Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on FOX - NASCAR Comes Together After Tragedy: Honoring Greg Biffle, Michael Annett & More

Episode Date: January 29, 2026

The NASCAR community comes together after a heartbreaking offseas as Kevin Harvick, Kaitlyn Vincie, and Mamba Smith reflect on the lives and legacies of several beloved figures across the sport on this episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour. The show honors the life and impact of Greg Biffle following the tragic plane crash that claimed him and members of his family, discussing his decorated NASCAR career, his reputation in the garage, and the generosity that defined him off the track. They also address the devastating loss experienced by Denny Hamlin’s family, the passing of former NASCAR driver Michael Annett, and the death of longtime team member Rick Otis Hodges, highlighting the often unseen people who make race weekends possible. Through thoughtful conversation and reflection, the crew examines how moments like these reveal the tight-knit nature of NASCAR and the strength of the racing community in times of loss. 0:00 - Intro 1:21 - Greg Biffle & Family Tragedy 11:05 - Denny Hamlin’s Family Tragedy 15:59 - Loss Of Michael Annett 17:58 - Loss Of Rick Otis Hodges Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

in our sport. I can be jumping over a car at somebody or mad at somebody. But all those drivers and all those team owners and all those crew members are always going to support what you do when something's wrong. You're going to find a group of people that are going to support you like you've never seen in basketball or football or baseball. Welcome to Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on Box. I'm Kevin Harvick. She's Caitlin Vinci and he's Momba Smith. Welcome in. Welcome in to another Season, season three.

Hard to believe, right? Hard to believe that we've already gone through two seasons of this. It went by so fast. It certainly has. We appreciate all the closers who've been along for the ride. Make sure you subscribe on YouTube wherever you get your podcast. Follow us, of course, on social media. So today's show is different than weeks past because today is about remembrance.

We lost a lot of members of our community over the last couple of months since we last had a show. So we felt it would be best to remember those people for our very first. episode of the year and, you know, shed light on some of the people who've made this sport so special over the years. And we will have a recap show tomorrow, but for today, it's going to be about these stories. So I want to start, obviously, with Greg Biffle and his family. Wife, Christina, Emma, Ryder, his children, they were killed in a tragic plane crash at Statesville Airport in December. This was a horrific, just shocking tragedy that took place. They recently held his memorial service to pay respects to the Biffle family.

Kevin, why don't you start just sharing your memories of Greg? Yeah, my first memory of Greg was 93, 94, somewhere 95, somewhere right in there. Greg was always from the Pacific Northwest and ran his late models up there. I ran, obviously, in the southwest section of the West Coast. But it was at the October Classic. Greg came and raced in that particular event. That was the first time that I got to race around Greg. And this particular night was what Greg Biffel was all about,

driving it no matter what the consequences were, as hard as it would go, trying to chase a win. And he drove the thing into the fence running second so hard off a turn two that it broke his leg. And that was the first time that I got to experience the intensity of Greg Biffel and his racing. And obviously, from that point forward, we got introduced to Greg Biffel at Winter Heat on the West Coast for the rest of the nation. And I think that, you know, that same Biffle that showed up to that late model race that night was the same guy that ran 20th, ran first, ran 15th.

It was that on the edge, drive it as hard as it would go, every single lap. And, you know, obviously the most famous incident that I had with Greg was grabbing him by the throat after, after, you know, the grand national race that we had at Bristol when he spun me out and I hit the fence. And so we had some intense rivalries along the way, but always had a good relationship with Greg that was very friendly. He drove for Roush and I drove for RCR. So it was never, it was never like we were, we were best friends. but, you know, I think from a competitor standpoint and just being able to appreciate who Greg was on the racetrack for what he did behind the wheel,

and basically coming from nothing to make a career out of what he did and built a great life for him and his family and to see, you know, the way that it all came to an end makes you really sit back and think about, I know when the plane accident happened, it really made me sit back and think about, about, all right, what's important? What are we doing here?

