Latest / Cultural Wars | America Out Loud News / Who was Greg Biffle? NASCAR legend’s death in plane crash and final acts of kindness

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Who was Greg Biffle? NASCAR legend’s death in plane crash and final acts of kindness · Cultural Wars | America Out Loud News

• 0:10
  You're listening to the Hidden Lightness on America Out Loud Talk Radio.
• 0:14
  I'm your host, Jimmy Hinton.
• 0:16
  First of all, Merry Merry Christmas to all of you.
• 0:19
  We wish you a Merry Christmas.
• 0:21
  I'm not going to sing the song.
• 0:22
  But we wish you a very, very Merry Christmas.
• 0:26
  And we're happy to be with you and just hope you have a fantastic Christmas holiday with your family and your friends.
• 0:36
  And we absolutely love you folks.
• 0:40
  I want to share a story today.
• 0:42
  This happened last week.
• 0:46
  But I, of course, want to talk about the good, and that is the plane accident of Greg Biffle.
• 0:52
  NASCAR legend.
• 0:54
  Greg Biffle, his plane crashed in North Carolina minutes after they took off.
• 1:02
  And it was a private jet that was owned by him.
• 1:06
  And we're going to get into the details of that.
• 1:09
  And more specifically, we're going to talk about the details of his life.
• 1:14
  What an incredible legend.
• 1:16
  What an amazing life that he lived.
• 1:18
  And we're heartbroken over this tragedy.
• 1:22
  And especially right before the holiday.
• 1:26
  And as they were celebrating a birthday, just is a tough one.
• 1:32
  So jumping right in, um, former NASCAR driver, Greg Biffle.
• 1:38
  He was on his way to spend the afternoon with a famous YouTuber in Florida.
• 1:43
  They were flying from North Carolina to Sarasota, Florida.
• 1:48
  And minutes after takeoff, there was some kind of an issue.
• 1:53
  We don't know what that is yet.
• 1:54
  The NTSB will do an incredible investigation.
• 1:59
  But it appears that they had maybe an issue with one of the engines.
• 2:04
  This was a Cessna C550.
• 2:07
  It was a twin-engine uh jet airplane.
• 2:11
  And about four minutes into the flight, they they made a turn back towards the airport.
• 2:19
  That was at Statesville Regional Airport in North Carolina, around 1015 a.m.
• 2:26
  on December 18th.
• 2:29
  And it was excuse me, it was foggy, and uh that shouldn't have had a whole lot of bearing on what happened that day.
• 2:38
  But uh as they came back, they came in for a normal approach, and uh I've seen some articles where people are questioning why why they would have done that, because when you have an emergency, uh you just want to get the plane on the ground as quickly as possible.
• 2:56
  And uh to go and do an uh uh a normal approach just doesn't make a lot of sense.
• 3:04
  And we'll talk about why that possibly happened uh in a little bit, and you know, a lot of that was just lack of experience.
• 3:13
  And uh tragically, I think that lack of experience definitely played into this crash.
• 3:20
  Now, how much it did, I we don't know.
• 3:22
  Uh we don't know who was behind the controls.
• 3:26
  Um, and again, we'll talk about those details in a little bit, but uh just a uh a deep, deep tragedy, and it was Greg, uh his wife, his 14-year-old daughter and five-year-old son were among the uh seven, I believe, six or seven who were killed in that plane accident.
• 3:51
  So a terrible tragedy right before Christmas, and um last for words.
• 3:58
  It's just it's it's very sad, it's very tragic, and there's no way around that.
• 4:04
  So uh federal investigators are focusing on who was flying the plane, what its maintenance uh maintenance history was, and if the pilots lost control before it crashed, it was coming in too low.
• 4:19
  It actually hit a cluster of trees right before the runway, and you know it's just so sad that they were so close to landing, but just didn't have the clearance.
• 4:35
  Uh they hit a group of trees right before the runway, of course, that had a catastrophic effect on on the plane and started a series of uh of events that uh it just it was a doomed flight.
• 4:48
  And uh it's very sad.
• 4:53
  So uh again, Greg Biffle and several members of his family were on board, according to federal records, and there were two certified pilots who were on board.
• 5:04
  That was the NASCAR legend himself, Greg Biffle, and another airline pilot.
• 5:11
  Both were certified for the plane.
• 5:13
  However, neither one of the pilots could pilot the plane by themselves.
• 5:20
  Uh which means that they they both were freshly certified.
• 5:24
  In fact, it wasn't until March of this year that Greg Biffle got his certification to fly a multi-engine plane.
• 5:32
  Uh now he's been flying for for quite a while.
• 5:36
  In fact, uh we'll talk about this later on in the show.
• 5:39
  He was one of the heroes who used his personal helicopter and rescued people during Hurricane Helene in West North Carolina.
• 5:50
  And uh he he just worked tirelessly, and that's just what kind of guy he was.
• 5:54
  You know, he was a very giving guy, very compassionate guy, always thought about others before himself, and um just a stand-up guy.
• 6:05
  So the NTSB uh senior air safety investigator said that Biffle's private pilot's license would not have allowed him to be the sole pilot on that flight.
• 6:18
  FAA records show that Dennis Dutton, named by the families as among those who died, is an airline transport pilot and is rated to fly the specific kind of aircraft, but was required to have a second in command on board.
