Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / "The Biff!" Greg Biffle Shares Awesome NASCAR Stories!

Transcript

"The Biff!" Greg Biffle Shares Awesome NASCAR Stories! · Kenny Wallace Media

0:00
Hello everyone, and welcome back to Kenny.
0:03
Conversation brought to you by Jags over there, the leader in
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high performance aftermarket car parts.
0:12
Remember to go to jags.com for everything you need to fix your
0:17
vehicle up. And they are telling me that
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they have a lot of Jeep parts and truck parts now.
0:23
All right, man, am I excited. There he is.
0:26
You're looking at him. I call him the great Greg Biffle
0:30
because Greg's got a hell of a story and boy, he did it the
0:33
right way. How are you doing, my friend?
0:37
I'm going good, Kenny. So glad to finally make it on
0:40
the show. And I'll tell you, I've been
0:42
working on stuff in my shop and I've been buying parts off of
0:45
Jags and I love it. Well, thank you.
0:49
Listen, we're going to loosen up and Kenny's conversation is just
0:53
that. Let me start like this with you,
0:56
Biff. First of all, I want everybody
0:59
to know up front that I mean, you're a champion, you're a
1:02
winner, you've done it all and and we're going to get there.
1:06
We're going to talk about how great you are because that's
1:08
what we do on Kenny Conversation is, well, you know, you, you
1:12
really are though, Beth, you really are great and you've done
1:15
it all. And I mean that and I'm going to
1:17
tell everybody your stats in a little bit, but let's have fun
1:22
for a little bit at the start. The the TV show NASCAR race Day
1:28
built by the Home Depot, so successful.
1:32
And every week we would choose who's going to win the race.
1:38
And John Roberts would say, I'm going to stick with the Biff.
1:45
I mean, how much fun have you had with that that nickname, The
1:50
Biff? I mean, I've, I've, I've had a
1:52
lot of fun with it and John Robertson and that show, that
1:57
show is awesome. And I wish we could do that show
2:00
every week right now. Look, it, it was so much fun
2:05
over the years that, that he'd pick me every single week.
2:10
And you know, back in the day when we were winning races, that
2:13
was, those were pretty good odds.
2:15
But I've, I've had a lot of fun with it.
2:18
We've done a lot of stuff and it's got a lot of traction and
2:22
sold a lot of T-shirts and all that stuff along the way, but
2:27
it's it's been fun. I'm going to go somewhere that
2:31
you're probably going to go. What?
2:33
So I did a little research on you.
2:37
Now you straighten me out because none of us are perfect
2:41
in life. So listen to this Biffle.
2:45
Biffle, OK German and English descent ancestor Johannes Bufel
2:54
BUFFEL came from Kontwig in western Germany and settled in
3:01
North Carolina. Is that right?
3:04
You know, I've heard that before as well.
3:07
And I don't know, you know, I did that 23andMe or whatever the
3:11
hell it is and, and to see your ancestors in the tree and all
3:16
that and it was very, very interesting.
3:20
But I don't, you know, past my grandparents and, and their
3:25
grandparents, I really, I've heard the same thing.
3:28
And I believe that probably somewhat to be true, I guess.
3:33
But it's it's interesting when you start looking at all all of
3:37
your history and where, where all your ancestors came from.
3:42
Well, besides you being really good at what you do, the last
3:47
name really helped. I, I think with, you know, Back
3:51
to the Future, the Biff. And there you are, man.
3:55
Your timing was perfect. And so thanks.
3:58
I just wanted to talk about your name, how awesome it is.
4:01
And yeah, we the the crowd, we'd have 5000 people out there on
4:06
NASCAR race day and they would be chanting, stick with the
4:11
Biff. I, I just want to acknowledge
4:14
those days. All right?
4:17
We're not going to go through your whole history, but I just,
4:20
I really, and I know you've told this story a lot, but this is a
4:26
new audience, Biff, this whole, this YouTube show, Kenny
4:29
conversation. So if you will, just for a
4:32
moment, act like it's all new. You're in Vancouver, WA, you're
4:37
living out West. You're winning everything there
4:40
is. You're you're, you know, you
4:42
look like a hermit. You got this beard, you're
4:44
working. You're, you're like the
4:46
Wallace's. You're a grease ball and you're
4:49
just kicking their butts. You're winning everything.
4:52
And lo and behold, the question we get asked all the time, how
4:56
do I make it into NASCAR? So I'm just going to give a
5:00
little teaser and you run with the rest.
5:02
So any Parson. So you take it from there.
5:08
Yeah, Kenny, I'll tell you what it it it's we all get that
5:11
question of young racers, go Kart racers, local Friday,
5:16
Saturday night guys, how do you make it?
5:18
How do you get there? And my dad introduced me to, you
5:24
know, hobby stocks, St. Stocks.
5:25
My dad was a Southern California guy.
5:27
Never Oval track race race, but my dad messed with, you know,
5:31
drag racing and all that ran around with Mickey Thompson and
5:35
then some of those guys Southern California history.
5:38
But basically I I started a small shop building race cars,
5:45
doing roll cages, building, you know, limited Sportsman St.
5:49
stock, then late model fiberglass body cars, then tour
5:52
cars. And I won the championship on in
5:56
1995 at my local track and a track about 5 hours away.
6:01
What was the name of those tracks?
6:02
Portland Speedway and tri-cities Raceway and tri-cities Raceway
6:07
just recently reopened and they're going to have, I think
6:11
they're having an ARCA race there later this season.
6:14
So I've been toying with the idea of, of potentially racing
6:18
it or going back at least and check it out.
6:22
The track 'cause it's a great track.
6:23
If you went there, Kenny, it is a carbon copy, almost carbon
6:29
copy of Concorde Speedway. Dog leg backstretch, you know,
6:36
kind of a wide three and four corner.
6:39
Really neat. I've never been to Concorde
6:41
Speedway, but the one time I went there reminded me so much
6:45
of tri-cities. But anyway, we I was building
6:49
cars and and how to race shop and we're working.