You know, it made you look at your kids and your wife and realized that that one moment could happen really, really quick. But, you know, I think that over the last several years, people have really got to see who Greg Biffel was and everything that he did from a giving standpoint and flying his helicopter up to the mountains to help with the situation that they had with all the floods and everything up there.

So intense competitor and better than anything, a great human being off the racetrack. Yeah, all my interactions with him are always very positive. He was always so gracious, I thought, kind to the media. We were kind of starting to see this new era of Greg Biffle because he won that truck race a couple years ago, 2019. Yeah, off the couch. He was coming around the racetrack a lot more with Cletus McFarland,

kind of mentoring him, helping him. His presence at the track, I thought, was always very welcomed by the fan base. So we were starting to see him a lot more often. And to your point, I think what will stay with me the most is his philanthropic efforts to the hurricane-haling victims. Because not many people would just take it upon themselves to use their own helicopter and even think to go do that. And he really started raising a lot of awareness

of what was going on out there because he was filming all of it, because there was a lot of limited information coming from that area at the time. And as I've mentioned before, I have homes there and employees who live there, and they were like, Greg Biffle has been the biggest help really that they had seen. And that speaks volumes about his character to me far more than something in a sport. Yeah. No, I mean, with that, he galvanized a lot of the country and the region to help. And people that had access to their own helicopters and things, they were like, this guy's doing it.

I want to jump on board with what this guy is doing. And I was out west when it happened. And the people I were, they're like, they're asking me about Greg. And I'm like, it was kind of hard because I was like thinking about it. And I'm like, this for our sport, for our industry, is probably similar to how a lot of the world felt when Kobe Bryant passed away. Just from the standpoint of what he did for our community. And he was like a big smile, big personality, one of the best ever strapping a race car. Asked for nothing.

Just did it. Just did for people. And like, and when I said it like that. people like, I think that really, they really understood it. Because a lot of people around the country understood what he was doing from a humanitarian aspect, which is far goes beyond what he did on track. But like the two things coincide, right? Like this ultra ultimate competitor was also this huge,

had this huge heart in this person that was able to do that. And when I first met Greg, I would like to say I was OD21, but I can't promise that for sure. and I met him out at a bar. And like when I was that young, it was like, holy shit. Like, this is Greg freaking Biffle. You know what I mean? He was so nice and we chopped it up.

And like we became buddies. And then later on I end up working for Randy Goss with Kyle Larson when Kyle won the what was the K&N championship. And Randy Goss was Greg's crew chief when he won his championships in trucks. and I think in the Grand National Series. And I would have asked for it. And I was like, who's the best guy that you ever seen? He's like, Greg Biffle.

And it wasn't even close. Like, it was quick and not even close. And like, I don't know, man. It just, it's, it's, it's, it's, to Kevin's point, like, you think about what's important in your life and, you know, the people that you have around you. And I remember when I, when I saw it, because it was at the beginning, it was just like a tail number. And we didn't know who was on or anything.

And I fired off a text. to Greg hoping to get the, yeah, no, bad deal, like in it, in it, and it just sat there and it never came back. And so that, yeah, it's sad. Yeah, and I think that, you know, you relate him to Kobe Bryant, but I think that what a lot of people don't realize in our sport, no matter I can be jumping over a car at somebody or mad at somebody, but all those drivers and all those team owners and all those crew members

are always going to support what you do when something's wrong. When something goes bad, it's just like Newman's wreck. I mean, I remember standing around the infield with Chrissy and the people that were not in the know, Chrissy wasn't there, but not in the know of what's going on. And you're going to find a group of people that are going to support you like you've never seen in basketball or football or baseball because we're always five feet apart.

You know, whether it's in the garage or it's in the motorhome lot, you're always five feet apart. And what I mean by that is you travel together every single week, and especially at this time when Greg was, you know, we were part of the Cup Series together or the Grand National Series or truck series. You traveled every single week. You were together whether you were with your team or not, because when you went into the garage, whoever you were around in points that week, that was who you're around. and then you go to the driver's meeting. And it's not like other sports where you're competing against a different team every time you go onto the floor.

