NASCAR legend Greg Biffle, six others killed in North Carolina plane crash

This story will be updated as more information is made publicly available.

A Cessna C550 business jet owned by former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle crashed while landing at Statesville Regional Airport, roughly 45 miles north of Charlotte, North Carolina, on Thursday morning.

According to local news station WBTV, there were multiple fatalities after the plane exploded in a massive fireball at roughly 10:20 a.m. ET.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, there were seven individuals on the plane, which had taken off for Sarasota, Florida but had begun experiencing problems and turned around before the crash, which remains under investigation.

In the hours that followed the crash, reports surfaced that Greg, his wife Cristina, his 14-year-old daughter Emma, and his 5-year-old son Ryder were all on the plane when the crash occurred.

Cleetus McFarland, whom Biffle and his family were on their way to visit, posted shortly afterward that those four were among the passengers.

WRAL News later reported that those four were indeed on the plane.

Also killed in the crash were Dennis Dutton, his son Jack, and Craig Wadsworth. The deaths have since been confirmed by the families of the deceased in a joint statement.

Greg Biffle's legacy extends far beyond NASCAR

Biffle, a 19-time winner at NASCAR's top level, finished as high as second place in the championship standings in 2005. He won the Busch Series championship in 2002 before beginning his 14-year career as a full-time Cup driver in 2003. He returned to the series after a six-year hiatus and ran a partial schedule with NY Racing Team in 2022.

In 2019, he also notably returned to the Truck Series for the first time in 15 years, and in his one and only start that year, he scored his first victory since 2001, the year after he won the championship, at Texas Motor Speedway in a Kyle Busch Motorsports truck. He was also named one of NASCAR's 75 Greatest Drivers in 2023 as the sport celebrated its 75th anniversary.

But away from the race track, Biffle's presence was an even greater force for good.

He was a humanitarian who played a massive role in Hurricane Helene relief efforts that will not soon be forgotten by anybody he touched, or anybody in the NASCAR community who witnessed what he did in aiding the many lives affected by the natural disaster in 2024.

More recently, he also aided relief efforts in Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa earlier this year, continuing to make the world a better place far beyond anything that was ever asked of him.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of all of those killed in today's tragic accident.