Derek Griffith

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Derek Griffith
Griffith ARCA East Pole 2020.jpg
Griffith after winning the ARCA East pole at New Smyrna Speedway in 2020
NationalityUnited States American
Born (1997-02-09) February 9, 1997 (age 24)
Hudson, New Hampshire
Related to
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
1 race run over 1 year
First race2021 Toyota 200 (Gateway)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Statistics current as of August 20, 2021.
ARCA Menards Series career
Debut season2020
Current teamVenturini Motorsports
Car number55
EngineToyota
Crew chiefTBA
Starts8
Championships0
Wins0
Poles0
Best finish13th (2020) in 2020
Finished last season13th
Awards
2018

2015		Pro All Stars Series national champion
Granite State Pro Stock Series champion
Last updated on: January 16, 2021.

Derek Griffith (born February 9, 1997) is an American professional stock car racing driver who competes part-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 55 Toyota for Venturini Motorsports. Griffith has also competed in super late model racing, winning the 2018 Pro All Stars Series national championship.

Racing career[]

In his early years, Griffith raced at Hudson Speedway in New Hampshire, running four-cylinder cars.[1] While in the kids' division at Hudson, Griffith was nicknamed "The Rock Star" for his long-haired appearance.[2]

He moved up from four-cylinders to super late models (SLMs) in 2012 and ran full-time in the Granite State Pro Stock Series in 2014.[3] He won the 2015 GSPSS championship.[4][5] In 2016, Griffith returned to the GSPSS, won the DAV Fall Classic at Seekonk Speedway and claimed his first career Pro All Stars Series (PASS) win.[6][7][8] Griffith claimed two PASS North victories in 2017.[9]

In 2018, Griffith won the PASS North Icebreaker at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, and claimed the PASS national championship.[10][11] The majority of the title run was contested with a Lefthander chassis more than a decade old.[12] He also started racing more outside of New Hampshire, venturing to South Carolina and Florida.[13]

In 2019, he held on to the PASS North points lead until the final race, when DJ Shaw overtook Griffith.[14] He also acquired a new Fury Race Cars SLM chassis to race at the Snowball Derby, as Griffith's main chassis was not well suited for Florida rules variations.[15] Griffith also took part in the Kulwicki Driver Development Program in 2019,[16] and won Oktoberfest at Lee USA Speedway.[17]

Griffith scored the cumulative title at the 2020 World Series of Asphalt.[18] Chad Bryant Racing later signed Griffith to make his ARCA Menards Series East debut in the season-opening Skip's Western Outfitters 175.[19] The drive came after Griffith meeting with CBR crew chief Paul Andrews through the Kulwicki Driver Development Program.[20] He won the pole for the race.[21] After finishing second in his debut race, Griffith and CBR secured enough funding to run a full East schedule in 2020.[22] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CBR and Griffith discontinued their full-season East effort after one race and started running part-time in the national ARCA Menards Series.[23] He continued racing super late models in 2020, winning Granite State Nationals at in September.[24] A weekend after that, Griffith won the Freedom 300 and associated $10,000 paycheck at Lee USA Speedway.[25] He also continued to make appearances in the Granite State Pro Stock Series.[26]

For 2021, Griffith remained in ARCA for another part-time schedule and moved from Chad Bryant Racing (which closed down and merged their ARCA operations into GMS Racing for 2021) to Venturini Motorsports. He drove their No. 55 Toyota in two races, which were the season-opener at Daytona as well as Kansas in May. Griffith would also drive for the team in ARCA's Daytona test session in January before the start of the season.

On July 1st, 2021 It was announced that Griffith would make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at World Wide Technology Raceway driving the #51 for Kyle Busch Motorsports

Personal life[]

Griffith attended Alvirne High School.[27]

Motorsports career results[]

NASCAR[]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Camping World Truck Series[]

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 NCWTC Pts Ref
2021 Kyle Busch Motorsports 51 Toyota DAY DAY LVS ATL BRI RCH KAN DAR COA CLT TEX NSH POC KNX GLN GTW
26 		DAR BRI LVS TAL MAR PHO 79th 11 [28]

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

ARCA Menards Series[]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Menards Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 AMSC Pts Ref
2020 Chad Bryant Racing 22 Ford DAY PHO TAL POC
8 		IRP
12 		KEN
7 		IOW KAN
8
7 		TOL
5 		MCH DAY GTW L44 TOL BRI
9 		WIN MEM ISF KAN
3 		13th 293 [29]
2021 Venturini Motorsports 55 Toyota DAY
30 		PHO TAL 66th 54 [30]
25 KAN
5 		TOL CLT MOH POC ELK BLN IOW WIN GLN MCH ISF MLW DSF BRI SLM KAN

