(Press release from Venturini Motorsports)
Hard work, persistence and some spot-on timing helped New Hampshire born driver Derek Griffith fulfill his desire of returning to the racetrack after making eight starts during the 2020 ARCA Menards Series season.
Teaming with Venturini Motorsports (VMS), 23-year-old, Derek Griffith, with support from San Francisco based, SpotOn, small business software and payments company, will be back behind the wheel this season in ARCA’s premier touring series for two races under the VMS banner.
Griffith, a top-10 finisher at the Snowball Derby back in December, will showcase his No.55 SpotOn Toyota Camry during the series’ season-opener at Daytona International Speedway on February 13 and again at Kansas Speedway during the May event. Both races will be televised on FS1.
“Never give up,” responded Griffith when asked about his off-season deal allowing his return to the track. “This is awesome. I’ve worked really hard during the offseason to make this moment happen. I can’t thank everyone at SpotOn enough for giving me this incredible opportunity. I’m excited to represent their brand and continue to build our relationship.”
Griffith notched two top-5 and seven top-10 finishes during his eight starts in 2020 driving the No.22 for Chad Bryant Racing in the ARCA Menards Series.
“It’s an honor to now have the opportunity to represent my sponsor racing for such a successful organization like Venturini Motorsports. They’re a great team. I’ve been talking with Billy (Venturini) for a while – I’m excited everything fell into place the way it did. I’m ready to go!”
Great news for the Northeast Drivers…. There is still a path to the Higher Series, even though its very narrow path……Derek caught a break at New Smyrna and got a chance to drive an ARCA car in a race He finished 2nd, but had dominated the entire race until he made some sort of violation of the rules under the yellow flag and had to go down a lap. But he drove all the way back to Second but ran out of laps to Win the race. He opened up many, many eyes in that First Start and ran strong in the other races he ran, many on tracks he had never even seen. I remember when he was running 4 cylinders at Hudson & Star He showed His Talent at a very young age. He continued to Impress and teamed up with Louie at LCM Racing Engines and Won a bunch of races and $10K Seekonk National Pro Stock Race along with many others in Super Late Models. Good Luck Derek. He should shine in top equipment …
He started in entry level youth racing classes all the way to ARCA by being Humble & Hard Worker who as He stated above ‘ ” Never Give Up ” This should encourage the up and coming Young drivers to just keep working hard, control what you can control , show your talent as you can see, You never know who is watching you race, how you handle adversity along with success.
Big DG12 fan here, really excited about him getting a shot in good arca equipment.
No mention of Andy J?? He had a good day of testing at Daytona on Saturday.
Shout out to Andy Jankowiak !!! 56 cars took time and he finished up in top half, I believe 23/24th. Derek Griffith an awesome top 5. In that Venturini equipment if he can steer clear of trouble this talented young shoe has got a shot. And 1 last hooray to Rich Bickle finished up 18th in his swan song season. We’ll all be rooting for you Andy !!! And Derek you’ve got a legitimate shot at a checkered. Go get em 👍🏁
Great to hear Derek Griffith is in great equipment! If he doesn’t get stuck in the middle of someone else’s mess he will definitely do well. And go Andy! Has been making the long tow to the TriTrack races for a while now, many times with two cars!