A Press Release From Stafford Speedway

When the Granite State Pro Stock Series shifts the 2021 season into gear at Stafford Speedway on April 24 as part of NAPA Opening Day, one of the favorites among the “outsiders” would be Derek Griffith. 

The 24 year old Hudson, NH native and driver of the #12g Hudson Speedway Chevrolet has amassed an impressive resume in his young career, winning the 2020 and 2021 Super Late Model championships at New Smyrna Speedway, the GSPSS championship in 2015, and the PASS championship in 2018. Griffith is looking forward to his first time racing at Stafford and adding the Connecticut half-mile to the list of tracks that he has conquered.

“We really enjoy all the local tracks in New England and we like to run at places where we see friendly faces,” said Griffith.  “Granite State has always been a phenomenal series to work with and Mike Parks and the whole Granite State crew are awesome people.  I’m very excited to come to Stafford to race.  I’ve watched a lot of races there and I’ve always wondered why they didn’t have a Super Late Model or Pro Stock race so I’m pretty pumped about the race. It would be pretty cool for us to be able to come down to Stafford and have a good run.”

“Want to give a big thanks to my father John, my crew chief Louie Mechalides and his sister Dolly who is my spotter, and Hudson Speedway, which is the track where I started my racing career and has come on board as a sponsor, Spot On, which is a credit card processing company that came on board for the ARCA race at Daytona, Northeast Auto Imports, Tyngsboro Motors, and LCM Racing,” continued Griffith.

Griffith, along with many of the GSPSS regular drivers, has never competed at Stafford before but will have plenty of seat time in 2021 racing on each of the three April weekends leading up to NAPA Opening Day on April 24th.  Griffith just won both stages of a PASS Super Late Model event this past weekend at Hickory Speedway and plans to compete in events at New Hampshire and Thompson before coming to Stafford.  Griffith’s busy schedule gives him plenty of seat time to get back in the groove of being behind the wheel and might even give him a slight edge.

“We have a pretty busy month leading up to the Stafford race,” said Griffith.  “It’ll be kind of nice that most everyone will be starting out on the same page having not run at Stafford.  I know a select few guys like Keith Rocco have laps at Stafford and those are the guys you’ll have to look out for.  I tell people all the time that there’s no replacement for seat time.  The most important thing in this sport is seat time even if you have the best equipment.  We’ve gone from the beginning of December running the Snowball Derby to Speedweeks and the Rattler, and now these next couple of weeks so we’re almost in the middle of our season as other guys are just getting started, which might give us a small advantage.”

While Griffith is certainly one of the favorites to win the GSPSS feature on paper, he knows that he has to hit the track and see how he and his car react to a new track. Griffith feels that he could either be one of the cars to beat, or one of the cars that has a lot of work to do to be a front runner.

“You almost have to reserve your thoughts until after the first practice session is over to know where you’re at,” said Griffith.  “I can remember times where we thought guys were going to be much better than us and they end up being half a second off the pace and they don’t ever really get going and then sometimes you’re that car that is a half second off the pace.  Our Pro Stock program has been pretty dang good the last couple years so I feel like we’ll have a pretty good car.  There’s a lot of Granite State regulars who can win races like Joey Pole, Joey Doiron, and a lot of the guys who run weekly.  I’m sure Mike O’Sullivan is going to be strong, Gabe Brown has been running much better, so there’s going to be a ton of competition.  I’m excited to get racing with these guys because it gets harder and harder every year.  We like to have a lot of competition.”

In addition to his GSPSS and Super Late Model duties, Griffith ran the Daytona ARCA race driving for Venturini Motorsports where he started 6thand finished 30th after getting caught up in a wreck.  Griffith currently has plans to run the ARCA race at Kansas on May 1st and possibly more, if funding can be secured.

“So far all we have left is Kansas and we’re looking at possibly one or two more races, it all depends on the sponsor,” said Griffith.  “Even though our finish was terrible because we got caught up in a wreck, they had a great time seeing a car with their name on it going around Daytona.  Hopefully we’ll have something to announce in the coming weeks.”

For more information, visit www.staffordspeedway.com, checkout Stafford Speedway on Facebook or Twitter, or contact the track office at 860-684-2783.

A Story by NASCAR.com | By Paul Lambert

​The world of Super Late Models is undoubtedly centered in the South, with drivers like Bubba Pollard and Stephen Nasse gobbling up the big prizes.
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But for the last two years, it’s been New Englander Derek Griffith who’s been on top of the division at the World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna.

After locking up his second straight SLM title at the World Series, Griffith joined a very select group of drivers to win at least two straight championships at New Smyrna in that division since New Smyrna began hosting the event in 1968 (Pete Hamilton, Junior Hanley, Dick Trickle, Pete Orr).

The week was a dominant one for Griffith. He picked up three wins and finished no worse than ninth in seven races, winning the title by 28 points over Ryan Moore.

