Hershel’s career started way back in 1945, before NASCAR was founded in 1948 and has spanned nearly seven decades. His last race to date at the age of eighty two was the Bi-Mart Salute to the Troops 125 at Portland International Raceway when he came in at seventeenth place after a flat tyre sent him in for a pit stop at the half way stage of the race.

Hershel McGriff

Hershel McGriff was born on the 14th December 1927 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota situated on the Big Sioux River on the prairie of the Great Plains. It was here that his fascination for driving and racing began. Hershel had a motor scooter from the age of nine years and, in the summer months in his pre-teens; some of his chores would be to drive farm machinery. At the tender age of twelve his father allowed him to drive the family car and he bought his first car when he was thirteen (of course, in those days drivers did not require a licence!).

During the war years the family moved to Portland, Oregon and it was here, on the 16th of September 1945 that Hershel competed, using the family 1940 Hudson car, in his first race, 250 laps on a dirt track, coming in around twelfth or thirteenth. The following year he was offered a 1946 Ford Coupe to race and he won that race. Hershel was smitten, every weekend was committed to racing on the streets with the car doors tied shut and a number stuck on the side.

In 1950 Hershel competed in the inaugural Mexican Carrera Pan Americana road race, he out-ran all of the competition including NASCAR founder, Bill France and other NASCAR drivers to take the victory. This was where Hershel first met Bill France and from then they became life-long friends and it was Bill France who convinced Hershel that he should go down south and race in the first Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway. He drove from Portland, Oregon to Darlington, South Carolina where he took part in the race; coming in at ninth position then drove back to Portland the following week. Part way through the 1954 season again Bill convinced him to run the rest of the season in the Grand National Series. Hershel ended the season winning four races, seventeen top ten finishes in twenty four events and finished sixth in the points standings even though he missed the first ten races of the season, giving him an average finishing position that was higher than points champion Lee Petty.

The same year he also won a race in the first season of what is now called the NASCAR’s Camping World Series West. This year also saw him becoming very active with public relations for forthcoming events. In 1955 Hershel was offered a car to ride in NASCAR for millionaire, Carl Kiekhaefer but he turned it down, preferring to return to the West coast to be with his family and to look after his lumber business and he didn’t race again until 1967 when he started at forty first position, moved to second place by the sixth lap and beat Ron Grable in a photo finish to secure victory.

In 1989, at the age of sixty one he became the oldest driver to win a NASCAR feature race, AutoZone West Series and his fourteen wins is the most wins at any NASCAR sanctioned events, he did this at the now defunct (1988) Riverside International Raceway where he was chosen as the grand marshal for the final race at the track.

November 1996 saw Hershel, along with several other NASCAR champions go to Japan for an exhibition race, known as the NASCAR Suzuka Thunder Special, at the Suzuka Raceway. His awards include NASCAR Winston West champion in 1986, Inductee into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in Portland in 2001, Inductee in the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2002 and Inductee in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2006 and named as one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998. One of his proudest moments was when he was presented with the coveted NASCAR Award of Excellence at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York in 1994.

Hershel was named the Most Popular Driver in the NASCAR Winston West Series for twelve consecutive years from 1981 to 1992. He has raced against three generations of the Petty family, namely Lee Petty, Richard Petty and third generation Kyle. He is married to Sheri and has five children, Doug, Marilyn, Debra, Hershel Jr., and Gina and now resides in Arizona.

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