Greg Biffle

Greg Biffle is an American stock car racing driver who debuted in NASCAR in 1996 and recorded more than 840 race starts until his retirement in 2016, winning two titles – in the 2000 Truck Series and 2002 Busch Series. He won both titles driving for the Roush Racing.

In total, Biffle scored 55 victories in all three national series, taking 19 Sprint Cup wins, 20 Busch/Nationwide Series wins and 16 Truck Series wins.

Greg Biffle - two-time NASCAR champion and winner of 55 races

From short tracks to the sight of racing legends

Gregory Jack Biffle was born on December 23, 1969, in Vancouver, State of Washinton. He started a racing career on short tracks around the Pacific Northwest. He gained much of an attention when he won the Winter Heat Series in the winter of 1995–1996. Benny Parsons, the former ESPN announcer and NASCAR champion, recommended Biffle to Jack Roush.

NASCAR debut in 1996

Biffle debuted in the NASCAR Winston West Series with John Kieper's Chevrolet in first two races f the season and then he had a NASCAR Busch Series debut in the last two races of the season, at Rockingham and Homestead-Miami, driving Dick Bown's Chevrolet. In 1997, Biffle participated in one race of the Slim Jim All-Pro Series.

Jack Roush and Greg Biffle united since 1998

Greg's real NASCAR career started in 1998 when Jack Roush hired him to race for him in the Craftsman Truck Series. It was the beginning of the longstanding partnership, which lasts almost 20 years, because in 2016 Biffle is still Roush' driver.

Biffle was the Rookie of the Year in the 1998 Truck Series season, scoring four pole positions and twelve Top 10 finishes, including two runner-up spots at New Hampshire and Phoenix. In the overall standings, Biffle was 8th.

2000 Craftsman Truck Series champion

Nine Truck Series wins in 1999, title in 2000

In 1999 Truck Series, Greg had fantastic results with the #50 Ford, scoring nine victories, breaking the record in the number of wins in a single Truck Series season. But, it wasn't enough for the championship title, as he finished second, just eight points behind Jack Sprague. In 2000, five Truck Series victories were enough for Biffle to won the title, beating his teammate Kurt Busch by 230 points.

In 2001, Biffle was upgraded as a full-time driver of the Roush Racing's #60 Ford in the Busch Series, but he also participated in four Truck Series races with the #99 Ford, winning two more times, to increase the number of his wins to 16.

2001 Rookie of the Year, 2002 Busch Series champ

In the 2001 Busch Series season, Biffle won five races, finished fourth in the points and took the Rookie of the Year award. His first Busch Series win was at the Nashville Superspeedway. Later he won at Nazareth, Milwaukee, Charlotte and Phoenix.

In 2002 Busch Series season, the similar situation repeated as in the Truck Series few years before, as he had fewer victories but it was enough for the title. Greg won four times, in Dover, Gateway, Milwaukee and Indianapolis Raceway Park, to take the title with a big advantage over Jason Keller.

2002 Busch Series champion

NASCAR Cup Series debut in 2002

During the season 2002, Biffle debuted in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series. He failed to qualify the #16 Roush Racing Ford for Daytona 500, so his Winston Cup debut was in the NAPA Auto Parts 500 at California, where he finished 13th. Later in the season, he drove four races with Andy Petree's Chevrolet and two races with Petty Enterprises' Dodge.

Since 2003 in the Roush #16 Ford

The next move forward followed in 2003, when Biffle became the full-time driver of the #16 Roush Racing's Ford in the Winston Cup. Since then, driving the #16 car was his main job, with a part-time schedule in the Busch Series and one last race in the Truck Series in 2004.

Maiden Cup win at Daytona

During 2003, Biffle participated in 13 Busch Series races with the #7 car of Evans Motorsports, scoring two wins at Charlotte and Atlanta. In his debut Winston Cup season, Biffle scored maiden Cup victory in the Pepsi 400 race at Daytona International Speedway, in which he started from 30th place on the grid. He finished 20th in the overall points and second, behind Jamie McMurray, in the Rookie of the Year competition.

