With most of the motorsports world on hiatus because of the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve decided to highlight some of the sport’s legends on a daily basis. We begin each story within the pages of National Speed Sport News.
Hershel McGriff raced stock cars for more than seven decades and was one of the Pacific Northwest’s most successful and most popular drivers.
McGriff, who was born in 1927, was a mainstay on the NASCAR West series for decades and enjoyed great success in NASCAR’s Grand National division.
McGriff earned the NASCAR Winston West title in 1986. He earned 34 victories in 236 starts and racked up 145 top-10 finishes.
Making 86 starts in NASCAR’s senior circuit, McGriff won four races and five poles — all during the 1954 season. Driving Frank Christian’s Oldsmobile in 1954, McGriff finished sixth in points despite missing the first 10 races of the season.
Running his first stock car race at Portland (Ore.) Speedway in 1945, McGriff won the Mexican Road Race in 1950 and competed in the first Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway the same year.
McGriff, who has competed in stock cars in France, Australia and Japan, is the winningest driver in the history of the now-defunct Riverside Speedway, with 14 wins at the famed road course.
McGriff is a member of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame and in 1998, McGriff was named one of NASCAR’s 50 Greatest Drivers.