• 6:36
  This according to WCNC.
• 6:43
  Uh WCNC North uh Charlotte, rather.
• 6:48
  Um so to me, that just uh it it reeks that when you get in an emergency, it's just not a good situation to be in.
• 6:59
  When you have two inexperienced pilots uh with that particular aircraft, it's that's tough.
• 7:07
  It puts you in a very, very difficult position.
• 7:09
  We'll put it that way.
• 7:12
  So Greg Feith, who I believe is the uh he was with the NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board, um, he said who was flying the plane at the time is one of the three pressing questions that's on his mind at this early stage.
• 7:34
  So he said, uh quote, one, who was in front of the airplane, who was actually manipulating the flight controls at the time of the event, and what transpired.
• 7:44
  Two, what was going on in the aircraft with at least following through with trying to get the airplane back to the airport in an expeditious manner?
• 7:55
  Uh, three, what kind of recent maintenance history is there with not only the aircraft itself, but the two engines.
• 8:03
  Right, those are all very important questions.
• 8:07
  What kind of maintenance records were there on the aircraft itself?
• 8:11
  What kind of maintenance records on the engines?
• 8:13
  When's the last time that they were maintained?
• 8:16
  It was a Cessna 550 multi-engine plane, a jet engine made in 1981.
• 8:22
  But Feith said that the age of the aircraft doesn't really raise alarm.
• 8:27
  Uh, but having the maintenance records is critical.
• 8:33
  He said, if we were required to maintain our automobiles, like we're required to maintain an aircraft, your car would last 30, 40 years.
• 8:43
  It'll come down to what kind of maintenance has been done in recent past, not only on the airframe, but also on those engines.
• 8:50
  Was there a chronic problem?
• 8:52
  Was there a symptomatic issue that had developed in recent past?
• 8:56
  Was it maintained properly?
• 8:58
  These are the kinds of questions that the NTSB will put together in regard to maintenance records.
• 9:05
  Beyond who was in control of the flight controls at the time of the crash and its maintenance records.
• 9:10
  Faith said from looking at the flight path, it appears it took longer than he'd expected than he would expect for the plane to turn around and attempt to land after likely engine issue.
• 9:23
  And this is what I was talking about earlier.
• 9:25
  Yeah, I've seen several people talk about how, you know, if there's an engine issue, your goal is to get the plane on the ground as as quickly and safely as possible.
• 9:35
  You know, not going uh not entering back into the proper um uh flight path, you know, to enter uh to enter in the proper um pattern.
• 9:48
  So he said, while pilots generally know how to fly and land with only one engine functioning, if an engine fails in a catastrophic way, pilots can lose all control.
• 9:58
  In the flight path, it looks
• 10:00
  Like they're trying to fly a normalized pattern to get back to the runway that they took off on rather than taking a 200 degree turn and land opposite direction.
• 10:12
  So he said, land slightly downwind if you need to, but get the airplane on the ground under control, and that's the key.
• 10:22
  The question for the investigators will be did the pilots lose control of the aircraft.
• 10:27
  You don't want to second guess what was going on because we're not in the cockpit.
• 10:32
  We don't know all the external factors that are influencing the actions, the inactions, and of course the decision making.
• 10:41
  But you want to put a timeline together and try and understand.
• 10:45
  So I I just talked about this the other day, and like our family are really into aviation.
• 10:51
  Uh, we just we love aviation, and uh my youngest son is really into it, so that kind of got me into it.
• 10:59
  And I know from watching documentaries and watching debriefs that when you have an engine failure, uh it is very, very busy inside of the cockpit, and that's for extremely experienced pilots.
• 11:16
  We just saw this the other day when a United flight, a 777, a Boeing 77 lost one of its engines on takeoff at Daulas, and uh air traffic control asked him, do you want to switch frequencies?
• 11:32
  To which he replied, no, we're busy.
• 11:35
  You know, in other words, uh we're way too busy.
• 11:39
  We have way too much going on in the cockpit here to switch frequencies.
• 11:45
  And it just goes to show you changing frequencies is not that big of a task.
• 11:51
  But it's just one more thing that gets added to the workload.
• 11:54
  Your workload is extremely, extremely busy in the cockpit.
• 11:59
  When you have an engine failure, uh, there's a lot of stuff that that has to happen immediately.
• 12:06
  And especially when you're at low altitude, which they would have been, you know, they were only four minutes into the flight whenever they had to turn around.
• 12:15
  Now that's assuming that that they had an engine failure or some kind of an engine problem.
• 12:20
  That's kind of what's being indicated here is that they had some kind of an engine malfunction.
• 12:28
  And um, there's just a lot of calculations that have to take place, and uh it it's a lot.
• 12:36
  It's very, very busy for both pilots in that cockpit.
• 12:40
  And again, that's if somebody's extremely experienced.
• 12:44
  When you take away that experience, and you have two people who are who are just recently certified and have very few hours on this particular aircraft.
• 12:54
  Um, it's not the ideal situation.
• 12:59
  And it's just tragic.
• 13:00
  It's it's really sad, and I can't begin to imagine um what was going on inside that airplane.