ARCA Menards Series East[]

ARCA Menards Series East results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 AMSEC Pts Ref
2020 Chad Bryant Racing 2 Ford NSM
2* 		TOL DOV TOL 12th 111 [31]
22 BRI
9 		FIF
13

References[]

  1. ^ Sullivan, Connor (February 8, 2020). "New Hampshire Racer Getting His Shot at ARCA East". Speed51. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  2. ^ Evans, Zach (May 28, 2019). "Interview With 'The Rock Star' Derek Griffith Gets Hairy". Speed51. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  3. ^ Paul, Brandon (April 10, 2015). "Door Opens for Vets, Young Guns to Chase GSPSS Title". Speed51. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  4. ^ Sullivan, Connor (February 8, 2020). "New Hampshire Racer Getting His Shot at ARCA East". Speed51. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  5. ^ Sullivan, Connor (March 11, 2020). "Griffith Gets Backing For Full ARCA East Season". Speed51. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  6. ^ "Griffith Ready to Chase Another Granite State Pro Stock Title". Speed51. March 2, 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  7. ^ Sullivan, Connor (October 30, 2016). "LM: Griffith Finds Redemption in DAV Fall Classic at Seekonk". Speed51. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  8. ^ "Griffith and Ramstrom Battle Leads to First-Time PASS Winner". Speed51. August 13, 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  9. ^ "Griffith Nabs Second PASS Win of the Season at WMMP". Speed51. September 26, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  10. ^ Paul, Brandon (April 8, 2018). "Griffith Continues Stellar Start to Season With Thompson Win". Speed51. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  11. ^ Modestino, Lou (May 27, 2019). "Derek Griffith prevails in PASS Super Late Model race at Thunder Road". Patriot Ledger. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  12. ^ Whipple, Phil (September 21, 2018). "Battle for PASS North Championship Hits the Homestretch". Speed51. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  13. ^ Sullivan, Connor (February 5, 2019). "Griffith Hopes He Has What He Needs for New Smyrna". Speed51. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  14. ^ Paul, Brandon (October 26, 2019). "Rollercoaster Saturday at Seekonk Decides PASS North Champion". Speed51. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  15. ^ Paul, Brandon (November 29, 2019). "Griffith Heading to the Derby With New Car & Funny Scheme". Speed51. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  16. ^ "Battle for 2019 Kulwicki Cup Going Down to the Wire". Speed51. October 11, 2019. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  17. ^ Pettigrew, Ian (October 7, 2019). "The Student Becomes the Teacher at Lee Oktoberfest". Speed51. Retrieved September 27, 2020.
  18. ^ Segal, Davey (February 16, 2020). "Ty Majeski Earns Orange Blossom 100 Win, Derek Griffith Wins World Series". NASCAR.com. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  19. ^ "Derek Griffith Making ARCA East Debut". Speed Sport. February 10, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  20. ^ Allen, Richard (March 4, 2020). "Derek Griffith working toward more opportunities in ARCA ride". Inside Circle Track. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  21. ^ Segal, Davey (February 10, 2020). "QUALIFYING: Derek Griffith Scores First Career Pole". ARCA Menards Series. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  22. ^ "Bryant Secures Griffith For Full ARCA East Season". Speed Sport. March 11, 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  23. ^ "Chad Bryant Racing adjusts ARCA Menards Series East plans". Chad Bryant Racing. June 11, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  24. ^ Pettigrew, Ian (September 6, 2020). "Griffith Leaves No Doubt With $10,000 Victory at Claremont". Speed51. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  25. ^ Brown, Jeff (September 12, 2020). "Griffith Picks Up Another $10K in Curfew-Curtailed Freedom 300". Short Track Scene. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  26. ^ Pettigrew, Ian (October 4, 2020). "Griffith Goes to Victory Lane Again at Lee Oktoberfest". Speed51. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  27. ^ Rice, Kevin (October 24, 2012). "Good news all around McKennedy, Gath, Griffith among those smiling". Lowell Sun. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  28. ^ "Derek Griffith". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  29. ^ "Derek Griffith – 2020 ARCA Menards Series results". Racing Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  30. ^ "Derek Griffith – 2021 ARCA Menards Series results". Racing Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  31. ^ "Derek Griffith – 2020 ARCA Menards Series East results". Racing Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved September 19, 2020.

External links[]

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