6:53
You know what it is? 20 hours a day sleeping for
6:55
four. And you're doing all this
6:57
yourself. You're hands on, and we all know
6:59
how hands on you are. Yep, there's three of us full
7:03
time in our shop, myself, Rodger and a guy named Zippy from from
7:08
out West Jason. So it was the three of us and
7:11
we'd race Friday night, come home at midnight, unload the car
7:16
and we would we have to switch the intake manifold.
7:19
The LED, the left side weight drive 5 hours, 4 1/2 hours, race
7:23
Saturday night. We had to be there by 5, close
7:27
the race track to get across. So we had to leave by noon,
7:32
otherwise we would miss the first practice.
7:34
Oh. My.
7:35
So we had to repair anything. So we switched.
7:38
We we, we raced there Saturday night, won the championship of
7:40
both tracks and the first year we didn't have the money to go
7:44
race what was called the Tucson Winter Heat Series.
7:48
And so it got a lot of attention.
7:50
ESPN Two was covering. That I watched and.
7:55
It was. It was.
7:56
Bob Jenkins and Benny Parsons were the TV commentators, and
8:02
the year before, Ron Hornaday got hired by Dale Earnhardt from
8:08
that series, from that televised series, because.
8:12
Winter heat. Winter heat.
8:14
How else do you find talent and and guys are sitting at home,
8:17
you know, scrolling through channels and here it is right.
8:20
So Rodger and I are like, we got to get there.
8:24
We have to get there. So in 95 we make the you know,
8:27
we round up enough money and we go to we go to Tucson and we
8:33
qualified 4th and one. It was a three race series.
8:36
They didn't Winston W cars and and late model cars.
8:40
So we qualified 4th and won. Ironically we qualified 4th from
8:45
the second race and won and then we qualified 11th and like
8:50
finished the 3rd or 4th and won the three race series.
8:54
Well, we came back the next year and won, won again and won some
9:00
races and and I became friends with Benny Parsons.
9:03
You know how he'd come down in the pits and he would walk
9:08
through the pits car to car and talk to every driver.
9:11
You remember that about him And and I just, it's amazing, you
9:17
know, how personable he was and how much he cared about the
9:20
racer and gathering that information.
9:22
So when he was in the booth calling the race, he knew
9:26
something about every driver. And so we became pretty fast
9:30
friends. And I said to him, Benny, how do
9:32
I get an opportunity to race the trucks?
9:35
The trucks were just brand new, right?
9:37
Had just the series had just started.
9:40
And he said, well, Biff, he, he's or Biffle is funny.
9:44
He says, well, Biffle, I'll, I'll pass your name around, put
9:47
his arm around me. And he said, I'll, I'll pass
9:49
your name around the garage and, and see what, what we can stir
9:53
up. And so I guess the story goes
9:56
that that Benny Parsons and and Jack were passing each other in
9:59
the garage in Michigan, and Jack had mentioned to Benny that he
10:04
wasn't able to get Tommy Kendall to drive his third truck team
10:10
Tommy Kendall. He wanted Tommy Kendall to move
10:12
back east and not live in California anymore.
10:16
And Tommy Kendall didn't want to move from Southern California.
10:20
And they got in a spat over it. And Jack said, forget it, I'm
10:24
going to hire someone else. And Benny said to Jack, hey,
10:28
don't forget about that kid I told you about in Washington.
10:32
He'll do you a great job and whatever else.
10:36
And from that I'm working in my race shop.
10:39
We're getting ready to go to lunch.
10:40
Phone rings, I answer it. It's Jeff Smith, he said.
10:45
I want to Jack Roush wants to know if you want to race the The
10:49
Truck Series for him next year. I know somebody's pulling my
10:56
leg. Yeah, falling out of your chair
10:58
at this point. I'm like, no way, this is not
11:01
real, right? No resume, no no test.
11:06
They were calling to hire me. But the great thing about this
11:10
story and and what makes Kenny conversation so much fun is I
11:15
never heard the part about Kendall.
11:18
So he I mean, that's what makes this awesome.
11:21
I learned so much just now. I just.
11:23
I just thought it was Benny Parson tells Jack and that's it.
11:27
Yeah. But that, that is incredible.
11:31
If Tommy Kendall wouldn't have, you know, turn down the ride
11:36
basically or, or whatever had happened, I would have never got
11:40
my chance. So it's all the stars aligning
11:44
and and I've heard the interview of Benny Parsons before that
11:49
they said, well, what do you think about, you know, you
11:52
recommending Greg and them hire him with no task or whatever?
11:54
Anyway, the, the story goes, he said the last person he
11:58
recommended this to a team was Ernie Irvin.
12:04
That's what he said. He said Ernie Irvin.
12:06
Then it was, you know, Greg Biffle.
12:08
So I, I, it was very, I was very lucky special.
12:13
Another funny story about that is I, I, my parents owned a
12:18
steel yard backed up to my building.
12:22
So my parents own these building complex where I had my race
12:25
shop. Of course, I couldn't afford to
12:28
pay rent, right? So I wouldn't, I wouldn't add a
12:30
business if it weren't for my parents.
12:33
Well, I use their fax machine back in the day before e-mail
12:37
and all that. You know, they they're like any
12:39
business. I did.
12:40
Do you? What's your fax number?
12:41
Why'd give them that? I'd walk up there and get it
12:44
off, off the fax. So they faxed me a contract.
12:49
I go up to my parents office and my dad's in there and my mom and
12:54
it's like 20 pages thick, right? And I'm flipping through it and
12:59
I'm like on page three and I said to my parents, I said, does
13:03
it really matter what this contract?
13:05
Says I'm I'm. Signing it?
13:09
Where's the last? Page.
13:11
And my parents were probably so excited because they figured out
13:14
that they don't have to pay for the parts anymore and and
13:17
somebody I was going to get to drive somebody else's race car,
13:21
you know, because they helped me a tremendous amount, obviously.
13:23
So anyway, it's kind of a funny story.
13:26
So that's how it went. No test, no resume, hired me
13:30
over the phone. That was it.
13:34
I got to add on this. This is funny.
13:37
So Roush, Jack Roush had the unique ability to hire great
13:43
talent like you, like, you know, Carl Edwards and yes, so Roush
13:50
was on top of his game, I believe.
13:53
Do you think Roush was the best at finding talent back then?
