While there were many who learned under Greg Biffle, there were quite a few who also started their racing journey due to him. That’s the story of one such rookie ARCA driver. And no, Biffle didn’t finance him; his words alone were enough.

ARCA rookie on Greg Biffle’s motivation

“Oh, the Biff is my freaking boy. Literally. He paved the way for us to do NASCAR.” George Siciliano, AKA Squirrel McNutt, recently made his ARCA East debut at the Hickory Motor Speedway. While his debut performance wasn’t very impressive, finishing seven laps down from the race winner, what mattered more was that he managed to enter the competition.

As he prepares for his next race at the Rockingham Speedway with a special tribute to Biffle on his car (his decal in Biffle’s style), he reflects on how Greg Biffle helped him give his career a clear path.

“We wanted to do the 500, Daytona 500, Biff said you’ve got to start here. Dude, I would have never in a million years thought that it was like a real opportunity to do something like this, but really, all you got to do is just do it. You can find a sponsor, and you can find a team to work with you, be a good guy, work hard. That’s literally all it takes,” he explained.

Understandably, getting into racing can be rather difficult without proper guidance. This was the part, however, where Siciliano was a bit luckier than the others. For years now, he has been a close friend and associate of Garrett Mitchell, AKA Cleetus McFarland, who was a close friend and mentee to the late Greg Biffle.

The two had worked together in many videos and had become close family friends later on. In fact, on the day that Biffle and his family passed away in the tragic plane crash, they were on their way to meet McFarland.

The crash shook the entire motorsports world. Biffle was loved by many, especially his fans, and his early passing, including his family, left a void for many. McFarland also expressed his grief over social media, but now he’s taking Biffle’s racing legacy to the next level as he prepares for an important debut.

Biffle’s close friend to make NOAPS debut at Rockingham Speedway

Rockingham Speedway returned to the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series calendar just last year. As the drivers prepare for the Easter weekend race, there would be quite a lot going on the race track, including Cleetus McFarland’s debut.

He is set to drive for Richard Childress Racing’s #33 Chevrolet, the same number that has been carried by Tony Stewart, Austin Dillon, and Kyle Busch in the past. Considering the car’s regular success in the past, something similar is expected from McFarland.

He has been actively involved in NASCAR this year. Earlier, he made his Truck Series debut with Niece Motorsports at Daytona. Although that race ended with some disappointment for McFarland, better could be expected from the upcoming event at the Rockingham Speedway. Moreover, he will also be joining George Siciliano on the same track in the ARCA East race, piloting Ford’s #30.

Even though Greg Biffle’s passing was tragic, it is drivers like these who are still carrying his legacy forward in racing. Racing earlier at Darlington, RFK Racing also paid a tribute to Biffle with throwback liveries on all three of its cars.

Biffle is missed, and for all the right reasons. As Siciliano said, Biffle helped him kick-start his racing career; many others developed under him and are still actively involved in racing.