From racing at Hudson Speedway in his hometown of Hudson, New Hampshire, Griffith has made it to the top over some of the best Late Model competition in the country.

“If you told me when I was 12 years old, when I was first starting off, that I even would be racing a Super Late Model, I’d have been like ‘Yeah, right. Whatever. Get out of here…’ I would never have projected myself to be in this position when I first started,” Griffith said.

In fact, Griffith’s career has gone nowhere but up the last couple of years. Driving the ARCA Menards Series in a part-time role with Chad Bryant Racing in 2020, Griffith picked up a pair of top fives and seven top-10 finishes in eight starts.

RELATED: Derek Griffith Career Stats | Watch: All 9 Nights of 2021 New Smyrna World Series

Only 24, Griffith’s stock has risen to the point where he’s one of the most sought-after Super Late Model drivers in the country. This past week, Griffith was being asked for advice on finding speed by young local drivers.

“It’s funny. I’m considered, like, an old guy now,” he said. “I’ve had some of the kids [in Florida] asking me questions, talking to me about stuff.”

Something Griffith has always been proud of has been that he’s very much a part of doing work on his cars. “The hard way,” as he calls it, began when he was a teenager, racing at his hometown track and it adds a bit more satisfaction each time he gets to Victory Lane.

“It’s a fulfillment level I can’t put into words,” Griffith says. “We’re just some little team from New Hampshire. It’s crazy to think that just because we’ve hustled, and put our time in, that it’s earned us the spot that we’re at right now.”

This year, Griffith has plans to run more ARCA races, along with short track events across the Northeast. Despite all the success and all the accolades that have gone his way to this point in his career, Griffith makes sure not to let the winning go to his head.

“I like to try to stay as humble as I possibly can,” Griffith says. “It’s so important for me to kind of keep my head in check and make sure I’m not overstepping where I think I need to be.”

“I’m always going to remember myself as that kid at Hudson Speedway that ran a Volkswagen Golf GTI for some fun on the weekends.”

With that in mind, Griffith continues winning—hopefully, with plenty more to come in 2021.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. – Derek Griffith finished on the podium during Friday’s David Rogers Super Late Model feature that opened the 55th World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway, but that simply wasn’t enough for the driver from New Hampshire.

Fast forward to Saturday and Griffith, the defending World Series champion in the David Rogers Super Late Model division, was in his own zip code as he roared to his first victory of the week and third of his career during the World Series.

“It just feels good, especially after last night,” Griffith said in Victory Lane. “I know we finished podium, but we got tore up and had all sorts of issues. To come out and kind of prove ourselves as someone who kind of belongs here, it feels good.”

With a band of storms washing out qualifying, the field for Saturday’s 35-lap feature was set based on the finishing order of Friday’s race. The top-six were then inverted, placing Justin Mondeik on the pole alongside Connor Mosack.

Mosack drove into the lead entering turn one from the top, with fourth-starting Griffith advancing to second by the completion of the first lap. Griffith took several looks to the inside of Mosack in the first few laps before finally making his move on lap eight. They raced side-by-side for two laps before Griffith completed the pass entering turn one on the 10th circuit.

It was effectively game, set, match from there as Griffith drove away from the field en route to the victory.
“We’re just a small, family-owned team,” said Griffith, who is also scheduled to compete in the ARCA Menards Series opener at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 13 for Venturini Motorsports. “It’s so cool to come down here and run with these guys and compete.”

Mosack finished more than a second behind Griffith in second, followed by Mondeik in third. Jacob Goede took fourth after holding off a fierce challenge from Jett Noland in the final laps of the race.

Bryan Kruczek initially won the 50-lap Sportsman feature after an intense battle with Friday’s feature winner Matthew Green, but both were later disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct after their respective crews shared harsh words with each other. That eventually led to a physical altercation in technical inspection, leading to the disqualifications.

As a result, third-place finisher Wayne Smith inherited the victory.

Noland doubled his fun in the Pro Late Model class as he outran Kody Swanson for the second-straight night. Travis Eddy also earned his second victory in as many days in the Florida Modified division.
Lastly, Matt Jarrett was initially declared the winner of the E-Mod feature, but he and runner-up Michael Mark were disqualified due to left-side weight violations. Tim Walters inherited the win.

Super Late Model (35 laps): 1. Derek Griffith, 2. Connor Mosack, 3. Justin Mondeik, 4. Jacob Goede, 5. Jett Noland, 6. Ryan Moore, 7. Sammy Smith, 8. Brad May, 9. Jake Garcia, 10. Dan Fredrickson 11. R.J. Braun, 12. Kris Wright, 12. Stephen Nasse, 14. Jesse Love, 15. Kelly Moore, 16. Daniel Dye, 17. Michael Hinde, 18. Jake Finch, 19. Nick Panitzke, 20. Kody Swanson 21. Bubba Pollard, 22. Jaden Cretacci, 23. Steve Weaver, 24. Patrick Thomas, 25. Travis Wilson.