(Interview) Derek Griffith - Winning with Skill, Celebrating with Heart
Image Courtesy of: 3 Wide Media Productions
March 14th, 2024
From Hudson Speedway to NASCAR Xfinity Series
Derek Griffith's career in stock car racing is a story of consistent growth and impressive achievements. Starting at Hudson Speedway in New Hampshire, quickly showcasing a keen sense for racing, clinching the Granite State Pro Stock Series Championship in 2015. with 4 wins, and 9 top-5s in 11 starts. His talent was further recognized with multiple victories in the Pro All Stars Series (PASS) National Series Championship: capturing the prestigious title in: 2018, 2021, and 2022. In the PASS North Championship race, he was narrowly beaten by DJ Shaw; Griffith had 5 wins and 10 top-5s in that 17 race schedule.
In 2020, Griffith made a significant impact in the New Smyrna World Series of Asphalt (Florida), showcasing his skills in the Super Late Model division. He was given an opportunity to run the ARCA East Series at the same track that week, and his debut was marked by a pole position and a second-place finish, earning him tons of attention. He led 144 of the 175 laps, and in the end, a different tire strategy almost allowed him to retain the lead, passing Ty Gibbs along the way to finish runner-up just running out of time to beat Sam Mayer.
Griffith continued to race in super late models, winning key titles and making his presence known in the racing community. His top 10 finish in the Snowball Derby highlighted his sustained excellence. By 2021, Griffith had joined Venturini Motorsports in ARCA ,and made his debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, proving his versatility and adaptability. His continued success in the PASS National Series and the New Smyrna World Series of Asphalt (winning the Super Late Model division title once again in 2021) solidified his position as a top competitor in the sport. A win in the Motor Mountain Masters that year certain didn’t hurt, either, besting competition like Cole Butcher, Eddie MacDonald, and Gabe Brown, en route to leading 139 of 150 laps.
In 2023, Griffith maintained his high standards with another top 10 finish in the Snowball Derby and competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Sam Hunt Racing.
Personality Shining After Amazing Races
In 2020 in the GSPSS series, with 16 laps to go, an amazing battle ensued. Sure, there was a bit of bumping and rubbing, but it was very clean, hard racing. Joey Pole (Joey Polewarcsyk Jr) and Griffith battled door to door, frequently pulling cross-over moves and passing each other, after falling behind the other. In the end, Joey Pole won by inches, and when he was being interviewed, you saw Derek Griffith rush out of his car, to run over to Pole to grab his hand and give him a hug, and celebrate. It was exceptionally clear that despite the narrow loss, Derek Griffith looked like he was the happiest man on the planet at that point in time. Their battle was one of the most entertaining, great battles of this type of racing.
Another situation occurred at the world Series of Asphalt Racing in Florida, where he had an amazing, long series of door-to-door racing with Jesse Love late in the race. Jesse would start to nose out in front of Derek, Derek would manage to take the lead from the inside, Jesse would then cross-over and take the inside, passing Derek who was now on the outside, etc. They continued this hard, respectful racing for a long time. Again, Jesse won by inches, but he had nothing but excessive respect and praise to say about Derek, and once again, Derek looked like he was having the most fun in the world, because he clearly just loves racing, and a great race, and he knew it was a great race.
“That’s all pretty well said,” - Derek Griffith. [I thanked him, and point out that despite how great of a driver he is, this is what has made me eager to speak with him, and what I appreciate about him most - and how it just comes across on the screen]
“We do this because we love it, or at least that’s what I do. To be able to go door-to-door with someone, with barely having a tire mark on it, and race for a win, is pretty awesome. Especially with a guy like Joey, who I looked up to years, and who grew up in the same town as me, and who I watched for years. It’s cool, to be able to race door-to-door, and we’ve had days where he’s bested me, and I’ve bested him, and it’s an interesting dynamic.”
