Ryan Griffin

(OOC: Oh, heck with it, I decided to make a bigger one here.)

Driver Name: Ryan Griffin
D.O.B.: 10/14
Age: 35
Active Racing Series: ARCSOA Elite Series
Debut Season: Season 8
Current Team: Silverspeed
First Start: Round of Oklahoma (Season
Most Recent Start: Round of Xbalto Islands (Season 21)
Wins: 7
First Win: Missouri (Season 11)
Most Recent Win: Victoria (Season 21)
Best Points Finish: 1st (Season 11)

Background/Racing Experience:
Ryan Griffin was born in raised in the shadow of Motown, the home of the automobile industry (at least in the US at least) Detroit, Michigan.
From an early age, Griffin was enamored with auto racing.

At the age of 8, Griffin with the help of his father began driving go-karts.  At the age of 14 after having won 2 Midwest Regional Kart, MRK, titles, Griffin moved into sprint cars.  Entering the Great Lakes Midwest Dirt Challenge (GLMDC) series, Griffin set a rookie record for the series, winning 13 of 35 main events and winning the series championship his rookie season.  However, the success of his rookie season didn't carry over to his following 2 seasons.  He won just 4 main events in his sophomore campaign and failed to win an event and recorded his first ever DNQ in his junior campaign.  At the age of 17, Griffin left the sprint car circuit to try his hand at stock cars.

Griffin's rookie season in the Midwest Stock Car Challenge, a sister series to the GLMDC that focused on stock cars and late models, was average by outward standards.  While he failed to record a win, he was one of only 3 drivers to record a top 10 finish in all 38 events and finished 3rd in the drivers championship.  Griffin's sophomore effort in MSCC saw him capture his first win along with 3 other victories.  Despite breaking threw in the win column, inconsistent proformance saw him finish 7th in the drivers championship.  Griffin next two years in MSCC can only be described by one word, dominate.  In his 76 starts in that two year period, Griffin's average finish was 3.5 and he record 17 victories and became the only driver in the series history to win back-to-back championships.

Griffin, despite the success in MSCC, had his eyes set on his next challenge, the ARCSOA Elite Series.  So, at the tender age of 21, Griffin began his AES career driving the #7 Chevy in season 8.

Griffin's rookie season was nothing of real note.  For his sophomore campaign, the car was renumber to #28 and the team move manufactures to Ford.  Griffin would run the #28 in season 10 of the AES; his 3rd full season in the series, but like the other two he was unable to find success.

For his 4th year in the AES, Griffin drove for the Roush team in their #17 Ford.  It marked the 3 straight season, Griffin competed in a Ford.  This season, the biggest headline throughout the season was the dominate cars of Red Bull Racing, but late in the season (3 to go in the season to be exact {OOC: lol}) Griffin suddenly found himself with a realistic shot at the championship, thanks in part to winning his first AES race.

Going into the finale at Las Vegas, Griffin wasn't given much chance by many to win the championship, despite being only 9 point back.  However in what became one of the most exciting championship battles in recent history, Griffin edged Andreas Allen by 0.003 to finish 2nd in the Las Vegas finale and as a result claim the series championship.  In the years following the event, Griffin has become known as the "Motor City Miracle Man" for the improbable title win.

Following that season, Griffin surprised many by leaving Roush to sign with Red Bull Racing which was at the time headed by good friend Ike Durbin.  Griffin and Durbin had previous competited in other racing series and respected each others driving styles.  Griffin scored two wins driving for RBR (a rain shorted win at Road Atlanta and in Germany) and once again found himself a title contender in Las Vegas.  However, an attempt by Roush, whose driver Kyle Sosnoski led the standings entering the race, to manipulate the race by causing a crash that collected Griffin resulted in the him finishing 2nd in the standings.  Griffin for the first time since joining the AES also showed a different side to him after this event.  He attempted to "go after" Sosnoski after the race and had to restrained by his crew chief and team.

Griffin decided for season 13 to follow Durbin and join him as the #1 driver at the team Durbin was starting after departing RBR.  That season ended up being Griffin's worst since his rookie season and following the finale, Griffin departed the team and ARCSOA.

For the next 6 years, Griffin kicked around in various racing series and events.  He competed in the Indy 500 for 3 straight years with a best finish of 3rd.  But, a return to the AES was never out of the question.

Griffin finally made his return to the AES during the weekend of season 19's American 700.  And while Griffin failed to qualify for the 700, the experience kickstart his return to the AES.  He would go on to make his first race since the season 13 finale in the Indy 250; he would record a top 10 finish.  Later that season, Griffin was asked by team Pure Michigan to drive their #98 entry after their primary driver was injuried in a crash late in the season.  

That sub period, led the now renamed Silverspeed Inc to hire Griffin to be the full time driver of their now renumbered #82 Dodge for season 20.  

That brings us to season 21.  Griffin has remained at Silverspeed in the #82.  Currently he is 10th in points with 2 wins and it has been confirmed he will be with SI in season 22 as well.


Personal Info/Other Interesting Facts:
-Griffin is married to Allison Stewart (age 36), the daughter of his former team owner, Kevin Stewart, from the MSCC.  The two currently do not have any children.
-He is a big Michigan State Spartans fan.  Though has been known to support the University of Michigan (only when the two aren't playing each other of course).
- He is a musician on the side. He can play guitar and piano and some drums. But rarely sings.  In the offseason, he plays in a band that covers a range of music from the Beatles and the Roling Stones to Michael Jackson and Bruno Mars.
- Also during the offseason, he loves to visit and run at the local drag strip.  In this case, Milan Dragway.
-Griffin has also been known to very humble among his fans and has gain a lot of fan support because of this.

(OOC: If any of the other guys who have Michigan based or Great Lakes area based drivers want to use the fictional series I made up here feel free to do so.)