• 13:08
  We have a little bit of an indication, and there's an article that uh Greg Biffle's wife Christina texted her mom.
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  Three very chilling words.
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  We're in trouble.
• 13:26
  Those were the last words texted to her mother from the aircraft before the crash.
• 13:35
  And to me, it just it it's it's so difficult because they knew she knew that something was was badly wrong.
• 13:44
  She knew Greg's wife, Christina, as she sat with her two children.
• 13:51
  She knew that something was really, really wrong.
• 13:54
  Uh we're we're in trouble.
• 13:58
  And uh it's just such a tragedy right before Christmas, and um, again, my heart goes out to the entire NASCAR uh community.
• 14:09
  He was uh uh top 75 drivers in NASCAR history.
• 14:18
  Uh he's just a very talented guy and really humble.
• 14:23
  I've watched some videos of him, and and uh he he did something called um the Biffmas Christ uh the Biffness giveaway.
• 14:35
  So uh uh it's the Biffle Christmas.
• 14:38
  He would give away a car and and cash, and like he was just a very, very giving guy, and he always had fun with it.
• 14:45
  And it's very rare that you don't see a smile on his face.
• 14:49
  I mean, he just was a super happy guy, uh, definitely a family man, and absolutely loved and adored his wife and his children.
• 14:57
  He included them in uh pretty much everything that he did, and uh, they were very, very giving.
• 15:04
  Very giving.
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  So this is a quote from uh from her mother.
• 15:11
  This would be Christina's mother, Kathy.
• 15:13
  She said, she texted me from the plane and she said, We're in trouble.
• 15:18
  And that was it.
• 15:21
  So we're devastated, we're heartbroken.
• 15:25
  The crash killed seven people in total, including Greg, age 55, Christina, his wife, their son Ryder, age five, and Greg's daughter Emma, age 14, who he shared with his ex-wife Nicole Lunders, plus Dennis Dutton and his son Jack, and Craig Wadsworth.
• 15:48
  Uh so very heartfelt.
• 15:52
  Um, hats off to you, and uh our hearts go out to you, our hearts go out to the families, our hearts go out to uh people who are really struggling this time of year.
• 16:03
  And again, uh, you know, I I I focus on this this time of year because it's just so heavy on my heart.
• 16:08
  There are so many tragedies that happen right around Christmas, and I used to be blind to these.
• 16:14
  I used to, you know, it's not it's not that I didn't care, it's just that it wasn't on my radar.
• 16:18
  And now you see these kinds of tragedies happen all the time.
• 16:21
  I just shared yesterday that one of my very, very, very best friends, uh, he passed away in in a car accident two days before his birthday.
• 16:33
  He was hit by a drunk driver, and I found a news article, and I found the details of of the drunk driver.
• 16:41
  He had been arrested four times for DWI.
• 16:46
  And he had a suspended license, and he had been arrested for uh domestic violence and uh all kinds of charges.
• 16:53
  This guy's a dirt ball, and our court systems absolutely failed us.
• 16:59
  Um, I'll share the good news.
• 17:02
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• 20:00
  14-year-old daughter, five-year-old son, as well as other friends.
• 20:06
  They were on their way to Florida to celebrate a birthday.
• 20:11
  And they were aboard Biffles Private Cessna, a dual jet airplane, a good airplane, a very reliable airplane.
• 20:27
  And they tragically lost their lives.
• 20:30
  Our hearts go out to their families, all the families who passed away and their survivors, the surviving family members.
• 20:49
  Whenever you have any kind of tragedy, but something like this, it just makes it really, really hard.
• 20:54
  But I'm I'm going to share some insights into who Greg Biffle really was.
• 20:59
  What kind of a person was he?
• 21:02
  Everything that I see about him just points to the kindness and the goodness and the selflessness that he had.
• 21:15
  And so I just want you to hear this.
• 21:18
  Really important.
• 21:20
  One of my uh former volunteers in North Carolina texted me and told me that Greg had died this morning, and probably within 15, 20 minutes, started seeing the news alerts pop up that it was his plane and that uh potentially his family and and some other friends were on board.
• 21:36
  And um, and and you know, the crash site did not look like it to be a survivable incident.
• 21:42
  So uh really my heart just sank.
• 21:44
  Guys was very selfless.
• 21:45
  He loved North Carolina, he loved people, he loved helping people, he had a serving heart.
• 21:50
  Um, and you know, it's the it's a cliche, but you know, it's it's always the good ones.
• 21:54
  It's something that's tragic happens to.
• 21:56
  When Hurricane Helene hit, nobody knew how bad it was gonna be.
• 22:01
  Uh he had his own helicopter and he was doing you know, extractions on his own.
• 22:05
  Um, here's this guy's like a race car driver, he's you know, got a helicopter, he's just guys like Batman, you know.
• 22:11
  My message to everybody over there who's hurting right now is hey, you want to honor his legacy, just live like Greg.
• 22:17
  You know, live live to put uh other people before yourself, live to make sure that your neighbor is comfortable before you get comfortable.
• 22:25
  Um, it seems to be the way he lived, and I think it's a great legacy.
• 22:29
  Yeah, there you go.
• 22:30
  Uh he's absolutely right.