“I have a ball racing, but in the last couple of years, I don’t love as much having cars getting torn up, or anything like that. We’ve lost a little bit of momentum over the last couple of years. But it’s hard for us to stay consistent, and go out and run really good, and I think part of it was really the time that the ARCA, and Xfinity stuff took away from my Short Track stuff, and obviously the cars getting wrecked and such - it’s hard to have all of the focus on just one deal. But now that we’ve gotten more settled back in, I have a really good feeling about this season. I know it started off a little rough, but I’m glad to be back home.”
Interview
First and foremost: congratulations on your very recent marriage, and good luck at twin Easter Bunny 150’s in Hickory for PASS National this coming weekend!
I appreciate it man, thanks. We had an exciting couple of weeks down there in Florida right after Speedweeks, but it’s going to be nice to get back down, and excited to see if we can get another double-header win. [That’s right, I believe it was the first year where they had the double header, instead of a single 150 per year, and you won the double the first year, and then Cole did, now with him spreading time with Jarrett, you’ll be the only one eligible for a 2nd double header]
You already kind of alluded to some of this, here, but: In 2022 in Loudon at New Hampshire Motorspeedway for a PASS National Race, you had one of the more dramatic looking wrecks I’ve seen in a Late Model. What was the experience like for you while it happened? Did it feel like time slowed down, or did you not even have time to realize what was happening, or what?
It was kind of an odd situation, because it was a heat race, it wasn’t even a feature race. We fired off, we were pretty good, and I thought I was going to take the lead - at race at least with Gabe (Brown), and we had a caution that started on the outside of him. The car on the bottom of the second row got into Gabe, and Gabe put me into the front-stretch wall, just hard enough to tear us up pretty good. So we were already a little bit torn up pretty good, and we had another restart, and we took a lap - that’s all that was, you know, I’m going to run a lap, maybe 2, and just see how the car feels. I was coming down the front-stretch, and was thinking man, this thing is no good. I just need to pull in, and see if we can get this thing fixed.
That was when 2 cars hit each other, and I wasn’t even expecting it, as I wasn’t even racing anymore, I purposefully pulled away. I was ready to get into the pit safely, and setting up for a good way to exit the race track, and those 2 guys ran into each other, and I was collateral damage. I just saw the back end of a car coming towards me, and wondered what the heck is going on, and sure enough I hit the wall. I didn’t know I was upside down until I saw up - like, I could see up into the safer barrier [modern technology employed at some tracks to help reduce kinetic impact/force], from above it, and oh man. ‘This is not a good one!’ Which oddly enough, the safer barrier really sucked up most of the impact - the impact wasn’t nearly as bad as violent - I’ve had much worse wrecks - how I’ve felt - just I ended up upside down in this one; it was pretty wild, it happened really quickly.
To add to the previous question, I always feel bad when I see a Late Model [or any car, or any team] get junked like that, I know it’s not as simple for many teams and drivers to simply get a replacement car, let’s say rent a top piece that you don’t have any rapport with the crew chief with, or swap to their competitive back-up, etc. for the next marquee race the next weekend, all that sort of thing. You had a less dramatic, but unfortunate wreck this year at New Smyrna in the ASA race, too. Seeing you at the Easter Bunny is encouraging. Do you know what your plans for 2024 will look like potentially? I know it’s a racing deal, but I’m sorry for the unfortunate incidents.
Yeah, definitely - the last couple of years - we were pretty much in that same position, you know - we get a race car that’s wrecked, and we don’t really have the opportunity to just roll-out another one. We have one car that’s kind of a half-car, or a Pro Late Model, sort of what they are at home (PASS/GSPSS), we have one Super Late Model, which has raced maybe 5 times a year at most, so it’s difficult to race that Super Late Model stuff because, I mean - a good Derby, you and can go through 15 sets of tires, and the racing is so quick. The price of that adds up so quick, never mention if you get wrecked down there or something like that. A lot of those guys have the availability of unloading stuff - it’s definitely a sack in our plans this year, and we wanted to run some more Super stuff, but it’s probably just out of the cards at this point, with how much we’ve had to try to get pieces and parts together to run a Super. But our Pro car, which is the car that we ran up here last year, is what we’re going to bring to Hickory.
