Troy Griffith

Troy Anthony Griffith (born February 27, 1966 in Sandusky, Ohio) is a retired driver and the current Director of Operations at Team Thunder. He is most known for his participation in the 2007 TM Master Cup season, where he drove the #9 Lenard for the ill-fated team Flare Motorsports with Team Thunder.

Pre-TM Master Cup career
Troy Griffith started racing Late Models at the Sandusky Speedway in the early 1980's driving for his father's team. After winning the Late Models Championship from 1982-1985, he decided to make the jump up to Sprint Cars. After a dismal first year, Troy won the Sprint Car championship at Sandusky Speedway in 1988 and 1990. Deciding that continual racing at Sandusky Speedway would not get him national attention, Troy Griffith then made the decision to run for the National Sprint Car Championship in 1992. After three years of grit and determination, Troy finally won the NSCC in 1995, and backed up his performance with a repeat title the next year. After his 1996 championship performance, he decided to retire from racing in order to guide his son, Anthony Griffith, in his blossoming racing endeavors.

It would not be until 2004 that Troy Griffith would return to the track. Running in the NSCC as an owner-driver, he finished second in the championship to his teammate and son Anthony Griffith. Realizing that he still had a competitive edge on the field despite not racing for eight years, Troy Griffith decided to make the jump to stock cars. Both Anthony and Troy Griffith's performances in the NSCC attracted the attention of up-and-coming team Team Thunder, who hired them both. While Anthony Griffith's progress was slow, Troy was scheduled to run in the TM Lights in 2005.

Due to his inexperience in stock cars, Troy Griffith's 2005 TM Lights Series campaign did not go quite as well as hoped. Running the #07 WP Hickman Lenard for Team Thunder, he had his best finish of 12th at Mansfield. At the Decatur Raceway, he was running in 2nd place in the closing laps, but was taken out by Alexis Rainsford with four laps to go in the Garbage Dump. He ended up finishing 21st, two laps down. Troy finished the season 21st in points and finished third in Rookie of the Year, behind Alexis Rainsford and Paul Lyons. Troy also attempted to qualify for the 2005 Round of Mansfield in the TM Master Cup series in what would be Haywood Racing's final TM Master Cup attempt, but spun out on his first timed lap.

Troy Griffith's 2006 TM Lights Series campaign went slightly better than the year before. Driving the #07 WP Hickman Lenard for the second year, his car was consistently outpaced by the Calton-Morel Novas, but he still managed to score three top-ten's and two top-five's in the high-attrition races. Troy Griffith pulled off a surprising and popular upset by winning in front of his home crowd at Mansfield, after the leaders were involved in a large pileup with only 14 laps to go. Troy finished the 2006 season 11th in points, which is surprising considering the domination by the Novas that season. Troy Griffith also attempted to qualify for the 2006 Round of Carbondale and 2006 Round of Mansfield in the #07 WP Hickman Lenard for Team Thunder, but with Troy listed as the owner. While he failed to qualify for Carbondale, he made the race at Mansfield, starting in the 37th position. After slowly moving up through the field, he got caught up in a wreck triggered by Ian Cooper and Steve Marshall. Despite heavy damage to the car, Troy Griffith soldiered on to a 23rd place finish, 5 laps down.

TM Master Cup career
Before the 2007 TM Master Cup season, it was announced that Flare Motorsports and Team Thunder would develop a technical alliance, while allowing Team Thunder to operate one of their cars. This new organization, known as Flare Motorsports with Team Thunder, rolled into the 2007 TM Master Cup Series Round of Daytona with their heads high and one of the ugliest paintschemes to ever hit the track. Driving the #9 DHL Lenard, Troy was in position to qualify for Daytona, but was taken out on the final lap in an incident triggered by Ian Cooper and Steve Marshall. Troy Griffith would not qualify for Daytona because of this incident.