• 22:33
  If if you want to honor his life, if you want to honor the life that he lived, um, do things like him, be selfless, help people, bless people.
• 22:44
  Or as we like to say on the show, be the hidden lightness.
• 22:48
  Uh it doesn't take much.
• 22:51
  It just takes effort.
• 22:54
  Um, and sometimes not even a lot of effort to just step in and help people and to be a shining light when there's so much darkness that goes on.
• 23:04
  Uh life is tough for a lot of people.
• 23:08
  And it it it you know, a lot of times it's free.
• 23:13
  It doesn't have to cost us money just to be there for people.
• 23:18
  Or it can cost very little.
• 23:22
  Um speaking of doing things, it wasn't just Greg who was a giver.
• 23:30
  His wife Christina was very giving.
• 23:34
  She was actually at her mom's house, the whole family.
• 23:38
  They were all at her mom's house uh the day before they passed away.
• 23:44
  Last Wednesday, they went over to visit with Kathy, Christina's mom.
• 23:49
  And Kathy said that one of her last conversations with her daughter was about Santa letters that Christina would send at her own expense to families in need.
• 24:00
  She said, Mom, can you pick up the last 17 letters that are at Staples?
• 24:04
  I want to get them in the mail before I get on the plane tomorrow.
• 24:08
  That would be the plane in question that uh obviously ended in tragedy.
• 24:14
  So her last act literally was to get have her mom pick up these 17 letters, hurry over to Staples, get them, and she wanted to sign them and drop them in the mail before she got on the airplane.
• 24:30
  So her mom Kathy said, So I ran over and got them and took them to their house.
• 24:34
  And when they got home last night, she put them in envelopes and finished them all up to get them off to those last 17 families to bring joy to them.
• 24:43
  And that would be the last thing that she would have done.
• 24:49
  What a way to leave a legacy.
• 24:55
  You know, I know this sounds cliche, but I often, often, often say this in my congregation, treat every single day.
• 25:04
  In fact, treat every single moment as if it was your last.
• 25:34
  We just don't know.
• 25:39
  And so, what words of kindness are we gonna speak?
• 25:45
  Do you want your last act to be an act of anger, a fit of rage, an act of anger, words of anger, something where you pop off at somebody online for what to prove a point?
• 26:02
  No, I think we all need to make those choices, and it's hard to do.
• 26:07
  It's hard to make those choices sometimes because we feel like, you know, if something really gets under our skin, we feel like we have to respond.
• 26:16
  We have to come up with uh some kind of response or snarky response or put somebody in their place, or you know, like all of us go through that.
• 26:26
  We're lying if if we say that we don't.
• 26:28
  We're all human.
• 26:31
  But the question is, are we actually gonna follow through with it?
• 26:34
  There's a difference between thinking it and following through with it.
• 26:41
  And I think that we all need to choose.
• 26:44
  We need to choose very wisely.
• 26:48
  We need to pick our words wisely.
• 26:52
  We need to choose what we're gonna do or not do wisely.
• 26:59
  Now I keep going back to what President Trump said when he ran his mouth about um about the Rainers.
• 27:10
  And he just he had this just rage-filled post about basically about what a deadbeat he was, and you know, it just he didn't do the world any favors and you know, he said all kinds of nasty things, and he he was delusional and he suffered from Trump derangement syndrome, and like uh I'm like, you know, you have a choice.
• 27:39
  And Senator Kennedy said it best when he said a wise man once said nothing, and he said nothing because he was wise.
• 27:50
  And then he said the president should have said nothing.
• 27:53
  You know, and there are certain moments where we probably shouldn't say anything.
• 27:56
  If you're angry, if somebody's gotten under your skin, if they've gotten in your head, they're living rent-free in your head, it's probably best just to not say anything.
• 28:08
  I have a 24-hour rule.
• 28:10
  Uh the 24-hour rule is that if somebody does something that that really, really gets my hackles up, and it just gets me very emotional, and I'm angry, and it irritates me.
• 28:25
  I wait at least a minimum of 24 hours.
• 28:28
  And it doesn't matter who it is, does not matter who it is.
• 28:31
  It could be a total stranger or it could be my wife.
• 28:34
  It doesn't matter who it is.
• 28:37
  I take 24 hours, and I say nothing to that person.
• 28:45
  I don't retaliate.
• 28:46
  I don't uh, which I never retaliate.
• 28:50
  I just can't stand when people retaliate.
• 28:54
  Uh, but I don't speak back.
• 28:56
  I don't I don't speak up, I don't voice my opinion, I don't talk about what they said, how it hurt me.
• 29:01
  I I don't do that.
• 29:02
  I wait 24 hours because I just want to process and I want to think and I want to choose my words wisely because those could well be my last words.
• 29:13
  I mean, at any given time, what we say, what we do, they could be our last words, or that that could be our last act.
• 29:22
  And I absolutely like if ever there's a silver lining in this story, which is tragic, it's sad.
• 29:32
  But it's that Christina's mom, Kathy, remembered her last memory of her when they were actually physically together.
• 29:42
  Her last memory was of her saying, Hey, mom, can you pick up those uh those 17 letters that are at staples?
• 29:48
  I'm gonna get the letters quote from Stanna, wink wink, you know, which is really cool.
• 29:54
  That's super sweet.
