{"id":417888,"date":"2026-01-18T19:19:54","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T19:19:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/417888\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T19:19:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T19:19:54","slug":"police-say-nascar-great-greg-biffle-and-family-among-seven-dead-in-jet-crash-nascar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/417888\/","title":{"rendered":"Police say Nascar great Greg Biffle and family among seven dead in jet crash | Nascar"},"content":{"rendered":"

A business jet carrying seven people, including retired Nascar driver Greg Biffle and his family, crashed Thursday at an airport in North Carolina<\/a>, killing everyone aboard, authorities said.<\/p>\n

The Cessna C550 erupted into a large fire when it hit the ground. It had departed Statesville Regional Airport, about 45 miles (72km) north of Charlotte, but soon crashed while trying to return and land, North Carolina highway patrol said.<\/p>\n

Flight records show the plane was registered to a company run by Biffle.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the post-crash fire prevents us from releasing a definitive list of the occupants at this time, it is believed that Mr Gregory Biffle and members of his immediate family were occupants of the airplane,\u201d state police said.<\/p>\n

He was on the plane with his wife, Cristina, and children Ryder and Emma. Others on the plane were identified as Dennis Dutton, his son Jack, and Craig Wadsworth.<\/p>\n

Biffle, 55, won more than 50 races across Nascar\u2019s three circuits, including 19 at the Cup Series level. He also won the Trucks Series championship in 2000 and the Xfinity Series title in 2002.<\/p>\n

Greg Biffle celebrates in victory lane after winning the Nascar Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway in 2013. Photograph: Geoff Burke\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Nascar said it was devastated by the news.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreg was more than a champion driver; he was a beloved member of the Nascar community, a fierce competitor, and a friend to so many,\u201d Nascar said. \u201cHis passion for racing, his integrity, and his commitment to fans and fellow competitors alike made a lasting impact on the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

The plane, bound for Florida, took off from the Statesville airport shortly after 10am, according to tracking data posted by FlightAware.com.<\/p>\n

Golfers playing next to the airport were shocked as they witnessed the disaster, even dropping to the ground at the Lakewood Golf Club while the plane was overhead. The ninth hole was covered with debris.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were like, \u2018Oh my gosh! That\u2019s way too low,\u2019\u201d said Joshua Green of Mooresville. \u201cIt was scary.\u201d<\/p>\n

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration were investigating. AccuWeather says there was some drizzle and clouds at the time of the crash.<\/p>\n

The Cessna plane, built in 1981, is a popular mid-sized business jet with an excellent reputation, aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said. It has two engines and typically seats six to eight passengers.<\/p>\n

Greg Biffle takes a selfie with US president Donald Trump at this year\u2019s Daytona 500 as Nascar great Richard Petty looks on. Photograph: Chris Graythen\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

In 2024, Biffle was honored for his humanitarian efforts after Hurricane Helene struck the US, even using his personal helicopter to deliver aid to flooded, remote western North Carolina.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last time I spoke with Cristina, just a couple of weeks ago, she reached out to ask how she could help with relief efforts in Jamaica. That\u2019s who the Biffles were,\u201d US representative Richard Hudson, a Republican from North Carolina, said.<\/p>\n

Wadsworth was Biffle\u2019s friend and helped him with odd jobs, including delivering supplies to places hit by Hurricane Helene, roommate Benito Howell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t know how to say no,\u201d Howell said of Wadsworth, who had worked for several Nascar teams. \u201cHe loved everybody. He always tried to help everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

With 2025 almost over, there have been 1,331 US crashes this year investigated by the NTSB, from two-seat planes to commercial aircraft, compared to a total of 1,482 in 2024.<\/p>\n

Major air disasters around the world in 2025 include the plane-helicopter collision that killed 67 in Washington, the Air India crash that killed 260 in India, and a crash in Russia\u2019s Far East that claimed 48 lives. Fourteen people, including 11 on the ground, died in a UPS cargo plane crash in Kentucky.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A business jet carrying seven people, including retired Nascar driver Greg Biffle and his family, crashed Thursday at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-417888","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\/417888","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=417888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}