Greg Biffle raced for 16 years in NASCAR, winning 19 races and earning $75 million in purses. Named one of NASCAR’s top 75 drivers in 2023, he has been in the top 10 for a decade. But his most significant impact came long after he stopped driving full time.
Biffle, died Thursday with six others in a plane crashbecame a sudden and unexpected savior in the wake of the devastating Hurricane Helene in 2024. Fly your helicopter in and out of hurricane-ravaged areas North CarolinaBiffle transported emergency supplies and got rescued survivors out of the storm zone.
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He started by rescuing a family of tourists stranded in Banner Elk, North Carolina. And once he took flight – once he got a glimpse of the carnage left by the hurricane – Biffle found a sudden calling. He flew several missions a day for nearly two weeks, supported in part by thousands of social media messages pleading with him to help find his loved ones.
“There’s no memory of a road, of an embankment. No ledge, no bridge, nothing for miles in these canyons, and we see people walking with backpacks trying to get help,” Biffle later recalled.
Departing from the same Statesville airport where his plane crashed Thursday morning, Biffle led dozens of rescue missions in the mountains around Asheville, North Carolina, where destroyed roads left many small towns isolated, cut off from the outside world and accessible only by air. He dropped off food, diapers, and Starlink satellite connections, and he rescued those who needed extraction.
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“It feels good to be able to provide supplies and things that they need to these people who need help the most, who are still cut off from the world,” Biffle said. told NASCAR.com in October 2024. “The mission now is that even though the roads are starting to open up, the grocery stores aren’t. Some grocery stores are destroyed, the gas stations still don’t have fuel, power isn’t restored everywhere, so these people still need supplies and food, and they can’t just get in their car and drive away because eventually they’ll run out of gas somewhere and get stranded. So the mission continues.”
NASCAR is a close-knit family, largely centered in North Carolina, and Biffle’s example has inspired the rest of the family to undertake other charitable efforts. Cup champions Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski offered support, equipment and logistical help. Charlotte Motor Speedway held charity drives to collect needed items.
“I had immense respect for Greg as a driver,” NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon said Thursday“and we shared countless difficult battles on the trail. Like so many others, I was inspired by his tireless relief work during Hurricane Helene.”
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Biffle worked from morning to night, until the sun told him he could do no more.
“The hardest part was when I went home at night and landed in the dark because we couldn’t fly anymore, my mind wouldn’t turn off,” Biffle said in September. “I’m sitting there at my counter looking through my phone, completely overwhelmed by the question of what I’m going to do next.”
After flying dozens of Helene missions, Biffle eventually moved into a ground support role, but occasionally went up the mountains – dropping 4,000 Easter eggs this spring, for example.
During his racing career, Biffle scored victories at legendary NASCAR tracks like Daytona, Pocono and Darlington. But his greatest victories came in the isolated hills and narrow canyons of western North Carolina.