The next week, Griffith made the 2007 Round of Rockingham. After qualifying 25th, he hovered around that position for the entire race and wound up finishing right where he qualified, in 25th. At the 2007 Round of Chicago, Troy made the race for the second week in a row, qualifying 36th. After dodging several wrecks, he managed to get his first top-15 finish, bringing the #9 car home in 12th place. Troy made the 2007 Round of France the next week, and despite his worst qualifying effort of 40th, he managed to wheel his way through the field and brought the car home in one piece in 22nd place, a respectable performance for someone with almost no road course experience. After the Round of France, the #9 sat in 34th place in points despite missing Daytona, very close to a lock-in spot.

At the 2007 Round of Peoria, Troy had his best qualifying effort, qualifying 2nd alongside Leonid Roderick. After falling back at the start, Troy recovered to finish in 14th place, his second top-15 that year. After failing to qualify for the race at the Delano Superspeedway, Troy recovered and made the 2007 Karjala Grand Prix. In what would be the best performance of his TM Master Cup career, Troy qualified 7th and ran with the leaders all day. After a debris caution on lap 15, Tom Levin and Troy Griffith got a massive jump on the front two cars of Yuliya Nosova and Alexis Rainsford, taking 1st and 2nd away from them. Despite getting passed by Yuliya Nosova in the laps after the restart, Troy held on to finish in 3rd place, the best finish of his career.

After missing the 2007 Round of Quincy, Troy was involved in a wreck during the qualifying race for the 2007 Round of Indianapolis. In the wreck, Troy Griffith ran into the side of Stephanie McGlynn's #6 car, carrying him headfirst into the wall. Scott Steudler hit him at over 170 mph in the driver's door. Troy Griffith suffered a broken leg, a cracked vertebrae, and a broken arm in the incident, and would sit out most of the rest of the season. He made one more appearance at the 2007 Round of Decatur, trying to qualify the #07 WP Hickman Lenard in another solo effort by Team Thunder, but the engine expired on the pace lap of the qualifying race.

In 2011, Troy Griffith attempted to qualify for the 2011 Round of Indianapolis in the #06 Special Metals Tonare for Team Thunder, but did not pass pre-qualifying after he was involved in an accident with Leigh Gruell, Jacob Eichholtz, and Charlie Waters. He is expected to return for the 2011 Round of Decatur, which will be his last attempt in a TM Master Cup Series car before returning to his seat as Director of Operations at Team Thunder.

Other Racing Endeavors
After sitting out the 2008 season, Troy Griffith drove in the 2009 TM Junior Series in the #104 Gasnier for Lightning Motorsports. However, the car was not up to speed, and Griffith's performances were absolute disasters. After being dropped from the ride at the end of the season, Troy served as Director of Operations at Team Thunder, and acted as Crew Chief for his son Anthony Griffith in his debut in the 2010 Round of Decatur driving the #08 X-Protect Suntan Lotion Omecha.

Troy Griffith drove in the TM Lights Series in 2011, driving the #70 Tonare for Team Thunder. After qualifying 38th for the first race of the season at the Las Vegas Autoring, Troy worked his way up through the field, but was involved in an incident and finished 18th, one lap down. The next race at the Lone Star Supercell saw Troy qualify 3rd and run up front all race, including leading the race at several points. However, he was taken out on lap 30 after contact between Mike Walczak and CJ Long. At Talladega, Troy was running near the back of the pack while his teammate Jim Hayes won the pole, but both Troy and Jim were taken out in accidents before lap 10.

During one of the off weeks for the TM Lights, Troy Griffith participated in the 2011 150 Laps of Dwyer as a relief driver for his son Anthony Griffith. Troy kept the car out of trouble during his time in the damaged #00 Volpi, and the duo ended up finishing 25th, 3 laps down.

Personal Life
Troy lives in his hometown of Sandusky, Ohio, with Nancy, his wife of 26 years. He has a son, Anthony Griffith, who will drive the #08 Kleffer Media Tonare for Power Steering Incorporated in 2012.