13:59
You know, I do. And I think here's, I don't want
14:03
to take credit for this, Kenny, but I think I, I think I was
14:09
sort of a phenomenon because I came different than everyone
14:14
else, right? Benny Parson recommended me.
14:18
I lived in Washington state all the way across the world.
14:21
And Jack came to me and he said, you know, after we had moderate
14:26
success, he said, are there any other guys out there like you?
14:33
They're like, because they're like, how do we find these guys
14:37
'cause they're, they're the traditional channels, They're
14:40
not there, you know, for, for local racers trying to get a
14:43
chance. And I recognize that there's
14:46
hundreds of great racers across this country will never get an
14:49
opportunity because they're not the right place at the right
14:52
time. So that's when they did The Gong
14:55
Show. Remember that?
14:57
Yeah, The Jack Roush Gong Show. So they had all these guys, and
15:03
Kurt Busch was one of them. And we were at Toledo, OH
15:07
testing. I set the car up.
15:10
They the kid, the guys would drive it.
15:12
We're down to the four finalists.
15:14
I'd drive the car, they'd drive the car.
15:16
We're standing on top of the transporter, me, Randy Goss and
15:19
someone else. We, the guys ran their 25 lap
15:23
runs. We went down in the comp in the
15:25
in the lounge and they basically said who, who's your pick?
15:31
And it was down to like two guys.
15:33
And I said Kurt Busch is your guy.
15:36
And they said you think so I said that guy has got car
15:40
control like I haven't seen in a long time.
15:44
That's the guy I would pick and and they picked Kurt and then
15:49
they hired his brother. Then they hired Karl, right?
15:53
It was sort of that and and Kasey Kahne was hired by Abraham
15:59
out of Washington state. I don't know the full story
16:02
about how Casey got his opportunity, but.
16:05
It makes. Sense I think it you know, I
16:09
think that it opened up the tradition more non traditional
16:14
channel for drivers. Yeah, yeah.
16:17
Hey, real quick, I'm listening to you intently.
16:20
Kenny Schrader. He's related, I mean, very close
16:26
to Carl Edwards. And it amazes me that Carl
16:29
Edwards and Schrader don't, you know, do more together because
16:32
he really is, you know, cousin Carl.
16:35
So Kenny Schrader says that Carl seeks out his advice.
16:40
So Carl goes Schrader. I got this, this crazy contract
16:46
from Jack Roush. And, you know, he's explaining
16:50
to Schrader everything. And Schrader says this is the
16:54
punchline. It's funny, Schrader says.
16:56
OK, Carl, take all your contracts and lay them all out.
17:02
There was just, there was just one, one contract trader says
17:06
sign it. Yeah, right.
17:08
So that reminds me of you, you know, just when you think you're
17:11
something special, take all your contracts, lay them out.
17:14
You know there's only one sign it.
17:16
That's right. Let's let's go.
17:19
OK, we've established you so far.
17:23
It's time for me to brag on you. And, and when I do this Biff it,
17:29
it, it takes on its own course when I've done this with Tony
17:33
Stewart or Harvick or you name it.
17:36
So I'm going to brag on you for a little bit and then I want you
17:40
to respond. Let's go to your stats.
17:45
Kelly Earnhardt like this. I, I said there's a generation
17:49
gap and we have to remind everybody how great these
17:52
drivers are. So here we go.
17:54
Greg Biffle, he's 54 years old right now.
17:57
That's you all right 843 NASCAR starts wow that's a lot of
18:04
racing 1998 Truck Series rookie of the year 2001 Xfinity rookie
18:11
of the year. I like saying things like this
18:14
biff 19 cup wins, 20 Xfinity wins, 17 truck wins.
18:21
I just want to say a side note right there.
18:24
Incredibly, unbelievably consistent. 19 cup wins, 20
18:29
Xfinity wins, 17 Truck wins, 2000 NASCAR Craftsman Truck
18:36
champion, 2002 Xfinity champion. Now this next one gives me
18:42
goosebumps. 2005, 2006 Southern 500 champion at Darlington.
18:49
The track that's too tough to 10.
18:51
They say when you win at Darlington, that means you're a
18:54
great race car driver. And then and then you know,
18:58
there's more BIF, but we're going to end like this 2022 W
19:02
Coast stock car Hall of Fame. Congratulations, that's new.
19:08
And one of NASCAR's 75 greatest drivers.
19:13
Now I'm I'm I'm automatic. I say the same thing after that
19:18
when I say all that to you, where's your head go?
19:21
What are you thinking about? Man, it I got I've I've got
19:26
goosebumps. Yes.
19:28
I I've got goosebumps and, and you, you have Kenny, you have to
19:33
pinch yourself every time because it's, it's, it's just
19:40
seems like it's not real. Does it seem like, you know,
19:44
I've listened to, I've said this before, I've listened to the
19:49
great tennis player from Germany, Bjorn Borg.
19:53
And a lot of athletes when they look back, they have this weird
19:57
feeling that that's not me, that was me.
20:00
Do you have that feeling that you can't believe that was you?
20:03
Yes, I do. I do.
20:06
And it's incredible to to hear, you know, it's incredible to
20:13
hear every, every time, right? Every, every single time.
20:17
And when, when I hear people talk about the championships,
20:25
2000 Truck champion, 2002 Xfinity champion 2005 was, was
20:38
my year for the cup title. It we finished second, had the
20:45
most wins in this series and had a loose wheel at Texas and, and
20:52
finished 20th that day. We're running third and cost us
20:56
the title 2 races later, obviously.
21:00
But it, I get goosebumps when you talk about the whole thing.
21:06
But I also instantly when you, as you graduate up and you got
21:10
to that, you know, the end of that story.
21:14
I, my brain, I can't help it, but my brain goes to that memory
21:22
of, of the 2005 season all the time because it's, it's, it's
21:28
one of those things that is literally, it's always with you.
21:34
You know, there's one race that's, that's always with
21:38
someone or, or one memory. And I forget about all those
21:43
things, actually forget about it until you mention it.
21:48
You talk about the rookie of the Year and you talk about the
21:51
championship and the championship.
21:53
And then and then it's like the light comes on in my head.
