User:Pamdhiga/GriffAllenEdits

The diverse career of Griff Allen includes being a motorsports broadcaster, engineer/inventor, actor/performer, on-site announcer/emcee, and communications/media skills trainer. Allen is best known for his regular appearances on ESPN2 as host, pit reporter and expert analyst for Speedworld, In the Driver’s Seat, The Mother’s Polish Car Show Series, Inside Drag Racing, World of Trucks by the Outdoor Channel, and other programming. He gained his greatest visibility as one of the first and one of the longest-running broadcasters of the sport compact broadcast wave as NIRA, IDRA, IDRC, NHRA, Summer Slam, NOPI Nationals and other sanctions and promoters started airing their events on Speedvision, Spike, SPEED Channel, and ESPN2.

Allen performs live analysis and commentary for AMA Superbike , ASRA, CCS, monster truck events, motocross, arenacross, drifting, rock crawling, car shows, major industry trade shows and auto shows.

Allen served as the national spokesperson for the Toyo Tires Take it to the Track program - which discourages illegal street racing. He has appeared frequently on local TV stations nationwide addressing issues of transportation-related public safety.

Engineer/Inventor

Prior to his broadcasting career, Allen worked in the industries of steel production, fluid systems component manufacturing, actuator development and investment casting. He was awarded patent number 5,822,989 for his work in developing a fuel-saving clutch mechanism used in the heavy trucking industry. Allen holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Actor/Performer

Griff Allen has theater and film experience. He appeared as Captain Georg von Trapp in The Sound of Music and William Harrison Brent in the Ohio premier of Perfect Crime at Chagrin Valley Little Theater. He appeared as Mark Ferris in London Suite and Mike Connor in High Society with The Gates Mills Players - where he also directed the Pulitzer Prize for Drama nominated play Love Letters by A. R. Gurney. He also appeared as Brett - a police officer in the 2001 HBO movie Proximity, and as a Desk Sergeant in the film Sugar. Allen appeared as a CDC Official in Diagnosis: Unknown on the Discovery Health Channel. He has appeared in numerous radio and television commercials - most notably for Summit Racing Equipment.

Motorsports Broadcaster

Allen was introduced to TV broadcasting and production through his volunteer work with the American Red Cross public access TV show Crossviews. He learned all aspects of TV including production, directing, scripting, editing, videography, voiceover and on-camera work from veteran and pioneering broadcaster Ceatta Mickey. In 1997, while producing his own public access program about racing - Speed TV - he was invited to host Speedvision’s Competition Offshore - which covered APBA offshore powerboat racing. Allen was also briefly a sports producer at Cleveland's FOX 8 under Casey Coleman.

Allen was the first to place a drifting event on broadcast television with the August 2005 Toyo Tires Drift Shootout Presented by Kawasaki. The event was broadcast a total of three times on ESPN2 and was won by Vaughn Gitten Jr. At the time of the event, with an event purse of over $11,000 (USD); it was the highest purse-paying drifting event to date. The purse was paid by Toyo Tires (Pro) and Kawasaki (Amateur).

Allen has hosted all but the first GT Live events. He has co-hosted or served as production designer for most XDL events with Thomas Evans. GT Live and XDL are Paramax USA properties. At the 2006 XDL US Stunt Riding Championship Finals–which took place April 14 and 15, 2007 in the parking lot of Scores in Las Vegas, Nevada–Allen produced a two-camera Beta SP shoot of the Stuntride.com Sickest Trick competition and the XDL's top 11 finalists' Individual Freestyle Eliminations. The shoot was for two 30-minute television broadcasts of the event to air on Mav TV. This represents the first time that Sport Bike Freestyle Competition has been broadcast as an event on television.

