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Derek Griffith
Griffith at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2022
BornDerek P. Griffith
(1997-02-09) February 9, 1997 (age 27)
Hudson, New Hampshire
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
6 races run over 1 year
Best finish44th (2022)
First race2022 ToyotaCare 250 (Richmond)
Last race2022 Dead On Tools 250 (Martinsville)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
1 race run over 1 year
2021 position79th
First race2021 Toyota 200 (Gateway)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Statistics current as of July 16, 2022.

Derek P. Griffith (born February 9, 1997) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 26 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. Griffith has also competed in the ARCA Menards Series and super late model racing, winning the 2018 Pro All Stars Series national championship.

Racing career

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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 Claremont Motorsports Park 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 1, 2021, Kyle Busch Motorsports announced that Griffith would make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at World Wide Technology Raceway driving the No. 51.[27]

Personal life

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Griffith attended Alvirne High School.[28]

Motorsports career results

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NASCAR

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

Xfinity Series

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NASCAR Xfinity 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 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 NXSC Pts Ref
2022 Sam Hunt Racing 26 Toyota DAY CAL LVS PHO ATL COA RCH
26 		MAR
21 		TAL DOV DAR TEX CLT PIR NSH ROA ATL NHA
18 		POC IND MCH GLN DAY DAR KAN
27 		BRI TEX TAL
23 		CLT LVS HOM MAR
15 		PHO 44th 92 [29]

Camping World Truck Series

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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 [30]

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

ARCA Menards Series

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(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 		TOL
7 		TOL
5 		MCH DAY GTW L44 TOL BRI
9 		WIN MEM ISF KAN
3 		13th 293 [31]
2021 Venturini Motorsports 55 Toyota DAY
30 		PHO TAL 66th 54 [32]
25 KAN
5 		TOL CLT MOH POC ELK BLN IOW WIN GLN MCH ISF MLW DSF BRI SLM KAN

ARCA Menards Series East

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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 [33]
22 BRI
9 		FIF
13

References

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  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. ^ Tomlinson, Joy (July 1, 2021). "Derek Griffith Making 1st Truck Start at Gateway for KBM". Frontstretch. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  28. ^ Rice, Kevin (October 24, 2012). "Good news all around McKennedy, Gath, Griffith among those smiling". Lowell Sun. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  29. ^ "Derek Griffith – 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 6, 2024.
  30. ^ "Derek Griffith – 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  31. ^ "Derek Griffith – 2020 ARCA Menards Series results". Racing Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
  32. ^ "Derek Griffith – 2021 ARCA Menards Series results". Racing Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 18, 2021.
  33. ^ "Derek Griffith – 2020 ARCA Menards Series East results". Racing Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
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