21:57
It's like, Oh yeah, I forgot, didn't really forget.
22:00
But what about 2005? So I find.
22:04
Blessed to to have all the wins and all the things accolades.
22:10
I find all of us athletes are identical.
22:13
You can tell people how great they are and they truly are.
22:17
Yeah, You know, like, well, I'm just, you know, comparing.
22:21
I always tease everybody. Look, I'm an old racer having
22:24
fun. I'm working on my dirt car right
22:26
now. I washed my hands, put on a
22:29
shirt. Come do this show.
22:30
Same with you. But, you know, in 1991, you
22:35
know, I go down into Turn 3 at Loudon and broke a trailing arm,
22:40
knocked myself out and it was my championship to win and I lose
22:46
it to Bobby Labonte. So my question is this, why do
22:49
all great athletes, why don't we acknowledge our greatness?
22:53
Why do we always go to that one bad time?
22:57
What is that about human psychology?
23:00
I think Kenny, it's it's an every great athlete, every great
23:08
athlete will have that same instinct.
23:11
And the reason why is it's the competitiveness inside you.
23:18
It's the will to want to win and it's the will to succeed and be
23:23
the best you can. And you know that that defined
23:29
that was a defining moment in your career as well as the
23:33
successes, right? It it is that championship you
23:38
lost because of trailing arm broke because it you know you
23:42
had a severe crash. You remember that as a defining
23:47
moment in. Devastating.
23:49
Devastating. It's a devastating moment in
23:51
your career. It was a devastating moment in
23:55
my career. When I look back on it in 2005,
23:59
it wasn't. It was.
24:00
It was a disappointment then. But looking at it now, since
24:05
I've never got another opera since I didn't win a Cup title,
24:10
now you look back and say it's different now than it was in
24:16
2005 or 2006 or seven, because you still have that opportunity.
24:21
But now that you're not driving anymore, Kenny, it it was
24:25
devastating to you because you lost that moment.
24:29
That was your your opportunity and it wasn't you lost the
24:33
chance. You were winning the title, you
24:35
were going to win the title. And that happened.
24:39
It's not, oh, I got close. It's there was a, there was a
24:44
moment in time that when that broke that that defined that
24:50
defined it. And when I had to drive down Pit
24:53
Rd. and that tire was loose, that was the actual moment that
24:59
that I lost the championship in O5, not knowing it then, but two
25:03
races later, obviously. So it I think as an athlete, you
25:09
go to all your successes, but you also think about all the
25:13
memories, whether they're good or bad.
25:16
And you brought up a bunch of great memories.
25:18
And it's one that I think of when I hear my stats.
25:23
I don't know why I wish I didn't but but I do.
25:27
Well, listen, all right, let let's let's breathe a little
25:30
bit. This is common.
25:32
Every, every single Kenny conversation goes just like
25:36
this. You know, I won 7 championships,
25:40
but this happened in my life that scarred me.
25:46
You know, we look at Jimmie Johnson, you know, he's been
25:51
roughed up. You know, I'm sure he'd give,
25:53
I'm sure he'd give all those championships back right now.
25:57
But OK, let's have a little fun. All right, Something that I
26:03
really like about your career that is very unique.
26:06
You're in a very, very small group and I'm going to brag on
26:09
you more. You have done something that is
26:13
so rare and, and I changed the heading of it a little bit.
26:19
You did what is called a stair step progression.
26:23
You wanted everything. So in other words, Johnny Benson
26:27
kind of did this a little bit too, but you won in late model
26:30
stocks, you won in the Truck Series, you won in the Xfinity
26:35
Series, and you won in the Cub Series.
26:40
I guess that is so rare. Was that planned or did it just
26:45
happen? I'll tell you it, I think it it
26:49
just happened. I think it, I wouldn't say it
26:53
was planned, but when you succeed at a level then you get
26:59
the chance to go to the next level.
27:01
Good. Point.
27:02
So I won, you know, I when I signed my contract, it was a
27:07
truck in Xfinity I think or no, I, I take that back, it was a
27:12
three-year cut truck contract. Yeah.
27:15
When in year two we they extended that contract to
27:22
include you know redo the third year of the contract and add 2
27:28
years of Xfinity and then in the middle or the first year of my
27:32
Xfinity contract, they amended the contract again to include
27:36
cup because we were successful and winning races.
27:42
We obviously won the championship, the third try in
27:45
the trucks. So as you succeed, the
27:50
opportunities came with sponsorship and and moving up
27:53
the chain. So I think that it just happened
27:58
that way that I succeeded at those levels.
28:01
And again, young people ask you, how do I get my opportunity to
28:06
to get into this series or move up or get into NASCAR?
28:10
And I say the same thing to a lot of them.
28:12
I said you have to win you, you have to win races, you have to
28:17
win championships in order to get that opportunity.
28:20
How does a football player or a quarterback get his chance?
28:24
He has to be great or win, you know, win games to get that
28:30
opportunity. So that's where I think that's
28:34
how I did it. I just got opportunities along
28:37
the way. Now, of course, remember Kurt
28:39
Busch, there was an opportunity. A Cup team, I believe it was
28:44
Chad Little in the John Deere car potentially, but Kurt went
28:49
from trucks and leapfrogged me to Cup.
28:54
Skip the Xfinity Series. But that wasn't any more than
28:58
just opportunity. I wouldn't change that.
29:01
Timing and opportunity. I just signed a multi year
29:04
contract with Extended with Grainger.
29:07
We had a great team, a great group of guys and we're going
29:10
Xfinity racing and to be honest with you, I'm I'm so happy that
29:16
that my career went that way. Yeah, I was a little sore that
29:19
that Kurt got the opportunity before me, but I knew I was
29:24
going to get the opportunity as well.
29:26
It was just going to be two years later, so.
29:30
I, I want to say this, I want to, I want to compliment you on
29:35
something. There are teams that know they
29:39
have a good driver. So when I think of of the BIFF,
29:43
I think of a driver that you could drive a car neutral you
29:47
you get wiggly loose every once in a while coming off a turn to
29:51
it Michigan where you're cheating deaf.
29:53
And I believe Jack Roush and that team could see that.