You compete and see the same people week after week after week. And whether you are best friends with them or enemies with them, you're around them. But it is a very, very, very small community. And that's why these types of situations hit so hard when these types of things happen. It's a very tight-knit family.

And when these types of tragedies happen, I think you really see how much everybody kind of rallies around each other. And it was neat to see all the kind of tribute posts that people were making and the photos and things, video clips and stuff they were sharing from their time racing with Greg or just memories that they had with him after this happened. Yeah, I just, I loved that everyone was getting the true Greg Biffle at the race. I'm so thankful that Cletus was able to pull that out of him and really start bringing him and Christina. because Christina was behind the camera all the time,

like recording all the dumb stuff that Greg was doing with the sleeveless stuff. And I remember last year at Darlington, he was there. I think he ended up in the booth with you guys. Oh, yeah, that's right. So he drove the pace car. And I stuck my head in the window.

I said, you ain't got a hair on your ass if you don't do a burnout. He's like, I can't do it. I'm like, come on. He's like, all right. So right before they peeled off all to the racetrack. He did like a brake stand with the pace car.

You know what I mean? And that was just like Greg. Like that was just, he was always down for a good time, man. Yes, he was. We continued to think about the Biffle family, also to Craig Wadsworth family and Dennis Dutton, who were also involved in that tragic plane crash.

Yeah, and Jake. Yes, his son Jake. So we're thinking about all of them. And we are also thinking about Denny Hamlin's family because shortly after the plane crash, his parents' home caught fire, his father passed away, his mother was critically injured. has since told Bob Pockris that his mother is doing better. Her condition is starting to improve.

But Bob even asked him, you know, did you consider at one point not competing anymore? And he said, I considered everything, but I made a promise to Coach Gibbs. Yeah. And as we as we went through 2025, you know, I think that that inspiration for Denny Hamlin to do the things that he kept doing last year and try to win that championship. And we saw that emotion, I don't remember what race it was that he won late in the year. We saw that emotion that he talked about with his dad. And then, you know, you knew that he was in bad health. And Denny was battling through it week after week after week after week,

battling with his trying to keep his dad healthy, trying to manage the lawsuit, trying to manage everything that he had going on from the competition side, manage a race team. I just, you know, you wonder sometimes when you get into. to these scenarios, you're like, man, why does it keep piling on one person like that? And, you know, to be able to go through everything that Denny went through and then have the fire and have his dad pass away. And, you know, his mom, you know, involved in this scenario is just, it's a lot to deal with. And, you know, I think we saw the, we saw the relationship that was obviously there

and the gratitude that he had towards his father for what he had done to. And, you know, I think we saw, we saw, the relationship. We saw, in the he had towards his father for what he had done to him in his life. And I think when you get into these scenarios, when you know time is short, you start to think about those things a lot more than what you do on a normal day-to-day basis. And you could see that on Denny's mind as he went through the year and then to have it, you know, have this scenario on top of that to deal with through the off season. And I don't think anybody would have blamed him if he had just said, I'm going to walk away. But I think in the end and, you know, we had this conversation, Richard Childress used to have

this conversation with us a lot as to why he kept racing. And, you know, I think that the conversation that he and Dale Earnhardt had about continuing to race if something happened to one or the other of them and that promise that he made, I think that this is probably a very similar situation. I don't, I don't know that Denny's dad would have wanted anything more for him to go out there and do what he loved to do. and the legacy that they were able to build together and see it blossom into a career and a life of what Denny has now. I think that, you know, I think his dad most likely would have wanted him to keep going. So tough scenarios to have to deal with.

Denny Hamlin has definitely been battle tested over the last couple of months. And obviously he's made the choice to continue racing. I feel like if anybody could be even tougher coming through something like this, it's probably a guy like Denny Hamlin. He said to Bob that he doesn't feel quite race ready yet, but he knows he's going to get there. And I imagine in some ways racing is a little bit therapeutic. Yeah, therapeutic for him. Me strapped into that race car.