• 29:56
  I'm gonna get those 17 letters from Santa in the mail before I get on that.
• 30:00
  That plane tomorrow.
• 30:03
  So she wanted to bring joy to people.
• 30:08
  A friend of Christina's.
• 30:12
  Erica Zangwill.
• 30:15
  She told People Magazine that her friend Christina, Christina Biffle, had the biggest heart and loved helping people before herself.
• 30:26
  She said she was one in a million.
• 30:29
  She was a one in a million individual, and I can't believe she's gone.
• 30:35
  Zangwill is the president and CEO of Carolina Aviators Network.
• 30:43
  So many people are just they can't believe it.
• 30:49
  A friend of the family, representative Richard Hudson.
• 30:54
  He confirmed that they had died on X.
• 30:56
  He said, I'm devastated by the loss of Greg, Christina, and their children, and my heart's with all who love them.
• 31:06
  Um said they were friends who lived their lives focused on helping others.
• 31:12
  Greg was a great NASCAR champion who thrilled millions of fans, but he was an extraordinary person as well.
• 31:19
  And will be remembered for his service to others as much as his fearlessness on the track.
• 31:26
  The families of the Biffles, the Dutton and Wadsworth.
• 31:32
  They remembered them in a statement Thursday afternoon.
• 31:36
  And of course, those were the other families who were on the airplane.
• 31:41
  So their families released a statement.
• 31:43
  They said, We are devastated by the loss of our loved ones.
• 31:46
  This tragedy has left all of our families heartbroken beyond words.
• 31:52
  You know, and when you take a deeper look, when you look into the life of Greg and Christina, they were such giving people.
• 32:15
  You remember the fire chief and chimney rock.
• 32:19
  I think it was chimney rock or uh somewhere close to there.
• 32:23
  Uh but the fire chief was giving them crap and like saying, if if you fly your if you keep flying your helicopter, you're going to be arrested.
• 32:29
  I'm going to have you arrested.
• 32:33
  I mean, they literally were stopping people from rescuing people who had no other way to be rescued.
• 32:39
  People were stuck on on mountains.
• 32:42
  There was a husband and a wife that who were separated.
• 32:46
  Um it just it was it was a really really challenging, difficult position.
• 32:52
  That so many people are in.
• 32:53
  It was a tragedy.
• 32:55
  And Greg was one of the one of the helicopter pilots who was picking people up, you know, risking his life.
• 33:04
  People who are stuck on the side of the mountain, he would go and he would he would find people, he would search for them.
• 33:11
  And then he would rescue them.
• 33:12
  He would bring supplies to people in his helicopter.
• 33:16
  He did all that on his own dime and his own time.
• 33:20
  But there's a video, and uh I remember seeing this, and I didn't know this was Greg Biffle until I mean, literally, I started searching for um you know some background for doing the show.
• 33:32
  But I remember seeing this this video, and it was this helicopter pilot, and somebody was they they were like shining a light.
• 33:43
  They were using a mirror, they had this big square mirror, and they were reflecting it off of the sun.
• 33:49
  You know, they were trying to try to shine that into the lights of the pilot.
• 33:55
  So he successfully did it.
• 33:57
  He he was on the ground and was brilliant.
• 33:59
  I mean, if you imagine how desperate people were when Helene hit, I it just it was a it was such a big tragedy.
• 34:08
  It's absolutely terrible.
• 34:10
  Uh, but this gentleman takes the takes this big mirror, and he's pointing it at the sun and trying to try to redirect the sunlight to get into the pilot's eyes just to get his attention, and it worked.
• 34:23
  The pilot sees him, circles back around, lands, and rescues this individual.
• 34:29
  Well, that pilot was Greg Biffle.
• 34:34
  And uh it's such a cool story, and uh it just embodies who he was.
• 34:43
  And right at Christmas time, you know it is true.
• 34:48
  There's the cliche, the good ones, the good ones seem to be the ones who go.
• 34:52
  That's definitely been a constant in my life.
• 34:55
  Um, I've been absolutely exhausted the last week or so because of the amount of tragedies that are happening to very, very good people who I'm close to.
• 35:06
  And uh you can tell my brain's kind of not working, it's not functioning properly today.
• 35:12
  Like the the thoughts are there, but the words aren't coming out.
• 35:16
  Uh, I'm just tired.
• 35:17
  I'm I'm exhausted.
• 35:19
  But at the same time, and I'll be all right, like this isn't about me.
• 35:22
  Um I'm alright.
• 35:24
  But uh I'm gonna focus on the good that people do because to me that's what matters.
• 35:30
  My my mom recently said something that really struck me.
• 35:35
  And she said, you know, uh, there are people who died, and like my brother Mike, he he died, and those of us who have loved ones, those people died, and we tend to focus on those horrible moments.
• 35:50
  Right?
• 35:50
  The the um the facts surrounding the death, like what happened, how did it happen?
• 35:58
  Uh we we tend to obsess about the death.
• 36:03
  And my mom said somebody once told her, don't forget this person did die, but your loved one also lived.
• 36:13
  Don't forget the life that they lived.
• 36:16
  Don't forget to celebrate that.
• 36:18
  Don't forget to think about all the good that they did, all the lives that were changed.