29:58
So my point is this. If a team is struggling, they
30:04
say to themselves, we got the right driver.
30:08
We got a bad car. And I, I just wanted to say that
30:13
I always thought anytime I raced around you, you were driving the
30:17
crap out of those cars And, and you have the talent.
30:21
And I, I'm thinking about that Gong show right now.
30:23
You said where, you know, you had all these drivers.
30:28
My question is this, it changes a little bit right now.
30:31
My, my brain is thinking when all these drivers showed up for
30:34
that Gong show and, and you, you had to say, look, this guy's
30:40
special, Kurt Busch is special. Could you see or did you know in
30:45
any of the other drivers faces? You know, because all drivers
30:47
think they're great until they realize there's somebody better
30:50
than me. Just comment on that.
30:54
Yeah, that's a, that's a, that's a difficult situation to to look
31:01
at all those drivers and they, they wouldn't have been in that
31:06
position if again, they haven't accomplished a lot of things.
31:10
They'd won a lot of races and all of them had their own
31:14
accolades that won championships and a lot of them carried
31:19
themselves fairly well. And some of them were a little
31:25
cocky. And I think you have to be if
31:28
you feel like you have the ability, right.
31:30
I, I, I, some people see cockiness as, as a bad thing and
31:36
I don't because I know what it takes to succeed and be
31:40
successful. You have to believe in yourself,
31:43
right? And if you don't, then then you,
31:45
you've got troubles. But Kenny, you, you brought up
31:48
an interesting point. I remember looking at each one
31:52
of those guys and, and talking with them and watching them get
31:56
in and out of the car. You can tell that each one of
32:02
them, the focus that they have, I wouldn't say that I could tell
32:07
by talking to them their ability or talent on the racetrack.
32:12
But when they got on the racetrack, you could certainly
32:15
tell and you could tell Kenny that some of them had got to
32:20
where they were were because they were very, very consistent,
32:25
right? They're very consistent week in
32:28
and week out and had won a championship and had won a lot
32:31
of races, but didn't we're going to go far.
32:36
I didn't think right. Meaning when the competition
32:40
gets tougher and and you know, you've got to articulate.
32:46
They had good car control and whatnot, but I think some of
32:49
them were good at their their craft in and they were
32:54
comfortable in that position. And you know what, it's like
32:57
you're in a Cup car when you're going to all kinds of different
32:59
race tracks every week, different tires, different, all
33:04
kinds of things can happen. This is not your local racetrack
33:07
anymore. And you have to adapt.
33:10
You have to adapt. And I saw that adaptability, I
33:13
think in Kurt was one thing that I saw.
33:17
Yeah, OK, Changing courses again.
33:23
Here we are. We've established a wonderful
33:25
career you've had. You really are a chameleon.
33:30
You can fit in anywhere right now.
33:35
I met up with you at at Darlington.
33:38
Obviously you're one of the greats, but they started this
33:40
new NASCAR alumni and it means that we just want all the
33:45
drivers to love NASCAR again. Please come.
33:51
We're going to give you a hard card.
33:53
NASCAR told me that some of the drivers, you know, felt roughed
33:58
up. You know that Ricky Rudd, you
34:01
know, NASCAR don't care about me.
34:03
They don't, they don't give me a hard card.
34:05
And so I was talking to Jim France and Mike Hilton.
34:08
They said, you know, we've really, we really did get it
34:12
wrong all those years and we're just, we're just embarrassed.
34:16
So now we're going to make it right.
34:18
I want you to comment now what you see NASCAR trying to make it
34:23
right. How do you feel about that?
34:25
I I see that you've gone back to some NASCAR Cup tracks.
34:31
Yeah, it's, you know, certainly we can sit here and throw stones
34:36
all day long and and, you know, admitting that you've done
34:41
something wrong or, or missed, you know what?
34:44
An opportunity is one thing, but I couldn't understand why you
34:52
wouldn't want Ricky Rudd, Tony Stewart, me, you, Carl Edwards.
34:59
You wouldn't want these guys walking around in the garage.
35:04
People. People that's free advertising.
35:08
You want Carl Edwards to walk down Pit Rd. and sign a few
35:11
autographs away with some fans. My gosh, you know that is
35:16
something or any any former driver.
35:21
So it's, you know, it, it's mind boggling to me that that NASCAR
35:27
wouldn't have taken that opportunity right from the get
35:30
go, right and and and have done that.
35:33
But now they've come back and, and given us hard cards, alumni
35:38
hard cards and invited us back to these, these race tracks.
35:42
And that's important. I think it's a it's a right
35:45
move. It it's going to it's going to
35:48
do well for them. It you know how hard it is to go
35:51
to a racetrack, you know? You just can't get in.
35:55
You can't get in there's there's parking's limited.
35:59
But if you think about it, you're not going to have all
36:03
these drivers coming at one time.
36:04
Everybody's got schedules and lives.
36:06
So you're going to occasionally have drivers.
36:10
And I think it's a good thing. I think NASCAR's done the right
36:13
thing and, and pull these, these their former talents back into
36:21
the sport to, you know, how boost NASCAR up and, and its
36:27
longevity and all the things. Yeah, You know, Viv, when I go
36:32
to any sport, whether it's hockey, baseball, football, they
36:37
have the alumni club just way it is.
36:41
You know, the alumni club and any sport I go down and watch my
36:45
Saint Louis Blues during the winter and man, there's all the
36:50
greats. I really think.
36:54
And, and I know what I'm going to say is a little
36:55
controversial, but I, I, I kind of want this totality.
36:59
I don't want people to focus on just this one thing.
37:02
But without Denny Hamlin right now, you know, we're kind of in
37:07
trouble. He's got this actions
37:09
detrimental that NASCAR should be paying him because to me, all
37:13
the drivers have not added anything.
37:17
I mean, you got a guy like like William Byron who's not at all
37:21
and he just can't get him to talk.
37:23
Jeff Gordon will not let any of his drivers talk with you.
37:29
It was the with the biff you you had a flair to you.
37:34
So you know, my point is this NASCAR has been boring capital
37:41
boring and I think this is a right move.
