Ed Griggs wound up sixth last season in the Medieval USRA Stock Cars division at Lucas Oil Speedway.

When it comes to variety, Ed Griggs’ resume probably stands above most other Lucas Oil Speedway drivers.

Since beginning his racing career in 1993, Griggs has driven about every type of car on dirt imaginable.

“Late Models, Modifieds, Stock Cars, Dwarf Cars, Mini Sprints and Micro Sprints. I’ve raced all of those over the years,” Griggs said. “And this year, I’m going to race a non-winged Sprint for the first time.”

But Griggs’ primary focus in 2022 again will be the O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars at Lucas Oil Speedway, which he debuted in a year ago. The Pleasant Hill driver wound up sixth in track points with a pair of second-place feature finishes among six top-five runs.

Most of the strong runs came in the final few weeks of the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series season.

“It was really good,” Griggs said of his first season in the USRA Stock Cars. “I had never driven a Stock Car before last year so it was kind of a learning curve. We missed some shows at the beginning of year, otherwise we would have had a lot better points position.

“We learned a lot. The class is stepping up this year, so that’s what we plan to do also with the new car. I don’t know if we’re gonna step up enough or not, but we’ll see.”

Griggs said getting seat time led to a strong second half of 2021, where he was knocking on the door of getting his first Stock Car feature win.

“I could win lots of heat races and lead a lot of laps. It’s a matter of leading the final lap that was tough,” he said. “You have to figure who we’re running against with (James) McMillin, Scotty Allen and (David) Hendrix. They have hundreds of feature wins in Stock Cars and I don’t have that experience yet.

“Those cars are a blast to drive. The racing is so clean. Lucas leads to lots of multi-lane racing, where you can run the bottom, middle or the top. It makes for a lot of fun. It’s kind of a drivers’ track in a Stock Car. You can find a line that suits you.”

Coming from a racing family, Griggs started running Micro Sprint at the old Sweet Springs dirt track in 1993 then switched to Modifieds and made nearby Warrensburg his home track for several years.

Griggs got involved in Mod Lite racing in recent years and won the national championship in 2019. He traveled mostly alone, covering about 17,000 miles that season from Florida to Arizona and points between.

“My Dad raced Sprint cars when I was growing up and it’s always been my dream to do that,” Griggs said. “It’s really the only reason I’m doing that now at 52 years old, to do it before I get too old to do it.”

Griggs' cars are sponsored by Josh Crump, with Crump Construction and True Grit Excavating & Concrete. Griggs would welcome additional sponsorship on the Stock Car.

“I think we’re gonna have as good a car as there is out there, so hopefully we can provide some value with a good car and some up-front running,” he said. “To be able to be on TV (MAVTV Motorsports Network and MAVTV Plus) at Lucas Oil is awesome. It’s something most tracks don’t have.”

Lucas Oil Speedway roars to life for the first time in 2022 on Saturday, with an open Test and Tune scheduled for 2-6 p.m.

Competitors in each of the four Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series classes—Cedar Creek Beef Jerky USRA Modifieds, Ozark Golf Cars USRA B-Mods, O'Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars and Hermitage Lumber Late Models—plus any others from the region are invited to participate.

Grandstand admission is free and pit passes are $25 ($10 for ages 5 and under). Concessions behind the pit-side grandstand will be open with a limited menu. Race fuel, tires and Lucas Oil products also will be available for sale.

Another Test and Tune is set for April 16 from 4-6 p.m.

The 9th annual Pitts Homes MLRA Spring Nationals are set for April 22-23. The Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series Spring Opener opener is scheduled for April 30.

For ticket information for any future event at Lucas Oil Speedway, contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 295-6043 or via email at nichole@lucasoilspeedway.com.

Visit usraracing.com for schedules, points, photos, souvenirs, videos and more. Follow our social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Click here to get USRA news delivered to your inbox.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

USRA OFFICIAL SPONSORS:  American Racer Racing Tires, Beyea Headers, Chevrolet Performance, Christie Door Company, Fast Shafts, FK Rod Ends, K1 RaceGear by Ryan Bowers, KS Engineering, KSE Racing Products, Mesilla Valley Transportation, MSD, Nitroquest Media, PEM Racing Gears & Drivetrain, RacinDirt, Summit Racing Equipment, Sunoco Race Fuels.

USRA PARTICIPATING SPONSORS:  ARMI Contractors, Boubin Tire & Automotive, Brodix Cylinder Heads, DAY Motorsports, Innovative AutoGlass & Window Tint, PBM Performance Products, Star 1 Roofing & Construction, Stealth Oilwell Services, Texas Locomotive Solutions, TNT Auto Parts, YouDirt.com.

USRA CONTINGENCY SPONSORS:  AFCO Racing Products, Allstar Performance, Bryke Racing, BSB Manufacturing, Champ Pans, Edelbrock, Hooker Harness, Integra Racing Shocks & Springs, JE Pistons, Keyser Manufacturing, Landrum Performance Springs, Medieval Chassis, Performance Bodies & Parts, QA1, RacerWebsite.com, Real Racing Wheels, Swift Springs, Sybesma Graphics, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products, Wilwood Disc Brakes Five1seven Designs, Four Seven Designs Salon & Boutique, Hi-Tek Paving, Jerovetz Motorsports Racing Parts, Penske Racing Shocks, Race Smart Wraps, S&S Fishing & Rental, Traeger Wood Pellet Grills by Elliott Motorsports.

USRA RACETRACKS: 67 Speedway of Texarkana, 81 Speedway, Alien Motor Speedway, Ark-La-Tex Speedway, Big O Speedway, Callaway Raceway, Caney Valley Speedway, Cedar Lake Speedway, Centerville Super Speedway, Chateau Speedway, Crawford County Speedway, Creek County Speedway, Cresco Speedway, Dallas County Speedway, Deer Creek Speedway, Devil’s Bowl Speedway, Diamond Park Speedway, Eagle Valley Speedway, Electric City Speedway, Fairmont Raceway, Fayette County Speedway, Gondik Law Speedway, Hamilton County Speedway, Humboldt Speedway, I-35 Speedway, I-70 Speedway, I-90 Speedway, Lake Ozark Speedway, Lakeside Speedway, Lawton Speedway, Lebanon Midway Speedway, Lonestar Speedway, Lucas Oil Speedway, Mason City Motor Speedway, Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Nevada Speedway, Pike County Speedway, Rapid Speedway, Red Dirt Raceway, Rocket Raceway Park, Sabine Speedway, Sports Park Raceway, Springfield Raceway, Super Bee Speedway, Superbowl Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track, Tomahawk Speedway, Tri-State Speedway, Tulsa Speedway, Vado Speedway Park, West Texas Raceway, Winneshiek Raceway.