NASCAR’s Mark Martin Calls Greg Biffle’s Fatal Plane Crash ‘Disturbing’: ‘Can’t Help But Feel Angry’

Why NASCARs Mark Martin Calls Greg Biffles Fatal Plane Crash Disturbing

Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images for NASCAR

Russell Steinberg
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3 min read

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The shocking death of Greg Biffle and his family in a North Carolina plane crash on Thursday, December 18 still has the racing world asking more questions than they have answers.

For former NASCAR driver Mark Martin, a veteran pilot himself, frustrations are reaching a boiling point.

“As a Citation pilot for 20 years and a product of around 75 days of [Flight Safety International] training and over 3000 hours of flight time in the aircraft I have deep knowledge of these aircraft and performance,” Martin, 66, wrote via X on Monday, December 22. “The more I learn about Biffle’s crash the more disturbing it is to me.”

He followed that up moments later with another post, this one showing two photos of him and Biffle, 55, together.

NASCAR Driver Greg Biffle and Family’s Fatal Plane Crash: Everything We Know So Far

“Every day I get sicker and sicker about this tragedy,” he wrote alongside the images.

Biffle, his wife, Cristina, his 14-year-old daughter, Emma, and his 5-year-old son, Ryder, were among the seven people killed when a Cessna Citation 550 owned by the driver crashed upon returning to Statesville Regional Airport just minutes after departure. Pilot Dennis Dutton, his son, Jack, and NASCAR motorhome driver Craig Wadsworth were the other victims. It is not yet known why the plane turned around or who was at the controls at the time.

“I can’t help feeling angry,” Martin wrote in another post. “Aviation is a very safe way to travel BUT has been savage to our racing community and families throughout history.”

As Martin indicated, NASCAR has been ravaged by aviation disasters and near misses over the years. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his family were involved in a “bounced landing” in 2019 when their aircraft, which also departed from Statesville Regional Airport, skidded off the runway in Tennessee. The family escaped before the plane burst into flames.

National Transportation Safety Board Releases New Photos From Greg Biffle’s Fatal Plane Crash

In 2004, 10 people died on a Hendrick Motorsports-owned airplane that crashed into a mountainside in Virginia. In 1985, Richie Panch, son of Daytona 500 winner Marvin Panch, died when his plane came apart mid-air amid turbulence in South Carolina.

Jack Roush, co-owner of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, is perhaps the most famous example, having somehow survived multiple plane crashes over the years. The most recent instance came in 2010 when he crashed his jet while trying to land in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He was taken to the hospital in serious condition but was able to return to the track three weeks later.

The Statesville Regional Airport reopened on Sunday, December 21, with National Transportation Safety Board board member Michael Graham updating the public on the investigation the day before.

Greg Biffle Was ‘Excited to Get Back Flying,’ Shared Glimpse Inside Plane Months Before Fatal Crash

“Our representative with the National Transportation Safety Board disaster assistance division is continuing to work with the family members and loved ones of those who lost their lives in this accident,” he said in a press conference. “And I want to thank the family members who have been assisting our team during this terrible time.”

Graham added, “We do not know the circumstances that led the aircraft … to return to the airport but that is the focus of our investigation. Early indications from multiple sources indicate that the airplane was stable on approach, configured for landing with the landing lights on, but the aircraft was coming in low.”