37:44
Why would you not want? I mean, a lot of people left the
37:47
sport because they can't relate to Joey Logano or so on and so
37:52
forth. Hamlin stirred up just enough
37:55
crap where the eyes are coming back.
37:58
Yeah. So I thought it was awesome.
38:01
And I do want to give NASCAR an attaboy.
38:04
I wanted to give my 2 cent. I wanted to tag on the back of
38:07
what you just said. Yeah, the, you know, and Mike
38:13
Kelton tells me that it was him, it was Mike Elton, Jim France,
38:16
their idea to bring the greats back.
38:19
And like you said, how how can that be bad?
38:22
You know, Right, OK. What?
38:25
What? Let me add, Kenny.
38:26
Let me add one thing to that. Yeah, keep going.
38:29
Think, think about this for a second.
38:31
What if there was a suite, twenty person suite at every
38:38
racetrack? How you know how much I would
38:42
enjoy coming to the racetrack and you're going to be there and
38:50
Kenny Schrader's going to be there and Rick Mast is going to
38:54
be there and Ricky Rudd's going to be there.
38:56
And I'm going to sit and get the bullshit with you guys for an
39:01
hour. Think about that for a minute.
39:04
I would go. I would go just for that
39:07
experience to, to get to chat with you guys and chat it up.
39:12
And it's like a, it's like a, it, it could be a reunion.
39:16
We're in this space where it's just us and, and prior to that,
39:22
we're out on pit Rd. We're we're wherever we want to
39:25
be. We're at the racetrack doing all
39:27
more things, but we've got a spot.
39:29
We can go watch the race and be able to be able to sit and have
39:35
coffee and shoot the shit. And and, and all other sports do
39:39
it, Beth. Yeah.
39:42
And and maybe Sunday morning, they have Greg Biffle out at the
39:46
Fan Zone for a 15 minute Q&A. Perfect.
39:50
You know, and you know, you know.
39:51
So. Yeah.
39:52
All right. Good, Good stuff.
39:53
Well, I just wanted to say that me seeing you at Darlington made
40:00
me happy. You look good.
40:01
You're still young. You look like you're getting
40:03
that race car. OK.
40:06
Now we're going to have a little more fun.
40:09
Your YouTube channel, your wife and you.
40:13
Now listen, I know you got bigger fish to fry, but I just
40:16
want to give a shout out. I know it's not making you any
40:19
money right now, but that's how it all starts.
40:22
Biff, tell me just a little bit about the YouTube channel.
40:26
You got some really good stuff on there.
40:28
We just got to get it promoted. Yeah, I, I, I absolutely love
40:33
it. And you know, I still think all
40:37
the things that I do in in a day and in a week and a month, if
40:42
there was a camera crew following me around, I would
40:45
have I would have my own TV series.
40:48
This you know, I'm Outback burning parts.
40:52
I'm making paddles for the course washer at my aquarium.
40:55
I just got done Dino in a car, a UTV.
40:59
I, I just shut it off and walk down to the house and set the
41:04
computer up so I could do, do this.
41:08
I was, I was, I was dying to win a car less than 15 minutes ago
41:13
in my shop. It's, it's funny that I do all
41:19
of this stuff that's interesting and I enjoy building off the
41:23
wall stuff and I, I love buying stuff.
41:26
I've got, you know, this Facebook marketplace obsession
41:29
now where? And it was funny.
41:32
I listened to Elon Musk. He says.
41:34
I get up in the morning at 5:00 AM and I, I scrolled through
41:38
Facebook Marketplace and I thought it was so funny.
41:42
You got this billionaire scrolling through marketplace.
41:45
But anyway, you know, so I posted videos to see what people
41:49
enjoy, see what people like. I want to start building some
41:54
stuff. I watched Cletus McFarland a
41:55
little bit on some of his videos and I'm like we are a carbon
42:02
copy of each other. Literally the stuff he does.
42:05
I'm like, oh shit, I was thinking of that.
42:09
Or. I mean, like, it's crazy.
42:12
So I'm going to start doing more stuff and, you know, videoing it
42:17
and and posting it. We'll see what people enjoy
42:19
because I really love it and I'm going to continue to continue to
42:23
do it. And you know, you're, you're
42:27
having a lot of success doing it.
42:29
A lot of you've got all these great guests on and and people
42:34
value your opinion. I need you.
42:36
I need you. You're a hell of a story, and
42:38
that's what makes it work. Both of us.
42:40
Let let me say this. I find you incredibly talented,
42:47
incredibly unique. You are not afraid.
42:50
You and Hornaday, you and Ron Hornaday, like when I look at
42:54
you, I flew over your house in a helicopter one time and you had
42:59
I mean, it was like, my God, what is that guy doing down
43:02
there? You are a talent, you are a gift
43:05
from God. You are not afraid of anything.
43:09
So let's go first of all, I I got right here.
43:12
He, he drives boats, flies a plane, a helicopter.
43:18
I was just on your Facebook page.
43:19
You have a, you have a dirt track, a triple B500, which we
43:24
all know about. I've been up there.
43:26
It's for fun. You, you went to South Africa
43:30
for your honeymoon. You gathered up material for the
43:35
hell of it and went down and helped people that were in a
43:38
hurricane. Now I've just touched on all
43:43
these things you do. When I say you're a chameleon
43:46
early in conversation, I mean that.
43:49
And now the one that I want to talk about is on your Facebook
43:53
video. You got this 5 axis machine.
43:57
What the hell are you up to now? Well.
44:02
Who knows? Right.
44:04
What is this? So I have a Hoss VF3.
44:08
For those that are machinists that watch, it's a a milling
44:11
machine and then I have a lathe with ST30Y axis live live
44:18
tooling lathe. I bought those machines about
44:23
2012 or so when I was doing pace off road.
44:26
So I love the desert, I love off off roading and we wanted to
44:30
make our own parts. So those machines did US
44:34
wonderful job over the years, but more complex parts.
44:40
I wanted to make more specifically a billet cylinder
44:43
ad for our small engines and potentially look into building
44:48
billet cylinder blocks the entire block for these little
44:53
UTVS. We're making upwards of 800
44:55
horsepower in 1100 CC engine. So it's a little two cylinder
45:02
1100 CCS. So to put it in comparison, that
45:07
would be over 5000 horsepower in your dirt car per cubic inch.
