Mark Martin is still having a hard time accepting the fact that NASCAR legend Greg Biffle is no more. However, what seems to be bothering him the most is the nature of the crash. Biffle and his family died in a plane crash on Dec. 18, 2025.
Being a pilot himself, Martin said crashes like these don’t happen due to one mistake; it’s a series of factors that add up. So what went wrong inside the cockpit of Biffle’s Cessna C550 Citation business jet?
It seems like Martin has his own theory. However, he didn’t provide any opinion of his own, as the exact facts haven’t come to light yet. In a recent YouTube video, Martin said:
“It just hits even harder because I lost my dad and my stepsister, who was 11 years old, in the same kind of aviation accident. So it really, really hits hard. I’m a pilot…I flew Citations 90 percent of my entire flying career. So I’m very familiar with the aircraft and procedures and whatnot.”
“It’s not something I want to go into details until the total facts come out, but it’s heartbreaking. “You can train for every emergency you can think of and they’re all situations that are survivable until you stack. Aviation accidents are not one misstep or one break of regulation or one problem. It’s an accumulation that stacks up,” he added.
Greg Biffle was a two-time NASCAR national series champion and one of NASCAR’s 75 greatest drivers of all time. He was the first driver to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship and the NASCAR Busch Series championship (now NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series).
Biffle and Martin were contemporaries back in the day. In fact, they were Roush Racing teammates for several years. Martin announced his retirement in 2013, while Biffle retired from full-time racing after the 2016 season.
Mark Martin Recalls His Father’s Tragic Death in a Plane Crash Following Greg Biffle’s Demise
For Mark Martin, Greg Biffle’s death was disturbing, as it’s also how Martin lost his father, Julian, in a plane crash on Aug. 8, 1998. Julian was driving the twin-engine Piper that went down that day.
Martin was reminded of the day when he heard of Biffle’s crash at Statesville Regional Airport. Shortly after, he took to X (formerly known as Twitter) and wrote:
“Oh my god. This news reminds me the tragedy that happened in 1998. Devastating.”
Besides Biffle, the crash took the lives of his wife, Christina, and two kids, Emma and Ryder. A memorial service will be held on Jan. 16 at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte.
Anyone can join the service, but the exact timings are yet to be announced. A separate memorial service just for Biffle’s daughter Emma will be held on Sunday, Jan. 4, at the Cain Center in Cornelius.
College Sports Network has you covered with the latest news, analysis, insights, and trending stories in college football, men’s college basketball, women’s college basketball, and college baseball!
