Greg Biffle's exclusion from 2027 NASCAR HOF class surprising

When Greg Biffle was once again announced as a nominee for the NASCAR Hall of Fame class of 2027, it almost seemed like he'd be a shoo-in for induction alongside 2014 Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick. 

Biffle, who died in a December 2025 plane crash at age 55, won 19 Cup Series races, along with 20 in the NASCAR O'Reilly Series and the 2002 championship. He also won 17 races and the 2000 title in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. 

Harvick was chosen as a member of the 2027 Hall of Fame class on Monday by a panel of voters made up of former drivers, journalists and NASCAR executives, as was weekly racing legend Larry Phillips. 

Biffle was not. 

It was a surprising exclusion, given Biffle's recent death and the fact that Biffle was beloved by many for his off-track humanitarian work, especially his efforts to help those affected by Hurricane Helene in the fall of 2024. 

It's not that Burton, a 21-time Cup winner and current analyst for NASCAR on NBC, isn't deserving of enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. But it's surprising that he beat out Biffle for the vote this year in the wake of Biffle's death and the outpouring of support for Biffle that followed. 

What the numbers say

Even from a strictly statistical standpoint, the two men are close to equal in regard to their Cup Series resumes. Biffle won 19 times in 515 starts, giving him a win rate of 3.7 percent. Burton's 21 victories came in 695 starts, a win rate of 3.0 percent.

Burton also never had the success at the lower levels of the sport that Biffle did. While he did win more races in the O'Reilly Series (27 to Biffle's 20), he never won a title in either the O'Reilly Series or Craftsman Truck Series, making only four starts in the latter.

Burton finished top-10 in the Cup Series standings eight times to Biffle's six, and it could be argued that Burton had the better prime in the 1990s. He finished top-five in the standings in four straight years from 1997-2000. 

But Biffle came the closest to a Cup Series title of the two, finishing second to Tony Stewart in the 2005 standings. Had he won the 2005 championship, he'd have been the first, and so far only, driver to win a championship in all three of NASCAR's national touring series. 

Biffle did have three more opportunities to make the Chase, which was first implemented in 2004, than Burton, but made the postseason seven times in 13 tries (2004-16). That's a better ratio than Burton, who made the Chase four times in 10 seasons (2004-13).

Burton is deserving of his Hall of Fame nod and continues to have a positive impact on NASCAR in retirement. But Biffle at least equaled him, if not beat him, in regard to statistics and the eye test on the racetrack and impacted the lives of many off it. 

Biffle will assuredly get his day in the sun soon enough and be posthumously inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. It's just surprising that day wasn't Tuesday.