Greg Biffle narrowly misses NASCAR Hall of Fame. One inductee says he ‘deserves’ it
Greg Biffle narrowly missed being voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2027.
Should he be inducted in 2028, or another year?
At least one driver who was inducted this year thinks so.
“Look, Greg Biffle was also a Roush driver and teammate,” Jeff Burton told reporters Tuesday. “We had a lot of good times together. And we won a lot of races: O’Reilly and Truck championships.
“He definitely deserves to be in the Hall of Fame at some point. When that is, that’s not for me to decide.”
Burton said this about an hour after receiving the news that he’d been inducted into this year’s prodigious class. Burton was joined by Kevin Harvick and Larry Phillips in the honors on Tuesday, which took place in the NASCAR Hall of Fame museum in uptown Charlotte.
Burton and Biffle were close friends. Biffle was killed in a plane crash in Statesville in December — an explosion that the sport and Charlotte area still feel the lingering effects from — and Burton spoke at Biffle’s public memorial in January; Burton spilled untold stories and emotion of the guy everyone knew as “The Biff.”
While they were teammates, they were also contemporaries. Competitors. And when you put their resumes up against one another, they’re remarkably similar. Burton finished his 22-season Cup Series career with 21 Cup wins and 27 O’Reilly wins — he’s one of only 10 drivers to have at least 20 wins in each series.
Biffle won 19 races in 14 full-time Cup Series seasons and had similar success on multiple rungs of the NASCAR ladder — he was the first driver to win championships in both the now-called O’Reilly Series and the Truck Series.
Both had esteemed lives off the track, as well.
Burton was called “The Mayor” — not only for his institutional knowledge he shared in the broadcast booth but also for his diplomacy he employed as a member of a race team and as a liaison to the Drivers Council. Biffle’s legacy, similarly, is intertwined in his off-the-track accomplishments. In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, the Mooresville resident piloted his helicopter to deliver much-needed supplies to hard-to-reach places of Western North Carolina. He was honored in 2024 with the National Motorsports Press Association Myers Brothers Award.
As it turns out, the two were competitors Tuesday, too. A total of 50 entities submitted ballots as part of the NASCAR Hall of Fame voting panel Tuesday, according to a release. Those 50 voted on a “Modern Era Ballot” and a “Pioneer Ballot.”
Two modern-era selections were made; one pioneer was as well. Harvick and Burton and Biffle were each on the modern-era ballot. According to the results published by a NASCAR release, Harvick received 92% of the modern-era ballot votes, and Burton received 32%. Neil Bonnett finished third, followed by Randy Dorton and Greg Biffle. Biffle, according to the Hall, also earned a “NASCAR.com Fan Vote.”
In other words, Harvick was this year’s shoo-in. But the rest of the modern-era selection process was tightly contested.
Biffle should be expected to be a nominee again, given how he fared in the voting process this year. Burton might have a say, too, in Biffle’s fate. After all, former drivers and media members are allowed onto the voting panel; Burton hasn’t been on the voting panel in the years in which he’s been nominated, as per the Hall’s rules.
Burton said he doesn’t know of his obligations now that he’s in the Hall.
But he does know one thing, he said.
“It’s horrible that we lost Greg and everybody who was on that airplane,” Burton said. “What a devastating moment. And for those who are left behind, seeing him in the Hall would mean a lot.”
This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 4:00 AM with the headline "Greg Biffle narrowly misses NASCAR Hall of Fame. One inductee says he ‘deserves’ it."
