| Derek Griffith will make his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut with Sam Hunt Racing (SHR) in the Toyota Care 250, his first of multiple starts with SHR in 2022. In 2021, Griffith made his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Gateway Motorsports Park. Additionally, he has 10 ARCA Menards Series starts where he collected three top-five and eight top-10 finishes. Griffith has experience at the .75-mile Virginia short track. Griffith competed in the Pro All-Star Series Inaugural Commonwealth Classic at Richmond Raceway — a 75-lap Super Late Model event that was held at the track in 2019 — where he finished 7th. Griffith, who began his racing career at the age of 12, became a quick study of some of his local short-tracks in New England, including Hudson Speedway, capturing checkered flags early in his career. Griffith is a multi-time champion of New Smyrna Speedway’s World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing, is a Pro All Star Series National Division Champion, member of the Kulwicki Driver Development Program and a former top-pick in the Speed51 — now known as Racing America — Short Track Draft. The Toyota Care 250 at Richmond will mark Griffith’s second NASCAR National Touring Series start. Sam Hunt Racing recorded its highest career finish at Richmond Raceway in 2021 — the team’s home track. John Hunter Nemechek drove from 27th to finish 3rd in the 250-lap event. “I’m pumped. It fits into my wheelhouse perfectly. It’s the home-track for Sam Hunt Racing, and it’s a short-track, which makes it almost like a double-whammy for us. I’ve run at Richmond before in the Super Late Model and we had a good run. Working with everyone at Sam Hunt Racing has been awesome. We had the opportunity to visit with the team in Las Vegas and I feel like seeing how everything works and that experience as a whole is going to help us right away.” — Derek Griffith, Driver of the No. 26 Toyota GR Supra Sam Hunt Racing PR |
