54-year-old Greg Biffle has given NASCAR fans plenty of reasons to remember him. He won the 2002 Busch Series championship, the Southern 500 twice, the 2000 Truck Series championship, and the list goes on. But eight years after he retired from full-time Cup Series racing, he has popped up and added more strength to his legacy through his heroics in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
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Western North Carolina was one of the regions heavily impacted by the hurricane. It left many stranded without homes and necessities. With many left stuck in the mountains without any sort of connection to the outside world, the government wasn’t completely efficient in its efforts to reach them. This is when Biffle decided to lend a hand.
He hopped aboard his helicopter and began rescuing people and supplying material to them. He also inspired teams like Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports to get their choppers in the air. The former driver created a sort of revolutionary movement through these acts and received nationwide acclaim in the past few days. And he was rewarded for it this weekend in Charlotte.
Greg Biffle gets a standing ovation for his efforts in helping Hurricane Helene victims at the drivers, including vice presidential candidate JD Vance (bottom right).#NASCAR pic.twitter.com/avrhLbFvyw
— Trenton Worsham (@soundlink_trent) October 13, 2024
He was given a standing ovation during the Drivers Meeting at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Multiple drivers and vice-presidential candidate JD Vance were part of the group that recognized and acknowledged his work. While many from the NASCAR community were actively involved in helping the affected regions get back on their feet, Biffle was in a league of his own.
Is a Presidential Medal of Freedom awaiting Biffle?
The presence of Vance during the meeting and his respect for Biffle’s work brings forward a contention first set by the ESPN analyst Marty Smith. He’d earlier posted on X that the racing icon should receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom for his ceaseless heroic efforts. Could it happen?
Only time will tell. But Biffle is not one to take credit for everything that he did. He said on YouTube recently, “I don’t want to take credit for this whole thing. Certainly, I’m getting a lot of credit. There are so many people that have stories just like mine.”
The “so many people” that he mentions include the former crew chief of Dale Earnhardt Sr., Andy Petree. The 66-year-old had bought and distributed fuel cans for stranded people from his helicopter. The collective efforts of such people are what has helped hundreds of people cope with the devastation that nature caused.