• 36:25
  And she's so so right.
• 36:28
  Um, don't forget the good that the Biffles did.
• 36:34
  They were great, great people.
• 36:36
  I mean, he he had so many different charities and uh just love to give to people, loved to make a difference in people's lives.
• 36:45
  He loved to see people smile.
• 36:49
  And I think that's really noble.
• 36:53
  And I I always go back to this.
• 36:55
  Like, I just want to break apart that narrative that people with money are greedy and selfish, and they they just want to keep all that money for themselves.
• 37:03
  That couldn't be farther from the truth.
• 37:06
  And this story, I hope that you're moved by this story like I was.
• 37:11
  Um it just proves that people love to give.
• 37:16
  The Biffles were very giving people.
• 37:19
  We're coming up on another break here.
• 37:21
  All of our shows do go to podcasts the next day after the broadcast is heard on talk radio.
• 37:26
  You can hear them on Spotify Stitcher, Pandora, iHeart Podcast, Apple Podcast, many, many more.
• 37:33
  Be sure to check out the store at America Outloud.news.
• 37:37
  Use the code out loud, sit tight, we'll be right back.
• 37:41
  Have you been looking for a healthy snack for on the go?
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  You wouldn't go a day without brushing your teeth or washing your hands.
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• 38:46
  I'm Doug Evans, author of the Sprout Book.
• 38:48
  And I'm also a father with a three-year-old daughter.
• 38:51
  And that's why we grow sprouts.
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• 39:25
  Today we honor NASCAR legend Greg Biffle, who tragically passed away in a in a plane accident.
• 39:32
  He, along with his wife, his five year old son, his 14 year old daughter, and some family friends.
• 39:41
  They uh whatever happened, we we don't know.
• 39:44
  We won't know until the NTSB report came out.
• 39:47
  Uh, but it appears they had some engine issues, but uh nobody really knows for sure until the investigation is underway.
• 39:57
  Um, but all
• 40:00
  Signs are kind of pointing in that direction that there was an engine issue.
• 40:05
  We don't know if that was a full-blown failure or what it was.
• 40:09
  But they perished in a plane accident on last Thursday, right before Christmas.
• 40:16
  And instead of focusing on the horrific details of that crash, I want to focus on the great things that the Biffles did.
• 40:24
  They just, they were such beautiful people.
• 40:27
  And they loved to give.
• 41:20
  And so irritated that people actually own things.
• 41:26
  Nice things.
• 41:28
  But he didn't flash them.
• 41:30
  He wasn't flashy.
• 41:31
  He didn't care about that.
• 41:34
  Yeah, I he used it for good.
• 41:37
  His helicopter.
• 41:39
  He used that for good during Helene.
• 41:41
  He rescued people.
• 41:44
  He was one of a handful of people who with their own time, their own money, their own resources.
• 41:51
  They they brought their helicopter and rescued people who were stuck on the side of the mountain.
• 41:58
  He did the Biff miss, which is really cool.
• 42:04
  I think it's important to note that Greg Biffle's very last post.
• 42:20
  He gave away his own personal car and 1200 for his social media giveaway.
• 42:31
  I watched the post.
• 42:32
  It was really cool.
• 42:34
  So here's an article on parade.
• 42:38
  NASCAR legend Greg Biffle wrapped up a massive display of generosity in his final social media post before his tragic death.
• 42:45
  The race car star who died alongside his wife Christina, their two children, Emma and Son Ryder, and two others remain unidentified.
• 42:57
  Well, they're not identified anymore.
• 42:59
  This article was it's amazing how quick things happen.
• 43:03
  They didn't update this article.
• 43:05
  But anyway, one uh on on day one, he gave away a stack of cash.
• 43:11
  He does the 12 days of Bifmus.
• 43:14
  On day one, he gave away a stack of cash, and he entered the series earlier this week with even more cash and his beloved C4 drag corvette, revving the engine as he peeled into his driveway in a video showcasing the prize.
• 43:30
  You know what today is, honey?
• 43:32
  He asked, smiling brightly as he got out of the vehicle.
• 43:37
  Today's the 12th day of Bifmus, and I know everybody's been waiting for this.
• 43:43
  He pulled 12 100 bills out of his pocket, counted them slowly, putting them on the on the hood of the car.
• 43:53
  And then he revealed the Corvette.
• 43:54
  He said, it's got nitrous express on it.
• 43:57
  And it's got who's your drag radic uh radials on it.
• 44:02
  He said it's not perfect by any means.
• 44:04
  It'll need a little bit of work.
• 44:05
  He said, if you think you're gonna come here and just drive it home, you're not.
• 44:10
  But it does have a brand new transmission, and it's got a bunch of other cool stuff on it.
• 44:15
  So anyway, pretty cool stuff.
• 44:19
  So fans have applauded, uh they've applauded his kindness, obviously, uh, throughout the campaign, the 12 days of biff miss.
• 44:27
  Uh one said that Biff is the Santa Claus I didn't know I needed.
• 44:31
  Um Mary Biffness to you and your family, another wished at the start of giveaways, saying, what a generous gift to give.
• 44:40
  Um so they they just were very giving, and I I love that.
• 44:45
  And I want us to carry on that giving spirit.