45:16
We're making five making 5000 horsepower in comparison to how
45:21
many cubic inches your your small block Chevy or your engine
45:25
in your dirt car is with these little engines.
45:27
So lots of boost big turbos on methanol, but I want to make
45:31
more parts. So I bought this DMG Mori 5 Axis
45:36
machining Center and I have to obviously rely on someone else
45:41
to help me design and draw and program the parts, but I love
45:45
controlling the manufacturing right.
45:49
We we can put a part in there, we make a spindle, we put a
45:53
block of aluminum in there and machines it.
45:55
I can take the block the machine part out and put another block
45:58
in and hit the start button. So they call me a button pusher.
46:02
So you can do the same thing. But it's fun to be able to watch
46:07
the part being manufactured in front of you.
46:10
And you know, we can build all kinds of brackets and all kinds
46:13
of of things. So I wanted to five axis
46:16
machining center because it expands the things you can do
46:20
way beyond. And we are doing a little bit
46:23
of, you know, SpaceX, Department of Defense.
46:28
Is that a company? Do you?
46:29
Is that a? Do you own a company too?
46:31
I do it through pace off road and we subcontract it through
46:35
some some bigger companies that have the contracts.
46:38
So we'll do, we'll manufacture for them, we'll do some
46:43
manufacturing for them. So it's a, it's a small part.
46:47
I enjoy it. I Kenny the thing I try and do
46:50
in life, if with everything I do, I look for a way to make it
46:56
cost neutral. And people look at me funny when
47:00
I say I don't need to make any money, meaning I, I don't, you
47:05
know, I'm not doing all these hobbies necessarily.
47:10
You know, I don't want to lose money.
47:12
You're living life. If I can live my life, I can
47:16
build a billet cylinder head for our racing engine and do all
47:19
these things I can do and, and I don't have to shell out all this
47:23
money. If I could do something else
47:25
that that will make enough money to pay for the machine and the
47:29
tooling and the and whatever, then I'm happy, you know,
47:34
because I don't, I need it. I'm getting what I want.
47:38
I'm getting that that billet cylinder head.
47:40
I'm getting those billet parts. But if I had to sit here and pay
47:44
all those costs, it gets very expensive.
47:47
So if I can do something to offset the cost, just enough to
47:52
offset that cost, then I can continue to enjoy my platform
47:58
and and do all the things that I want to do like you race your
48:01
dirt car. If you can get enough
48:02
sponsorship to continue to do that, that you're happy.
48:07
Right there, Jags. Yeah, they they paid for it all.
48:10
Hey, something I want to talk to you about.
48:13
And it just seems like I've never had the guest to talk
48:18
about it. Sometimes I would go to Yuma,
48:21
AZ. I would in January.
48:24
And as I'm landing commercially, I see out in the distance and I
48:29
know there's a wealthy man out there that owns all the, you
48:32
know where I'm going already. But let me let me set it up for
48:35
everybody. There's a real wealthy guy out
48:37
there. I don't know what he does for a
48:39
living. He invites brother Rusty, you
48:44
know, Evernham, Jeff Gordon. His objective is to find all the
48:49
greats. And you guys go out there and
48:51
you run the hell out of these dune buggies.
48:53
You drink wine. You you, you know, have a good
48:57
time. You're the only one I've been
49:00
able to talk about. My brother Rusty tells me
49:02
everything about it. But I want, I want to hear your
49:05
version because that is what you do.
49:08
That is, that is Greg Mibble's domain, these big three foot
49:13
shocks and these dune buggies. Tell me a little bit about that
49:17
this guy and who he is and what's going on out there.
49:21
So I love off road. That's my fill or the, you know,
49:27
when, when you go dirt racing, I'm going to the desert and I
49:32
have as much fun in the desert as you do at the dirt track on
49:36
Friday night. And, and I absolutely love it.
49:39
It's it's, it's the closest thing to driving a car around
49:43
the racetrack that, that, that I enjoy.
49:45
So I have a place on the other end of the desert from the guy
49:50
you're talking about. And Ron.
49:53
Ron bought that property some time ago.
49:56
He had a big construction company that built homes and he
50:00
sold it right before the 2008, 2009 downturn.
50:06
Good. Job so he sold it just at the
50:08
right time and and you know sold it for, you know, great deal of
50:14
money and he's a very wise investor and and does a lot of
50:20
great things for the community and charities and bought a lot
50:23
of tremendous amount of cars at Barrett Jackson and had a huge
50:26
car collection has kind of tapered that down.
50:29
But Ron is a great guy. He's a pilot and he has this
50:34
beautiful place out there and he enjoys having all of his friends
50:40
come and, and, and do all these things.
50:45
And it you. I don't even know how to explain
50:49
it. Yeah.
50:49
Yeah, it's like Wally World. It's what?
50:51
Every guy wants you want to have you want to have 20 Honda
50:58
Odysseys in your garage, your 17 car garage with an epoxy floor
51:04
and there's not a speck of dirt on any of them and a two mile
51:08
Jersey barrier racetrack in the backyard with sod and sprinkled
51:16
so doesn't put out dust in the. Middle of the dust areas.
51:20
Are sawed beside the dirt track and you go run these Honda
51:23
Odysseys on this two mile Oval or or or course in the backyard
51:29
and then you park those and you get in the UTV the single seat
51:33
Polaris Rs ones and he has a Six Mile track course in the desert,
51:40
which is on his property. Wow, all on his property.
51:44
And then you go get in the sand cars.
51:47
He has about 17 of them. You know, biggers.
51:50
Now we're talking big car VA. You go get into that and you go
51:56
out in the sand dunes. So we do all three of those
52:01
activities and then we'll we'll play poker at night, have some
52:05
drinks, tell stories around the fire.
52:07
But you know, John Elway's there, Rusty Don, the snake per
52:13
Dome I love. My favorite thing I've done over
52:19
the years is they got to meet Don Perdome.
52:22
Legend. My dad loved Don Perdome.
52:27
I'd give anything for my father to be able to have been able to
52:31
meet Don Perdome. But what a great guy.
