboard the plane, but it was not immediately clear who was flying the plane at the time of the crash.<\/p>\n

The cause of the crash was still under investigation, as of this writing. A preliminary report was expected within the next few weeks.<\/p>\n

\"AA plane crashed at Statesville Regional Airport on Dec. 18.(Provided photo)<\/p>\n

—> Related: \u2018Raced hard but fair\u2019: NASCAR Hall of Fame recognizes Greg Biffle\u2019s legacy<\/a><\/p>\n

The group was reportedly on their way to visit famous YouTuber Garrett Mitchell<\/a>, known online as \u201cCleetus McFarland,\u201d when the crash happened. Flight records showed that the plane, which belonged to Greg Biffle, was headed to an airport in Sarasota, Florida.<\/p>\n

Witnesses reportedly said that the aircraft came in \u201cvery low\u201d on the morning of the crash. Video of part of the crash<\/a> shows the plane apparently slide on the ground for a distance while covered in flames.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are devastated by the loss of our loved ones,\u201d read a joint statement published on behalf of the Biffle, Grossu, Dutton and Lunders families. \u201cThis tragedy has left all of our families heartbroken beyond words.\u201d<\/p>\n

—> Read more: NASCAR, lawmakers offer condolences after Greg Biffle, his family killed in North Carolina plane crash<\/a><\/p>\n

The news of the remembrance event comes days after Dennis Hamlin, father of NASCAR star Denny Hamlin, died after a massive house fire<\/a> in Gaston County.<\/p>\n

Both Dennis Hamlin and his wife Mary Lou Hamlin were found outside of the house while it was engulfed in flames on Sunday, Dec. 28. Dennis Hamlin died at the hospital<\/a>, and Mary Lou Hamlin was being treated for serious injuries at a burn center in Winston-Salem.<\/p>\n

The fire happened just as the couple was celebrating their 52nd wedding anniversary<\/a>.<\/p>\n

—> Related: NASCAR community has tough December with 2 former drivers, father of another driver killed<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 WBTV. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – NASCAR was planning a January remembrance event in Charlotte for former driver Greg Biffle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-378689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}