• 44:49
  Uh again, it doesn't have to be big.
• 44:51
  Those cards that that his wife was doing, the cards from Santa Claus, that's such a gift for people.
• 44:59
  And in a time when people are lonely and people are really struggling, uh, that means the world.
• 45:06
  And I think a lot of times we feel like we're not doing enough.
• 45:09
  I you you hear me talk about this a lot where we we feel like it's not big enough, it's not, it's it's not a big deal.
• 45:16
  Um I can't afford whatever.
• 45:19
  I can't give gift cards.
• 45:21
  Like uh my wife just showed me yesterday that a family member of mine dropped off Christmas cards for all of her staff and had she's like, I think there was like a $15 gift card in every single one of them.
• 45:41
  And she's like, I can't imagine how much that costs.
• 45:44
  And like these are people she doesn't even know.
• 45:49
  It's just those kinds of things where people quietly give, and it means a lot to people, but sometimes people can't do that.
• 45:57
  And like I don't know if we could do $15 gift cards to a whole ton of people.
• 46:06
  But you don't have to do really big expensive things to make a difference in people's lives.
• 46:12
  You could do a simple card.
• 46:14
  You could just do a phone call.
• 46:15
  You could shoot a text message to somebody.
• 46:18
  You know, it's these little things that people remember.
• 46:23
  And you and I have been there.
• 46:24
  We we know, like, people have done little things for us that they probably think are insignificant, they've probably forgot about, but we hold on to those things.
• 46:32
  We remember.
• 46:34
  Those were things that made an impact in our life.
• 46:37
  And so during this Christmas season, and I know it's Christmas is Christmas is here, and Christmas is gonna be in our rear view mirror, but that's okay.
• 46:51
  We can still give our time.
• 46:53
  We can still pray for people.
• 46:56
  We can still check up on people.
• 47:00
  I've had all kinds of people from my church uh texting me, just checking in on me because they found out about uh about my friend who passed away.
• 47:11
  And they're like, hey, we just wanted to check in and say that we're so sorry, and is there anything you need?
• 47:16
  Are you okay?
• 47:18
  Do you need to talk?
• 47:21
  And that I cherish those.
• 47:25
  That didn't cost them any money.
• 47:28
  Didn't take but more than probably 30 seconds to type up type up text, but I remember those things.
• 47:37
  I will remember.
• 47:38
  I'll I'll remember who reached out to me for a long, long time.
• 47:44
  It doesn't take a lot of effort.
• 47:49
  And in a world that's so plagued with negativity and darkness.
• 47:58
  We have the opportunity to bless people.
• 48:01
  And I love that about this great nation.
• 48:03
  I love that about America.
• 48:04
  You know, we're celebrating our 250-year anniversary, which reminds me, if you go to AmericaOutloud.news, and you look on the on the homepage, you'll see the announcement.
• 48:20
  America Out Loud 200 uh 25010, Nashville.
• 48:26
  This is a huge event.
• 48:29
  Uh it's a celebration of of America.
• 48:33
  It's a celebration of our freedom.
• 48:37
  Uh you gotta check this out.
• 48:40
  It's it's a massive event.
• 48:44
  They're gonna be inspiring keynotes and expert panels, uh, workshops, breakout sessions.
• 48:50
  It's a big celebration.
• 48:53
  They have a premiere lineup.
• 48:56
  Uh just fantastic lineup of of speakers.
• 49:01
  Of course, Malcolm is he's in the lineup, you know, one of our great speakers, very inspiring.
• 49:09
  But we celebrate our freedoms.
• 49:11
  We live in such a blessed nation.
• 49:16
  Blessed by God.
• 49:19
  We have the ability to bless people, and we have the freedom to bless people.
• 49:24
  Nobody stops us.
• 49:25
  Nobody's telling us that we can't bless people.
• 49:30
  And if they do, we'd we can we can find workarounds.
• 49:35
  You know, there's certain times where the government will try to shut things down.
• 49:40
  Um they'll try to tell you that we're gonna fine you for doing this.
• 49:44
  They did it with the the helicopter pilots in North Carolina.
• 49:50
  They did it with our church group when we tried to do tornado cleanup several years ago.
• 49:54
  You know, they can come in and tell us that they're gonna find us, but whatever.
• 49:58
  We'll find workarounds.
• 50:01
  But we have wild freedom in America.
• 50:06
  And we celebrate that freedom.
• 50:09
  We celebrate that by being kind.
• 50:12
  Even down to our last act.
• 50:17
  Greg Biffle's very last act of kindness, his last gesture that he did was giving away his personal corvette.
• 50:28
  His wife, her very last act was mailing out 17 cards from Santa.
• 50:37
  She made it a point.
• 50:39
  She had to get those in the mail before she got on that airplane to go to Florida.
• 50:43
  Because she knew if she didn't do it now, they weren't going to reach the kids before Christmas.
• 50:51
  They have great hearts.
• 50:54
  And all of you do.
• 51:02
  And we call it the hidden lightness.
• 51:04
  I just, I've always loved that title.
• 51:07
  Because it's not meant to be something that you're bragging and showing everybody what you're what you're doing and what you're capable of and how look, look at me, look at what I'm doing.
• 51:19
  It's the hidden lightness because people keep that inside.
• 51:25
  They don't let their left hand know what their right hand is doing.
• 51:27
  They they like to give, they like to give generously.
• 51:31
  You know, uh Greg was that way, certainly.
• 51:36
  He did a lot of things, I guarantee that nobody knew that he was doing.
• 51:43
  We wouldn't know that she was mailing out cards from Santa had this tragedy not happened.
• 51:52
  You know, that is the hidden lightness.
• 51:54
  That's the point.
• 51:58
  So many millions of people are quietly doing things that are blessing other people, and I keep seeing these videos over and over and over again on social media.
• 52:10
  And every time I see one, I'm like, man, I want to do a story on this.
• 52:13
  And then I end up forgetting about it because there are 17 more, you know, 27 more that crop up.
• 52:22
  And then I'm like, I could do, I could literally do a story on every single one of these.
• 52:27
  It's just so powerful.
• 52:29
  There's one, there's one that I was going to do, and I'm I'm still undecided on this, but uh, this one just came to mind.
• 52:35
  It's it's this guy who he's got a snow removal business, and that's right up my alley.
• 52:43
  That's my passion.
• 52:45
  He's got the snow removal business, and he's got a big tractor, like a farm tractor with a snowblower on the back.
• 52:53
  And first of all, I'm like, man, how cool that like I would love to have a blower, like a great big blower.
• 52:59
  Because in town, there quickly there's nowhere to push the snow anymore.
• 53:05
  Uh, but anyway, he's going through this town and he and he stops and he sees this guy shoveling, this older gentleman, and he gets off his tractor and he's like, hey, he's like, you need to open it up.
• 53:16
  He's like, this is actually my dad's house, and he's dying of cancer.
• 53:22
  He's like, but he's still working.
• 53:24
  He loves to work.
• 53:27
  He's like, I just I can't, even if I have a snowblower, I can't get this open.
• 53:31
  There's just too much snow.
• 53:33
  He said, I'll take care of it for you.
• 53:37
  And the guy's son, the guy who was shoveling, he said, Well, how much is it going to cost?
• 53:43
  And he goes, Oh, nothing.
• 53:44
  He's like, I'm doing this for free, buddy.
• 53:48
  This is on me because he said, You're your dad is struggling.
• 53:51
  He's got cancer.
• 53:53
  He's like, in fact, any time that I'm out on the street, he said, if you or anybody here is at the house, he's like, come out, flag one of my guys down, and we'll wheel in and we'll take care of it free of charge.
• 54:08
  Indefinitely.
• 54:11
  And then they they go in and they report the news to the dad, the guy with cancer, and he's just, he's stobbing.
• 54:18
  He's so grateful.
• 54:21
  And I'm telling you, these stories are everywhere.
• 54:26
  On your city or town block, I guarantee you, I will stake everything on it.
• 54:33
  That there are people right on your city corner who are doing these kinds of things.
• 54:40
  They're quietly serving other people.
• 54:43
  I call it foot washing.
• 54:46
  You know, in the Bible, that was a gesture of kindness and humility.
• 54:52
  People would get down on their hands and knees and they would wash the feet of sojourners, people who are passing through, and it was meant to be this really kind gesture.
• 55:02
  Jesus washed the feet of his disciples.
• 55:06
  And then he told them go and do likewise.
• 55:10
  So there are these foot washings, you know, these acts of kindness and acts of service that are happening all the time.
• 55:19
  We just have to open our eyes to it.
• 55:21
  Stop getting consumed by the news.
• 55:25
  And if we spent zero minutes on the news and spent the time that we normally would be scrolling through the doomsday news, and we just went out and blessed people.
• 55:39
  Do you realize what a difference I would make in the world?
• 55:44
  So I want to wrap this up by saying we honor on this Christmas, we honor Greg Biffle, his family, the kindness that they exhibited, uh the giving nature that they had, the giving hearts that they had, and our hearts 100% go out to their families.
• 56:06
  Uh to all the families who are on that airplane.
• 56:09
  Uh, our hearts go out to them.
• 56:11
  We we are grieving the loss with you.
• 56:14
  And we're just so grateful that they're being remembered as the kind, gracious people who they were.
• 56:22
  Uh, they love to give, they they love to bless people.
• 56:26
  And may all of us turn 2026 into the year of giving.
• 56:34
  That's actually gonna be my theme at uh my church.
• 56:38
  I've been wrestling with the theme for the year, and I'm gonna do a theme on having giving hearts.
• 56:44
  And I'm gonna encourage people to go above and beyond, to not settle for mediocrity.
• 56:51
  For us to go above and beyond and to bless other people because we've been blessed.
• 56:58
  God bless you.
• 57:00
  Merry Christmas to you.
• 57:01
  Have a wonderful holiday season.
• 57:04
  Sit by the fire and enjoy that eggnog with your family.
• 57:09
  You can find more out about my show and get all the latest podcasts if you go to the menu navigation bar at America Outloud.news under our shows or schedule.
• 57:17
  You'll be in the know.
• 57:18
  There's a hidden lightness that shines inside of all of us.
• 57:20
  When there's so much darkness that envelops the world, remember that it doesn't take much light to expose that darkness and to ultimately inspire other people.
• 57:28
  Join me in being a light.