Allen co-hosts ESPN2's Bidding Wars. In its first season, the program ran during the second quarter of 2007. The second season ran in the second quarter of 2008. In 2007, it was said to be ESPN2's highest rated program in its Saturday morning / Wednesday or Thursday afternoon motorsports block with a high rating of 4.1 - outperforming NASCAR Today. The program was voiced over by David "Doc" Riley, was hosted by Bill Stephens and was co-hosted by Genevieve Chappell. The entire first and second seasons of programming were shot over the course of four days of the Labor Day weekend at the Kruse International Classic Car Auction and Show in Auburn, Indiana. For the 2008 broadcast season, Genevieve Chappell and Allen return as co-hosts while Stephen Cox replaced Bill Stephens as the host. David "Doc" Riley return as the Voice of God. In one 2008 episode, Allen bid on the Ducati ST2 that Wesley Snipes rode in Blade 2.

At the 2008 AMA Daytona 200 presented by Honda at Daytona International Speedway, Allen shot several tape-delay segments for Speed to air through the 2008 broadcast season.

On-site Announcer/Emcee

Griff Allen hosted the 2005, 2006 and 2007 SEMA Show Proving Grounds and the 2006 and 2007 SEMA Spring Expo / SEMA Off-Road Proving Grounds. At both the 2006 SEMA Show and the 2007 Spring Expo, he interviewed Ivan "Ironman" Stewart. At the 2007 SEMA Off-Road Show, he moderated The Performance Diesel Panel - made up of Mark Williams, editor of Truck Trend magazine; Kevin Wilson, editor of Diesel World; John Waraniak, SEMA Vice President of Vehicle Technology; Harald Hanks, BD Diesel Performance; and Ron Knoch, then from the Diesel Hot Rod Association (DHRA). At the 2007 SEMA Show, he appeared in a televised segment with Will Castro shot for Speed's Unique Whips.

At The Promotion Company's 2007 Spring 4 X 4 event at the Allen County Fairgrounds in Lima, Ohio; Allen appeared as a judge in ESPN2's Mother's Polish Car Show Series with Kathy Fisher (Host) and Doc Riley (Judge).

Allen hosted the 2008 AMA Sports Banquet at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. The AMA Pro Racing Banquet took place the following evening and was hosted by Todd Harris and Erin Bates.

Communications/Media Skills Trainer

Allen offers communications and media skills training under the brand @thletic Xpression Communication Clinic^tm. He has delivered this training to the staff and sponsored racers of Toyo Tires, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, The United States Grand Prix Racers Union, all riders in the 2008 AMA US Red Bull Rookies Cup, students of Mount Union College, private clients and others.

Motorsport Sanctions or Disciplines Covered by Griff Allen

Road Racing: Formula 1, Champ Car, IRL, Toyota Atlantic, Trans-Am, SCCA, E-Modified (Wayne County Speedway)

Drag Racing: NHRA Sport Compact, NHRA Jr. Dragster, NIRA, IDRC, IDRA

Drifting: GT Live, The XDL Show, The Toyo Tires Drift Shootout Presented by Kawasaki

KART:

Oval and Road Course

TRUCK:

Mud Drags: NMRO

Monster Trucks: USHRA, The Special Events Performance Series

Rock Crawl: Special Events, UROC

Off Road: Special Events, USHRA

MOTORCYCLE:

Road Racing: AMA, Formula USA, ASRA Pro, Championship Cup Series (CCS), USGPRU, CRA

Motard: NASMOTO

Drag Racing: AMA Prostar, AMA Arenacross, CRA Arenacross

Boat: APBA Offshore

TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY:

Auto Shows: Daimler Chrysler (Chrysler / Jeep / Dodge), Ford (Lincoln / Mercury)

AFTERMARKET INDUSTRY:

Marketing, Sponsorship Attainment, Trade Shows: Toyo Tires, SEMA, PRI

MISCELLANEOUS:

Lifestyle Events – Host/Emcee: NOPI Nationals, IDRC Summer Slam

Awards Banquets – Live Event Emcee: Clear Channel Communications

World Record Attempts – Event/Television Liaison: FOX Broadcasting Company

External links

• www.playinthestreet.com- official website