399 - Real-Time Reaction to Kyle Busch News; Greg Biffle Reflects On Career

On this week’s episode of the Dale Jr. Download, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and co-host Mike Davis catch up with one of his longtime competitors from the NASCAR Cup scene, Washington’s Greg Biffle. After a successful career in NASCAR that spanned nearly two decades, Biffle quietly exited the sport following the 2016 season. Biffle originally hails from Vancouver, Washington, where he spent his formative years working in an automotive machine shop that was owned by his father’s friend. As he became a teenager, Greg discovered his love for driving and going fast and it wasn’t long before he found trouble behind the wheel. In an effort to focus his need for speed into something productive, his father Jack suggested they attend the local Friday night street stock races at Portland Speedway. After their first outing, Greg was hooked and immediately purchased a 1974 Ford Torino to convert into a racecar.  Upon building his second street stock, Biffle began to have success at the track and along with it began getting noticed for his fabrication skills. This attention grew into a chassis fabrication business, and Greg went on to build over 50 race cars over the next few years. He also used his earnings to go late model racing and found victory lane many times at both Portland and Tri-City Raceway.  The story of how Greg got into NASCAR came when he decided to take the show on the road: heading south to Tucson, Arizona to participate in the NASCAR Winter Heat Series. It was there that he met and befriended NASCAR Hall of Famer Benny Parsons, who was impressed with the unknown racer’s performance. As the story goes, weeks later Parsons was conversing with Jack Roush in the garage area at Michigan International Speedway about Roush’s NASCAR Truck team. Parsons recommended Biffle to Roush, and soon after he received a call from Geoff Smith, who was president of Roush Racing at the time. After a lengthy chat, a contract was faxed over to Greg and the next two decades of his racing career were in motion. Greg and Dale speak on the decline of Roush Racing and the factors that led to the team getting behind the competition. Greg explains that the team failed to progress with the direction of the sport and that it took them a long time to catch up once they were behind. The lack of winning equipment ultimately played a role in Greg leaving Cup racing in 2016, which he explains was a year earlier than his contract stated.  The interview also touches on some of Greg’s rivalries over the years and the stories behind them. Greg details his dust-up with Jay Sauter at Richmond and the monetary fine and points penalty that fell on him because of it. As a result, when he and Kevin Harvick made contact at Bristol a year later in 2002, he knew he wanted to avoid a fight at all costs. They also discuss his famous feud with Boris Said at Watkins Glen in 2011, and how a perfectly thrown water bottle exploded into a huge blow-out.  Since leaving racing in 2016, Greg has made use of his time by owning and operating a rock quarry as well as a humane shelter. He spends a lot of time outdoors fishing and boating. He has also made time for some racing, including his successful return to the Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2019 and running in the 24 Hours of Lemons. While he still loves auto racing, he has learned to enjoy his weekends off and these days Greg Biffle is making the most of life.     DIRTY AIR Before Greg joins the show, Dale, Mike, Alex and Hannah discuss: North Wilkesboro to host the 2023 NASCAR All-Star Race.  Dale blowing the lid off of NASCAR’s silly season The future of Kyle Busch, KBM, and Tyler Reddick Bubba’s big win in Kansas   ASKJR presented by Xfinity This week the fans asked questions about: Other track revivals Bristol walk-out songs What makes Bristol so exciting Live reactions to the Kyle Busch announcement To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices