NASCAR Driver Greg Biffle: Days of Thunder

Swapping tarmac for ocean, recently retired NASCAR driver Greg Biffle moves into a Westport 112 with greater stability in more ways than one.

Most think NASCAR when conjuring up the name Greg Biffle. Or Roush Racing, where he won the 2001 Rookie of the Year and a prolific 19 races in his No. 16 Ford stock car. Simply put, the man from Washington has had a high-volume racing career that spans the gamut from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to driving the Continental Tire truck in the Stadium Super Trucks series. At the time of this interview with FRANK, he was gearing up for the Sand Outlaw Series race in Glamis, California, where he races a Polaris utility machine. 

Biffle retired from NASCAR full-time racing in 2017. He says he misses it a lot – he did it for 18 years – but it was time to get out of the car and do something else. But Biffle has been boating his entire life. Born and raised in Camas, WA, he and his father spent a lot of time together on the water. “I bought my first boat when I was 16,” he says. And he just kept going, making his way up the Bayliner boat offerings. He had a 41- foot Luhrs sportfisher that he kept in Mexico for five years to facilitate his love for fishing. He still misses that boat. 

Most recently, Biffle bought a 112-foot Westport to replace his 76-foot Lazzara IN TOO DEEP, which he also loved. Denison Yachting facilitated the purchase of the Westport, christened CHECKERED PAST. Biffle calls it his dream boat. The guy he bought the 112 from moved up to a Westport 130, and Biffle made a three-year plan to budget for the boat. “I never thought I’d be able to buy one,” he says. “This is truly the boat.” 

Biffle’s father passed away in 2016, and he’s disappointed his dad won’t see the yacht. He’d repeatedly threatened to buy a larger yacht before his father passed, and sadly, his dad missed the boat. “He would’ve loved it,” he rues. 

As a fishing fanatic, Biffle has already completed two trips to the Bahamas on his Westport for some angling. He was scheduled to go again in March 2020 with his nine-year-old daughter, Emma, and a few other families, but Covid-19 put a halt to those plans. He had blocked out the month of May to just be on the boat, but that time was quickly encroached upon as well. 

“You know when you’re retired how busy it is,” he jokes. “You’ve got 900 things going on.” 

Fort Lauderdale is the home base for CHECKERED PAST, although he’s still looking for a more permanent dockage. He likes keeping it in Daytona, particularly in February during the Daytona 500, but the location isn’t so great for crew. Fort Lauderdale is really the place for that, and crew was part of the reason he moved up from his Lazzara. 

“It’s a weird size,” he says. “It’s often their first gig and they’re looking to move up. This size is like a stepping-stone – and I get that.” 

He felt that by moving up to the Westport 112 he would be able to attract and hold onto the keeper crew. And in fact, once he bought the Westport, good crew began contacting him.

Captain Dirk, from another Westport 112, helped Biffle secure his previous mate, Jerry. He thought he had Captain Dirk locked in for his team, too, but he took an opportunity on another, larger yacht. Denison’s crew division manager, Jill Madeira, from the company’s crew placement division, helped Biffle screen for and hire the rest of his crew, sending résumé after résumé for him to review and he feels like he has a solid team now with Captain Garrett. But Biffle also likes to take part in the operation of his boats and yachts. 

“I’m an active boater,” he admits. “I love being a part of it. Part of the enjoyment is working on the boat.” 

“I love cars, I love motorcycles. You know, I’m an outdoors guy.”

With his Lazzara, Biffle was never on the yacht when it was underway. He was always out on the tender fishing, snorkeling or otherwise exploring while the crew moved the yacht to the next cove. So, what about his favorite spot on his new yacht? “I love the aft deck, just hanging out with the great view. It’s a huge aft deck. It’s funny, I love the country kitchen. My Lazzara had one and it was my favorite place. But on the Westport, I almost have to force myself to hang out in the kitchen and the saloon. The Westport’s enticing aft deck has completely taken him. 

Talking with Biffle, one may forget that his passion is something other than boats. “I love cars, I love motorcycles,” he shares. “You know, I’m an outdoors guy.” 

Besides racing all types of land machines, Biffle also enjoys flying remote-controlled planes. But he hasn’t done that in a while. You know, retirement. 

“I do have a real job,” he says. “I have a stone quarry.” In 2009, Biffle bought what is now Triple B Stone in Speedwell, Virginia. After selecting some river rock for a landscaping project from this mine at the advice of his contractor in 2007, and, when needing more in 2009 for another project discovering it had gone under, he bought the mine. Enlisting the help of his brother Jeff, they hired back some of the local employees who had been laid off when the business had shut down, and Biffle bought more efficient and more environmentally-friendly equipment. Today the mine is back in action and has the potential to keep providing river rock and stimulating the local economy. 

So much for retirement. 

Biffle’s long-term plan for CHECKERED PAST is to charter the yacht via Denison’s charter fleet under the company’s charter management division. Maybe you’ll find him on board as crew.

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