52:34
And to sit around a campfire and listen to these stories and then
52:38
go out and, you know, go drive through the sand dunes with them
52:42
and have lunch and all this, it's just Kenny.
52:45
It's what dreams are made of. You got to come out one time and
52:48
and enjoy it with us. I I'm smiling from ear to ear
52:53
because, you know, just acknowledging this as people.
52:57
Listen, there is, you know, that wealth out there where people
53:02
have made all this money and then they can either sit in
53:06
their house and be miserable, but they do good things.
53:09
And and every once in a while I hear of these and that that Ron
53:12
man, he he's a obviously I hear just such good things.
53:15
And thank you for shedding a little bit of light on that.
53:19
I hear about that a lot. And yeah, so really cool.
53:23
Well, listen, we've come to the end here and we got to ask you
53:27
what we ask every driver that is raced in NASCAR.
53:31
Now, Kenny conversation has a lot of different people, but in
53:36
the end, they all usually have something to do with NASCAR and
53:40
I asked them all the same thing and it's pretty simple.
53:43
But what are your thoughts on NASCAR today?
53:51
You know, my thoughts on NASCAR today are they continue to try
53:58
and let's face it, the sport is to entertain the fans and put on
54:05
a good competitive race that the teams a platform, the teams can
54:10
build cars and go out and compete and you'll always
54:15
struggle with I I think you'll always struggle with what is the
54:22
best platform and what puts on the best race.
54:24
And we've done it forever, right back when Bill France senior,
54:30
you know, took, you know, took away stuff from 1 manufacturer,
54:34
allowed another manufacturer. We've tried more downforce, less
54:38
downforce. But I will say this, it's all
54:42
pulling the rope in the same direction for these teams to go
54:48
out and put on great races. I don't agree with everything
54:52
that NASCAR does as a organization, but as far as
54:58
downforce or maybe how they, they, you know, the cars that
55:02
they build, this is the COT car. We're going to have a splitter,
55:06
we're going to have a this or that.
55:08
We have high downforce, low downforce.
55:12
You know, I've got different perspective.
55:14
You have a different perspective and the fans have a different
55:17
perspective. But the thing the reality is, is
55:19
somebody's got to make that decision and live or die by it.
55:23
And I respect that. I respected they've made a
55:25
decision. They got to, they got to live or
55:27
die. And, and you know, I think the
55:32
car is now trying to show some of its fruits of the labor for,
55:39
for what all the teams have done.
55:40
I think it's helped reduce cost. I think they found out the car
55:44
was too stiff and and they've had to make a lot of changes.
55:49
But you're still going to battle the arrow tight behind cars.
55:54
How are we going to pass? Are we going too fast?
55:57
Are we going too slow? You're always going to battle
55:59
those things. And I enjoy watching the races.
56:04
It's it's a lot of fun. Me, I like the lower downforce,
56:08
the stickier tire because the car doesn't skate out from under
56:12
you in just a millisecond. And guess what?
56:16
When the caution comes out, you got to pit and put tires on it.
56:19
I mean, it's part of it. So I'm from that camp more
56:23
power. So you got to, you know, you
56:25
can't just stick the throttle all the time.
56:28
You got to, you got to work that throttle that, you know, I've
56:31
always said my, my theory is you can only catch the car in front
56:37
of you when he lets off the gas, right?
56:43
What do you want to nudge him in the bumper or, or move him up
56:46
the track? You can't do that until he lets
56:49
off the gas. So if you make these cars where
56:52
they're, where they let off the gas and they're right back on
56:54
it, it never gives you an opportunity to, to, to race with
56:59
that guy when he lets off the gas and has to use a little bit
57:02
of brake. That's that's where I think good
57:07
racing comes from, is, is those opportunities and you can't just
57:10
floor it. Remember the old days where you
57:13
had to give it a little bit of gas, a little bit more?
57:15
You do it now, dirt racing. Yeah.
57:17
Oh, yeah, Schrader says. Schrader says there's 1000 spots
57:21
in that gas pedal. That's right.
57:23
Is he? Boy, is he right?
57:24
Yes. He is so, you know, we have a
57:26
difference of opinion on what makes great racing.
57:31
But at the end of the day, you know, they've they've created a
57:36
great platform and, you know, I think that the fans still enjoy
57:40
it and it's great advertising and they're still super loyal
57:44
people. And it's going to continue to go
57:47
on and it'll be better and it'll be worse and it'll be better and
57:50
it'll be worse. And and that's just, that's just
57:53
part of it. I enjoy it.
57:54
I enjoy going to the racetrack. I wish I could still compete.
57:59
You know, I think we both do that.
58:01
We wish we could jump in those cars.
58:04
And kick their butt. What's wrong?
58:05
Get out of that car. Let me teach you how to drive
58:07
it. Boy let.
58:08
Me have it. Let me, let me show you how to
58:10
do it. That's right, we're the
58:11
greatest. All right, well, listen, great
58:14
Biffle man, you've done it all you really have and I really
58:19
enjoy living vicariously through you.
58:21
Everybody go to his Facebook channel that direct you right
58:26
to. Him.
58:26
I'm a YouTube star. Yeah.
58:29
I got two, I got 1000 subscribers.
58:32
I'm a YouTube star, hey? Hey, but you know what?
58:35
You know what, everybody teases me.
58:37
They always want to equate everything to money.
58:39
But like you said earlier, but it's fun to share that.
58:43
That's one thing I like about Facebook and YouTube is you're
58:47
sharing, hey, watch this, come here.
58:49
It's like you call. Your money.
58:51
Hold my beer. Watch this you.
58:53
Want you to believe this, you know, and your your videos are
58:56
awesome. And listen everybody, we are in
58:59
podcast form. You can listen to the great Greg
59:03
Biffle from home to work. This is an hour long so you can
59:07
listen to them on your way to work and when you go back home
59:10
maybe a couple times. We are on iTunes and Spotify.
59:14
And until next time, Greg Biffle, thank you so much, my
59:18
friend. Thank you Kenny, I appreciate
59:21
it. And when I get big and famous
59:23
like you, I'm going to have you on my my YouTube channel.
59:26
Yeah, please invite me. All right.
59:28
Goodbye everybody. All right, see ya.