NASCAR Star Greg Biffle’s Wife Cristina Texted Her Mom ‘We’re in Trouble’ Minutes Before They Died in Plane Crash
“They embraced every aspect of their life and every moment,“Cristina‘s mom Cathy tells PEOPLE
Cristina Grossu Biffle’s mother Cathy tells PEOPLE her daughter texted her, “We’re in trouble,” before dying sideways husband and NASCAR champion Greg Biffle in a plane crash
Cathy says the family was headed out for a birthday trip when the tragedy occurred, and says she’s “devastated” and “brokenhearted”
Biffle and Cristina, plus their son Ryder and his daughter Emma, along with three others, died in the crash.
NASCAR
NASCAR champion Greg Biffle’s wife Cristina sent a harrowing message moments before the deadly plane crash that killed the couple, their family and three others, Cristina’s mother tells PEOPLE.
Just before her death on Thursday, Dec. 18, Cristina Grossu Biffle texted her mother Cathy Grossu, writing, “We’re in trouble,” Cathy tells PEOPLE.
“She texted me from the plane and she said, ‘We’re in trouble.’ And that was it,” says Cathy, crying. “So we’re devastated. We’re brokenhearted.”
The crash killed seven people in total: Greg, 55, Cristina, their son Ryder, 5, and Greg’s daughter Emma, 14 (who he shared with ex-wife Nicole Lunders); plus Dennis Dutton and his son Jack; and Craig Wadsworth.
The group was headed out for a “birthday trip” in Florida, Cathy says.
“To think that they would have been killed on a birthday trip, that was just such a fun time for the family,” she says. “And to see the horrific way that it ended, it’s just, it is so hard to bear. I cannot believe they’re gone.”
Just the day before, Cristina and Greg were at her home.
“I don’t remember what the last words that I said to my daughter or to Greg or to my precious Ryder,” Cathy says. “I don’t remember. I know we hugged, but I don’t remember those last words and that’s going to haunt me. But they were happy.”
Cathy says her grandson Ryder and step-granddaughter Emma, as well as Greg, “had so much life” and were “doing so many good things” before the tragedy.
They embraced every aspect of their life and every moment,” she shares. “And it’s such a loss. They touched so many people’s lives. It is so hard to bear. I cannot believe they’re gone.”
Cathy says that one of her last conversations with her daughter was about Santa letters that Cristina would send “at her own expense” to families in need.
“She said, ‘Mom, can you go pick up the last 17 letters that are at Staples? I want to get them in the mail before I get on the plane tomorrow,’ ” Cathy shares.
“So I ran over and got ’em and took them to their house, and when they got home last night, she put them in envelopes and finished them all up to get them off to those last 17 families to bring joy to them, and that would be the last thing that she would’ve done.”
A friend of Cristina’s, Erica Zangwill, tells PEOPLE the mother of two “had the biggest heart” and “loved helping other people before herself,” on Thursday.
“She was a one in a million individual and I can’t believe she’s gone,” says Zangwill, President and CEO of the Carolina Aviators Network.
Initial reports that Biffle’s plane had crashed didn’t identify the victims. A friend of the family, Rep. Richard Hudson, later confirmed the Biffle family had died in a statement on
“I am devastated by the loss of Greg, Cristina, and their children, and my heart is with all who loved them,” Hudson wrote.
They were friends who lived their lives centered on helping others. Greg was a great NASCAR champion who thrilled millions of fans. “But he was an extraordinary person as well, and will be remembered for his service to others as much as for his fearlessness on the track.”
The families of the Biffles, the Duttons and Wadsworth recalled them in a statement on Thursday afternoon.
“We are devastated by the loss of our loved ones. This tragedy has left all of our families heartbroken beyond words,” the statement reads.
STATESVILLE, N.C. (WBTV) – Former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and his immediate family members died in a plane crash in Iredell County on Thursday morning, officials confirmed Thursday afternoon.
Bibble was one of seven people killed when a small plane crashed at Statesville Regional Airport at around 10:15 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 18, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said Thursday afternoon.
Former NASCAR driver Greg Biffle, his family killed in Statesville plane crash, officials confirm on Dec. 18, 2025
It was not immediately clear who else was killed in the crash, but the highway patrol said Biffle’s immediate family members were believed to be on board and also killed.
Biffle was married to Cristina Grossu and had two children, a 5-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter. Biffle shared his 14-year-old daughter with his ex-wife Nicole Lunders.
It’s believed Biffle, Grossu, and his two children were killed Thursday. It wasn’t immediately known who else was aboard the plane at the time of the crash.
Highway patrol officials said it was difficult to immediately identify those aboard the plane due to the fire that accompanied the crash.
“Although the post-crash fire prevents us from releasing a definitive list of the occupants at this time, it is believed that Mr. Gregory Biffle and members of his immediate family were occupants of the airplane,” state highway patrol said. “We will be able to provide a compiled list on the seven occupants once confirmation has been made by the medical examiner’s office.”
Authorities had initially reported that six people were aboard the plane. That detail was updated Thursday afternoon.
What we know about the crash
Bibble and his family were flying in a Cessna C550 when it crashed at Statesville Regional Airport around 10:15 a.m. on Dec. 18.
Pictures and videos of the crash aftermath showed the airplane in a ball of fire after it hit the ground.
It was not immediately known why the plane crashed.
The aircraft departed from the Statesville airport around 10:06 a.m., according to flight tracking records. It appeared to only get as far as the Lyle Creek area in Catawba before turning around.
The aircraft appeared to have crashed in the area of 17th Tee Lane and East Aviation Drive, close to the runway.
The airport is owned by the city of Statesville and frequented by Fortune 500 companies.
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