And do what you do best. And let me turn it on and do what I, because when you're in that car, nothing else matters. And it's just that. And I really feel for Denny and his family, the emotional roller coaster. of the entire year. And then that, losing his dad by itself. Like, that by itself is just, like, I'm very close with my dad. And he's got me to this point to sit in this chair with y'all.

And, like, the thought of losing him drives me to do a lot of certain things, like, together and all those things, right? And I can't imagine how he's feeling when he was trying to get to this goal throughout this entire year. And then his dad was with him every step of the way. And then it to be something like this that's not a completely wild event of a fire. And it's just I feel so bad for him. And to you guys' point, if he would have said, you know what? like I'm done. I don't think anyone would have thought anything different about it.

I spoke to him at the hangar shoot. Obviously, I didn't bring this up. But, I mean, he seemed like he was okay. He seemed like he was in good spirits for the most part. I feel like he will be very motivated to go out there and do his job that we know he can do very well. But we continue to think about the Hamlin family, his mother. That is just, once again, a very devastating tragedy as well.

Continuing that, we lost a driver, former driver Michael Annette. over the offseason as well. Had a career path going through ARCA Xfinity full-time competition with Junior Motorsports, which is what I will remember him for is racing the Xfinity series. Just kind of a very outgoing, just life-of-the-party kind of guy.

He always was. But once again, a very sad thing to happen in our community. Yeah, and I think as you look at the community and everything, it's just like it kept coming. Oh, my God. It was just one event after another. and, you know, Michael was always a great personality that we had on the Grand National side to run those cars and his path up through his career.

And like you say, you know, he was always having a good time. But when he was in the garage, very quiet. You knew him. Yeah. You knew him a lot better than I did. Yeah, no, he, I mean, he was pretty, like, soft-spoken. And he was about his business. Like, he loved driving race cars.

And he like pilot in the Flying J like that that they're like synonymous with racing, you know, slamming Sammy Swindell like drove those cars all the time on the dirt circuits. And now, you know, Sammy Smith has that same, you know, the same paint scheme, the same logos. And their families are very close. And Michael was just a really nice guy. Like he was always smiling. He's always having a good time. Kind of like Biff, like at the, at the bar.

It was who needs to drink? who needs it, you know what I mean? And just, it's just for me, this one, because we're closer in age, like, you know, Greg was like an idol of mine and became a friend. Michael, I always looked at as someone that was like a friend, like someone that I grew up with him. And he was just always something you could call and he was always there to help. And he's just a very bright spot in the world as a human being. So it's very sad.

Yeah, we're continuing. to have the Annette family in our thoughts as we do for Rick Otis Hodges family as well. Yeah. This is tough. I know you, we're very close with him. He's a longtime member of our NASCAR community. You worked with him for a lot of years. Do you want to share your memories?

You want to talk about a personality. This man, Otis, is the only thing that I ever called him. I forgot the name was Rick, to be honest. Yeah, I mean, from the very first day that I ever walked in. But, I mean, you remember him from the DEI days, right? Like he's just one of those personalities. There's just certain guys that you know in the garage. And Otis was a truck driver and obviously involved on the Budweiser team for a long time.

And then he came over to Stuart Haas. When I got there, he was already there. So became friends right from the very beginning. And he was always over the top with everything that I ever needed, no matter what time it was. The truck was immaculate. all the time. Always. And if there was a fingerprint, a piece of dirt on the floor, he was the guy in their vacuum in, and you know, you look back at my championship in 2014, he's the guy that's carrying a flag. For those of you don't know, Otis, he's the guy that would carry the, that carried

the flag to my car and stuck it in the window. And so that was a really, really tight-knit group of people. As you know, you worked in that shop as well during that time. And so, Even when notice, you know, ended his life and his career at Legacy Motorsports, I'll always, always remember him as our truck driver and a great friend of everything that we did at Stewart Haas Racing. Yeah, he's like, he was like that crazy uncle. Grandpa. He was crazy.