That car is a really good piece, and I know it be really fast. As far as this year goes, I know we will for sure run the 2 big races at Lee Speedway, we’re going to run Loudon with PASS, we’re going to run Thompson with PASS, obviously we’re going to run the Easter Bunny, we’re going to run the Oxford 250. And then the Berlin race (Michigan) is probably most of what we’re going to do this year. [Yeah, Berlin is such a unique track - I mean, I’m not a racer, but it seems like such a unique track] I love it, we haven’t had the most luck there, but it’s probably one of my favourite tracks to race. We’ve just always seemed to kind of get caught up in something.
Outside of Chaudiere in Quebec, and Jukasa as part of the Canadian Short Track Nationals, have you ever considered a race in Canada, or do you know what it may take to potentially get you here for a race? Ontario has their APC Pro Late Model Series, Quebec has their ACT Quebec series, and in the Maritimes you have the Super Late Model Series, and the Pro Stock Tour. Between New Brunswick & Nova Scotia - we have 4 top marquee races: IWK 250, Mike Stevens Memorial, New Brunswick 250, and Summerclash 250, and numerous other significant races. We would love to have you out here, and our crowds and atmosphere are fantastic. Let’s even say, you made it to Speedway 660’s 250 to spectate, or help on a crew, and meet some people, and see what the experience is like first.
I’ve raced at Petty [Oh yes - just before COVID PASS North had that one start there, where Cole Butcher won] , I think we finished 3rd. [I go over some of the aspects of the new SLMS series, where it is a more open engine series, where you can run crate or purpose built, how the degree of advantage or disadvantage can vary, how our tracks range from bull-run to a bit under a half-mile with some banking variations, significant car counts, etc; and a payment structure that essentially pays for your tires to enter - then I go over the biggest races]
Yeah, they’ve been pursuing me about the IWK 250 expressing a lot of interest, so hopefully it is something we can run one day.
We would certainly love to see you here [thanks], and we have great crowds here, and that’s what everyone I hear says.
Yeah, I would definitely love to make it up, and I think even just with when COVID hit, it effected so much of the border stuff hit, it still makes things trickier in that way, too, from time to time. But it’s something we talk about often, and if it made sense, it is something that I would love to do for sure. We would definitely be willing to go up there.
Apart from racing, what are your other passions or hobbies?
I own an import shop, it’s a super interesting business that I love, and it’s a fun little ride for me. [Northeast Auto Imports]
It’s clear that you love a good race, win or lose, when it is run respectfully and hard. I hear a lot about respect being gone with the new generation, and stuff, at different levels of racing. I think people’s rights to most feelings are valid, but I’m wondering if there is possibly some recency bias. When I look back, I recall plenty of people who would be often complained about for not racing with respect in previous generations, and further some, it describes some of our most celebrated heroes. Perhaps the fact that technology and expenses are so high right now, and even tires for that matter, are part of the equation. Or perhaps just having trouble accepting a new comer beating a veteran at any cost. Do you have any thoughts on the subject?
I think it’s mixed - I think no matter what form of racing you’re in, I’d imagine there is going to be ‘the kid’ who has never turned a wrench in his life, and isn’t afraid to destroy equipment, because there’s another one in the trailer. But I would say that coming up in the Northeast, from what I’ve seen, you have guys like Max Cookson and Gabe Brown who aren’t scared to get their hands dirty, and that may have resulted in them doing some dumb things in race cars, but no one is not at fault at doing something dumb in their career. So they did some dumb things when they were younger, but to see the growth, like Gabe for example who I’ve become friends with, has become a well rounded racer, and who I see turn wrenches, it gives me hope. You know, I always felt the same thing - I think the majority of the young generation in racing - if you’re 14, 16 years old, there’s no way you can come into racing and handle it yourself. You’re a kid, you’re a child, you’re a kid. So I get the understanding of growing and doing that stuff.
