Greg Biffle, who hasn't contested a NASCAR national-level race since 2016, will be behind the wheel of the #51 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyotqa for Friday night's SpeedyCash.com 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. The race will be Biffle's first in the Truck Series since a single start in 2004.
“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. “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 parted ways with Roush Fenway Racing, the team with which he raced in all three of NASCAR's national divisions throughout his entire NASCAR career, at the end of the 2016 season. He never announced retirement, instead saying he would only accept seats in which he could legitimately contend for race wins.
Biffle was the 2000 Truck Series champion. His 16-career wins in the series include a win at TMS during his championship season. Biffle also won two Cup Series races at Texas, one in 2005 and most recently in 2012.
“As we were putting the finishing touches on our driver lineup for this year, we found ourselves looking for someone to drive the #51 Tundra in the June race, and we are fortunate to be putting a driver of Greg’s caliber behind the wheel,” KBM owner Kyle Busch said. “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 #51 team as we work towards the owner’s championship, he will also be an experienced teammate for Harrison and Todd 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.”
Biffle made a few laps around Texas Motor Speedway in a KBM truck during a practice session ahead of the March 29 Truck Series race there. Busch drove the #51 in that race and won. Busch won all five races in which he drove the #51 this season.