Derek Griffith Returning to Bigley Memorial After 'Emotional Roller-Coaster' Year

It has been a year of changes and challenges for Derek Griffith, but also a year of success on the race track. The Hudson, New Hampshire native hopes to cap that off with a big win in the Sunshine State.

For the first time in his career, Griffith is taking two of his team's Super Late Models south to close out the year. The two-time PASS National Champion will compete in the Bill Bigley, Sr. Memorial 128 on November 29 at Freedom Factory before heading to the 58th Annual Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway.

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In the past, Griffith has focused on just one of the marquee events at the end of the year in the state of Florida. Griffith has only made one previous start in the Bigley Memorial, driving for Tim Curry in the No. 90 FLF Race Cars entry.

"I ran Tim Curry's number 90, that FLF car, first time running his deal, and he's run good there," Griffith recalled to Racing America. "I think we just kind of missed on a couple things, and the brake master failed on like lap 25 or lap 50 or something.

"I mean, no brakes at Bradenton is just not possible. One bad thing goes on ahead of me, and I destroy someone else's very expensive race car that they've had for a very long time."

Now, with the opportunity to take dedicated cars to both races, Griffith is eager to chase the Bigley Memorial in earnest with his own equipment for the first time.

"The Bigley has always been a race that I wanted to run," said Griffith. "We always knew that we either had to focus on that or the Derby, and it's the first time ever in my life I've had two complete full dry sump Super Late Models that are together. So we decided to kind of do that approach, run it, you know, one car for the Bigley and one car for the Derby."

A lot has changed since last winter, when Griffith missed both events while battling a health scare. Griffith has managed his racing schedule in 2025, balancing his own personal health along with fatherhood after the birth of his son, Daxton.

When Griffith has made it to the racetrack, however, he has been just as successful as before. Griffith started the season with four top-fives in five races during the World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing at New Smyrna Speedway, narrowly missing out on his third World Series title.

When the PASS season started in earnest, Griffith scored an elusive victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the Northeast Classic, slaying a demon that had stymied him throughout his career.

He'd also pick up a victory with the Granite State Pro Stock Series at Lee USA Speedway, and ended the PASS season with a win in the second segment of the PASS 400 at Oxford Plains Speedway.

"It was good to get one at Loudon.," said Griffith. "That was the one that's kind of always evaded us. And then we won that race at Lee, and then the big race at Oxford was great too. I mean, Oxford is like my Achilles' heel. To go and run good there is is always good for us.

"We can get spurts where we run good there, but it's it's never, never consistent. We get a little momentum behind us and I'm happy about that."

For many drivers, life changes such as marriage or fatherhood can dampen the drive to succeed on the track. For Griffith, Dax's birth has only seemed to bring good fortune.

"It's funny, I joke around," said Griffith. "Everyone always says when you get married, you start to suck. And then when you have a kid, you really start to suck.

"I saw Victory Lane four times with my son already, and he's only been on the racetrack four times. So it's pretty dang cool. I don't know. It just seems like my good luck charm."

However, fatherhood has brought newfound perspective to Griffith, especially after complications during pregnancy for wife Emily.

"I didn't tell people much about it, but me and Emily had our complications with Dax," explained Griffith. "We actually didn't think that we were going to have a full-term pregnancy where he would come out and we'd be able to have him and keep him. So we went through a whirlwind of just pure emotional roller-coaster.

"Actually, Speedweeks last year, we had to fly home the day after the championship concluded, which I lost the championship by two points. We left the day after, flew to Boston to go to Boston's Children's and while he was still inside Emily.

"Everything's totally fine now. It was like this one-of-one case that they literally just wrote a medical write-up on and shared with everyone. So that was really cool to try to, you know, kind of pull through that. It made me so much more thankful that he's here and we get the time with him.

"It definitely changes how you look at things. There's no doubt about that. But it's cool to have. It also, like, almost gave me a little bit of motivation to try to be better here for myself and, you know, feeling better on my end. Everyone loves the little guy, so it's pretty cool."

While it's been a challenging 12 months for Griffith and his family, he hasn't sought the spotlight or sympathy during that time.

"I hate the thought of poor me, you know, I need this because I'm doing that here. I never want anything different or extra. I mean, people go through shit, quote unquote, all the time. It's not uncommon to know that people go through stuff. It's funny that this little guy, my son Dax, has made me feel like I am so unimportant now compared to him. To everyone else, and even to myself, I gotta go home and see him. There's so many things that I put aside now for him."

This weekend, Griffith gets back on track at the Bill Bigley, Sr. Memorial, going against a stout field of competitors. While Griffith has faith in his program and their ability to compete with the best in the nation, he knows a Bigley Memorial win will be no easy task.

“There's 30 people on that list that you can probably bet on and be in pretty good shape to win. I mean, there's 30 people I think that could win this race.”

While Freedom Factory has seen new life, exposure, and improvements after YouTube personality Cleetus McFarland acquired the facility in 2020, the racing surface still has plenty of character. That excites Griffith, who compares the track to some of the weather-tested bullrings further north.

"It's that turn three, how rough it is going into turn three," explained Griffith. "I was watching the last few years [of the Bigley Memorial] online the other day, and I think it's only gotten worse. It's just so rough and bouncy.

"That's why I think the Wisconsin guys always do so good, because it's the same thing as what they run back home. It's the same as what we run back home, too. There's just really no northerners that go down. I'm excited."

Fans can watch the 10th Annual Bill Bigley, Sr. Memorial 128 live on RacingAmerica.TV. Click here to subscribe today to tune in to the Bigley Memorial on RacingAmerica.TV this Saturday, November 29.

-Photo credit: Will Bellamy/Racing America