In 2004, Biffle had a double program, running full seasons both in the Nextel Cup and Busch Series. The #60 Ford was victorious in five Busch Series races and he finished third in the points, behind Martin Truex Jr and Kyle Busch. In 2004 Winston Cup season, he won two times, at Michigan and Homestead, to finish 17th in the final standings.

Jack Roush and Greg Biffle

2005 was the best Cup season in a career

In 2005, Biffle was again on the part-time schedule in the Busch Series and full-time in the Nextel Cup. It was his career-best Cup season, as he finished second in the points with six wins (at California Speedway, Texas, Darlington, Dover,  Michigan and Homestead), the most of any driver that year. He qualified for the Chase for the first time and finished the season as a runner-up, 35 points behind champion Tony Stewart.

In the next two Nextel Cup season, Biffle missed the Chase for the Cup. In 2006, he won twice (at Darlington Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway) to finish 13th in the points. In 2007, he won only one race, at Kansas Speedway, to finish 14th in the points.

The name was new, the team was the same

The team was renamed to Roush Fenway Racing in 2007 and Biffle signed a contract extension for 2008 season. In the regular season, he had no wins but qualified for the Chase. He then won two races, at New Hampshire and Dover, to finish third in the points. It was and it remained his second-best Cup season in a career.

In 2009 season of the renamed Sprint Cup Series, Biffle again qualified for the Chase, but he had no wins neither in the regular season neither in the Chase. He scored ten Top 10 results and finished seventh in the points.

Greg Biffle - in NASCAR since 1996

Busch/Nationwide stats - 20 wins in total

From 2005 to 2009, Biffle raced part-time for Roush Fenway Racing in the Busch/Nationwide Series. He won one race in 2005, one race in 2006 and two races in 2009, to increase a total number of wins to 20. His last Nationwide season was 2010, with the Baker Curb's #27 Ford. He participated in ten races and after that, he focused only on the Cup Series races.

Ups and downs for Greg

In the 2010 Sprint Cup season, Biffle qualified for the Chase third year in a row. He won at Pocono and Kansas to finish sixth in the final standings. In 2011, Biffle missed the Chase for the first time since 2007, after he didn't score any win in a regular season, finishing best in the fourth place at Texas. During the Chase, he was third in New Hampshire and finished 16th in the points at the end of the season.

The up-and-down rhythm continued in 2012. In 2011, Biffle was down, so in 2012 it was a time to go up. After three third-place finished at the start of the season he was the point leader. He again reached the Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway. The second victory of the season came in Michigan in August. He qualified for the Chase and finished fifth in the points.

Celebrating the Sprint Cup victory in Michigan in 2012

Last Sprint Cup Series win in Michigan

In June 2013, Greg won in the Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway and it remained the only victory of the season, but also his last NASCAR victory up to date. It was the anniversary 1,000th NASCAR victory for Ford. At the end of the season 2013, Biffle was ninth in the points.

Greg's new record: 88 races without DNFs

The season 2014 was another year with zero wins. On the other side, Biffle at least broke one record, becoming the driver with most consecutive races without failing to finish. He broke the record with 88 races without DNFs. The wreck in the Coke Zero at Daytona ended that streak. At the end of the season 2014, he was 14th in the points.

Retirement after two bad seasons

The season 2015, his thirteenth in the #16 Ford, was Biffle's worst season since he entered the NASCAR premier series, as he finished 20th in the points. He had only three Top 5 results – second place in Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte, fourth in New Hampshire and fifth at Pocono. The season 2016 was even worse and he finished 23rd in the points. After that, he decided to retire from racing.

Greg Biffle and #16 Ford - from 2003 to 2016 in the Cup Series

DNF in a sole attempt at Daytona 24h

Outside the NASCAR, Biffle had only the participation in the 2003 Race of Champions, finishing seventh after four races, and one sole participation in the 24 hours of Daytona.

It was in 2005 when he partnered Scott Maxwell and NASCAR colleagues Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch in the #49 Multimatic Motorsports' Ford prototype. After 588 laps, they didn't reach the finish and was classified as 27th.

Photos: gregbiffle.com, motorsport.com, gettyimages.com,