He was a grandpa. I was trying to give him some credit. Like, he was easily. I always called him grams. He was easily one of the oldest guys in the shop, but his love. for the sport, like his fire was burning hot. Like he wasn't going, you, you weren't getting him out of what he was doing. Like, he was not going to quit doing what he hated to lose.

He was a hyper focus, hyper competitive. And he was just like, he won everything perfect. Like, he fit into the four group perfect because the standard was so high for that group. And he took his job at that same level. And I think, you know, every department has, like, leaders in their department. He definitely was, like, one of the leaders of the truck drivers. Like, this is how we do stuff. Like, look at how Otis does it.

He taught, I know he taught numerous guys how to do the job and do it well. And he was just like, he was like a super, like, that's the thing with, everyone in our sport, there's such good people. Yeah. And, like, every time we talk about someone, it's, oh, this guy was great. But that's really how it was. And Otis was... How many times did you get this?

It was like, hey boss. It was during a rain delay or we were at a test or something. Hey boss, we're going to run across street and get some milkshakes. You want chocolate or vanilla. That was my favorite. And he's got this deep southern accent.

You know what I mean? It was just like, oh man. Otis was the man. He actually drove me to urgent care because I had an accident at the shop. Oh, no. And I remember, like, it wasn't that bad, but it was bad.

enough, right? So I have this cut or whatever. And it took a minute and he's like, all right, Otis, we need to take him to urgent care. It's like, all right? So we get in the truck. And the sun is beaten on me through the window, right? And I'm like tired. I got blood sugar is getting kind of low. I said, Otis. I said, my eyes are getting heavy. But I know I shouldn't shut up. He's like, but you're fine. Like just go to sleep. I said, no, Otis, I don't want to die. Like he was just, he drove me there. It was so funny. I just, Otis was great. Yeah. He used to always, he loved to play golf.

Yeah. Well. You know, so they were always, they were always playing golf on the weekends or, I think he went through a small phase as well trying to ride the road bikes with everybody. He did try to do that. Yeah, that was pretty, that was pretty entertaining. And, but, you know, he was, he was always one that was, that was going to sit down and have a beer with you and have a good time, always really, really high strong.

Yes. Really? Very energetic. You walk with pace. Yes. Everywhere. Yeah. And so.

My favorite Otis moment was one of my favorites. There's so many moments with Otis because of the fact that he's just his personality. But we had an extra ticket to go to the Masters one year. And I called him and I said, hey, you always wear me out about wanting to go to the Masters. I said, I got an extra ticket. And he paused. He said, I have to call you back. I'm like, okay.

To the Master. I got to call you back. Call back. He called me back. He's like, you aren't going to believe this. But I promised my wife that I have to go to the Mountain House this weekend. and I don't even know how I can tell you that I can't go to the Masters. I've been asking this for probably seven or eight years,

and I can't go. And from that moment on, I trust you, the very first thing that I would have in that conversation is, you will never be invited again. Every time that I would talk to him, just remember, Otis,

you are never invited again, because the one time that you had a ticket to go to the Masters, you did not go. So I never let him live down. Hey, happy wife, happy life, though. He was trying to keep his wife happy. That's fair. He was always, he was always pretty,

happy. And when you were mad, there were very few times that I ever saw him mad, but when he was mad, it had got to the boiling point. Yeah, it wasn't like randomly. It was like, this has been coming for a minute. Whoever got it deserved it. Yeah. Great person. We are thinking about his family as well. We continue to think about all of the loved ones and families who were impacted by these losses. And like you said, moments like these put a lot into perspective about how close-knit this group is that just gets tighter when things like this happen. So, um, thank you. you guys for tuning into this very first episode of 2026 on Harvick Happy Hour. Make sure you subscribe on YouTube wherever you get your podcast. As I mentioned, we will have a full off-season recap show.

There is a lot to discuss, right, guys? I mean, it's a busy off-season. Yes, and I can't wait. I'm so excited. I love the start of the season. Yeah, that episode drops Friday, everybody. So make sure you tune in. All right, we'll see you then.