There’s probably a mixture - there’s probably some older guys who can’t stand the thought of a older guys who can’t stand the thought of a 16 year old kid beating them - and I’ve been there. And there’s other forms that are probably more warranted - you know - deserving - there can be extremely frustrating things where you can have your whole entire season effected by getting wrecked, by someone who you can tell never wrenched on a race car - you know, I’ll just unload another one. It’s hard for me to understand where I am coming from, and for me, it is hard for me to understand their mentality. For one thing, it’s just not a smart way to go about things, but I’ve also just never been in a position to be able to just destroy things.
At the same time, it’s part of racing, you have to destroy some things, it’s part of learning, not something you’d not want to do, like here I am having to put a fender on, myself, that’s just how I raced, but I feel I’ve been on both sides of things. I've got the chance to meet all the guys that are the ‘young punks’ that never did this, never did that. You can have great relationships with those people. Some people are right, some people are wrong. Even guys like Ty Gibbs, I got the chance to talk with him a lot. And then I can also see how he can frustrate people when you watch him race.
I mean, it happens with everyone, like with Corey (Heim), in ARCA he got into us and totally accidentally ruined our day and stole one from us, so at first I was so frustrated, but he came over, he called me after, he apologized, he said it was totally an accident. Saying I'm so sorry, and you know, we've talked talk and we see each other, and it's a good conversation often, so it's cool, I'm a pretty forgiving person, I know that we're not always going to make the right move, or the right choice in a race car, but as long as you like get out after ward, or, you know, if there's any form of self realization, then there's no skin off of my back, I am totally fine with moving forward.
And getting back to the whole Gibbs thing, it's funny, because he was like probably one of the only people that came over and talked to me at New Smyrna during the ARCA races. So it was such an odd day for me, because no one knows who I am. I mean, you know, we were running good with our super at the time. [Yeah, population scale-wise anyway. Like, tons of people knew who you were, but it's relative because it's a niche, like, PASS, like, That kind of thing. Like, I knew you from the Maritimes watching PASS, like, the Oxford 250. That stuff's all big, but it's niche as well compared to, like, ARCA and, like, the Truck Series, obviously, and stuff. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. And that's how, that whole day went, to start. But I'd say the only two people that came over and talked to me were Stephen Nasse, he came across in a way of this feels a little bit out of place, because he was running the race as well.
And then, also, Ty Gibbs came over and talked to me, talked to me throughout the day, was really asking a lot of questions. It’s funny, you know, I was there 3 hours ago, then I am fast and qualify on the pole, and suddenly everyone wants to talk to me. [A quick side note, but it’s funny we mentioned young kids and respect - one kid also funny specified 14 years old just because that was around the time i first got introduced to him as a driver, not, like, personally, but on track or whatever, but, uh, one guy who who really really really impresses me with the level of respect, maybe even to a fault, I don't know. I, I don't feel about it that way, but, um, Jake Garcia.]
Yeah, I can see that. He's a pretty timid driver, I can see a lot of how I used to drive in him. Especially now that he's younger, he's got a ton of talent, but he doesn't take a lot of chances, you know, which is good. [yeah and on the same on that same token though uh as far as, like, partly, I guess, that goes along with uh late race benefits as far as tire conservation, I think like Ricky Turner is probably a factor in that, too, and stuff, but; Just the respectful racing, the tire conservation, stuff like that. But yeah, I'm sure sometimes, too, he could probably take a little bit more chances.]
Any specific shout-outs, sponsors, etc?
LCM Motorsports
Tyngsboro Motors
Northeast Auto Imports
Chelmsford Wholesale
Hudson Speedway
Time will tell what the future holds for Derek, but one thing is for sure, his attitude and skill make him a great ambassador for the sport.
