Hershel McGriff

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Hershel McGriff
status not active
NASCAR Cup Series statistics
Best placement 6th - (1954)
Starts Victories Poles Top 10
85 4th 5 51


Hershel McGriff (born December 14, 1927 in Bridal Veil , Oregon ) is an American racing car driver . McGriff started his career shortly after World War II and is still active at the age of 92 (as of 2020).

Career

McGriff competed in his first races in 1945 at the age of 17. In 1950, at the age of just 22, he celebrated his greatest success when he won the Carrera Panamericana . In the same year he also made his debut in the NASCAR - Grand National Series at Darlington Raceway in which he was ninth. Alongside champion Bill Rexford and his teammate Lloyd Moore, he was one of the few drivers outside of the south at the time. Bill France senior had personally convinced him to move to the southeast.

In 1951 McGriff, the driver and owner rolled into one, took part in five races, which was common at the time, and finished fourth in Darlington.

At the beginning of the 1954 season, McGriff gave up his own team for financial reasons and instead drove for Frank Christian's team (still on an Oldsmobile 88 ). This year should be his most successful, he took part in 24 of 37 races of the season, won four of them and finished sixth overall. He also took part in two races in the NASCAR West Series and won one of them. At the end of the year, however, he decided, despite an offer from Carl Kiekhaefer, to end his career at the age of only 26. From then on he concentrated on his business in the timber trade.

It wasn't until 1965 that McGriff raced again, this time in the NASCAR West Series. He was able to achieve top 5 placements again straight away. His next win followed in 1967 in a Dodge , and later he drove in a Chevrolet and Plymouth . In 1971 he again took part in races in the highest NASCAR division, which was now called the Winston Cup . His greatest success in the Cup era was fifth in the 1973 Daytona 500 on a Plymouth Duster , and McGriff's last top 10 finish in a Cup race was achieved in 1984 in the Winston Western 500 on a Pontiac Grand Prix . Now, however, his focus was on the West Series, which allowed him to concentrate more on his home country. There he won twelve races in 1972, but missed winning the title against Ray Elder . It was not until 1986 that he was able to catch up on this title, now at the age of 58.

McGriff won his last NASCAR West race in 1989 at the Mesa Marin Raceway at the age of 61, making him the oldest NASCAR race winner ever. McGriff's last top five placement came in 2001 at Tucson Speedway at the age of 74. He resigned in 2002 at the age of 74 and was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame .

Nevertheless, he announced that he hadn't really stopped yet, because he wanted to show the "young guys" that he could still drive. And in fact, McGriff drove a few races in the NASCAR West Series between 2009 and 2012 and 2018 (at the age of 90) and continues to contest at least one stock car race a year, making him the oldest active racing driver. His son Hershel junior (* 1956) and his granddaughter Mariah are also active as racing drivers. His eldest son Doug (* 1946) was also active in motorsport in the 1970s, while Hershel's younger brother Norman (* 1933) took part in three Grand National races in 1957. In addition to his two sons, McGriff has seven grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.

statistics

Le Mans results

year team vehicle Teammate placement Failure reason
1976 United StatesUnited States NASCAR - McGriff Dodge Charger United StatesUnited States Doug McGriff failure unknown
1982 United StatesUnited States Stratagraph Inc. Chevrolet Camaro United StatesUnited States Dick Brooks United StatesUnited States Tom Williams failure unknown

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