Photo Credit: Noel Lanier/OnPitRoad.com
It’s been 15 years since Greg Biffle last sat behind the wheel of a NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck. In fact, the last time he raced in the series the sponsor was still Craftsman, but now the 2000 series champion is strapping himself into a truck at Texas Motor Speedway for a practice session with the intention to race in the series in June.
The 16-time series winner and Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veteran is practicing the No. 51 Toyota for Kyle Busch Motorsports. He’ll run the same truck at Texas in June.
“I’ve always said that I would return to NASCAR in the right situation and when Kyle and I started talking about that KBM needed a driver for the June Texas race I felt like this was the right opportunity to return to the track and I’m thankful for the opportunity to be able to drive such good equipment,” Biffle said in a press release. “I started my career in the Truck Series and it was one of the greatest times of my life, so it’s going to be a lot of fun to get back behind the wheel of a truck.”
Biffle last ran in NASCAR during the 2016 Cup finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, finishing in 17th. Over the course of his career, he’s accumulated championships in both the Truck Series and the NASCAR XFINITY Series. He’s won 55 races in the top-three series.
For team owner Kyle Busch, it was an easy decision to put Biffle in the truck.
“As we were putting the finishing touches on our driver lineup for this year, we found ourselves looking for someone to drive the No. 51 Tundra in the June race and we are fortunate to be putting a driver of Greg’s caliber behind the wheel,” Busch said in a press release. “I’ve been friends with Greg for a long time and we’ve always joked about how it would be cool for him to drive trucks again. When this opportunity came about the talks got serious and we both decided it was smart decision.
“Not only is he capable of stepping right in and getting another win for the No. 51 team as we work towards the Owner’s Championship, he will also be an experienced teammate for Harrison (Burton) and Todd (Gilliland) to lean on that weekend as they try to secure a spot in the playoffs and pursue another Truck Series Driver’s Championship for our organization. Once we worked things out with Greg to race for us in the June event, we made a last-minute decision for him to get in the truck and make some laps in practice today and began working on getting all of the proper approvals and paperwork completed so that he is able to do so.”
A sponsorship announcement for Biffle’s truck start in June has yet to be announced.
