DragChamp Racer Spotlight with Carson Griffith

Carson Griffith states he’s an open book and DragChamp is looking over every page. Find out how many chapters he’s written so far in this week’s Racer Spotlight.

NEW CARLISLE, OH – Ohio native and Kil-Kare Raceway local, Carson Griffith, cannot be labeled into just one category. He’s filled out tech cards for bottom bulb races, with and without a transbrake, as well as top bulb competition in a door car or dragster. Griffith doesn’t care what class he’s racing in, as long as he’s getting the opportunity to turn on win lights.

Like a lot of our drivers, Carson Griffith grew up around drag racing by watching his father. Not so commonly, Carson never wheeled a junior dragster or even made a pass until six years ago.

At sixteen years old, he put his savings up to buy a Chevrolet S-10 with hopes of creating a racecar. Slowly but surely, Griffith put in the work and began racing his truck in the Sportsman and No Box classes.

Carson Quickly Found the Winners Circle

The first weekend that he installed the transbrake button, he pulled off a $2,000 No Box win on Saturday and a semifinal finish on Sunday. That same year he qualified to compete in Sportsman during the NHRA Division 3 Bracket Finals where he made it to the quarterfinal round. He also claimed the 2015 High School Track Champion title.

After about a year of bottom bulb racing, Carson decided that he would like to take on the top bulb competition.

He used his street legal S-10 with an old Deadenbear crossover delay box to pick up a few Top ET wins while driving it to and from the racetrack. He enjoyed proving that you could be successful without the stacker trailer, fancy motorhome, and low 4-second ride.

Carson Griffith’s first win

Switching from S-10 to Shorty

Two years ago, Griffith received an unexpected text message with an offer too good to refuse, so he sold the truck and was left wondering what to build next. It was then that he decided to join the open body community by ordering a 2019 Nelson Racecraft shorty dragster.

The 200” shorty was wrapped by Ryan Burba Designs and is powered by a 401 small block Chevy motor, BTE Powerglide transmission and BTE converter. It runs down the eighth mile at 130 mph and lights up the scoreboard in the 5.20 range.

While debuting his new dragster, Carson quickly found his way back to the winner’s circle that very weekend.

He’s been working diligently towards the elusive “double up” as he has had a few close calls. Back when he was driving his Dad’s S-10 as well as his own, he was runner up in No Box and Sportsman on the same day.

The following weekend, he picked up the win in No Box but came up .001 behind to runner up in Sportsman. Last October, he claimed a runner up finish in Pro and Super Pro at the same event.

Recently, Griffith picked up a $2,000 win during the 2^nd Annual Boo Banger at Kil-Kare Raceway. He still has a few items on his bucket list including a $10K or larger Happy Gilmore check, making the trip to Pomona for the NHRA World Finals, and earning track championships in the Box and No Box classes.

To meet these goals, Carson continues making laps to improve his skills as he strives to become a better racer.

Another Luke Bogacki Fan

Like many, Carson has high praise and admiration towards Luke Bogacki. He’s consulted Bogacki over concerns about his own cars and ninety-nine out of a hundred times, Luke has been able to steer him in the right direction.

Griffith tells us, “For Luke to be able to do something like that, without ever watching the car perform, makes me believe that he has proven to be one of the best in the business- on and off the track.”

Business Owner and Drag Racer

Carson owns his own mobile welding company, Griffith Mobile Welding, and uses that money to fund most of his racing. He acknowledges sponsorship support from Moser Engineering, BTE Racing, Advanced Product Design, and Danny Nelson Racecraft. 

He credits his Dad, Mark Griffith, for making the biggest impact on his racing success.

Griffith feels the hardest part of drag racing is the fact that he runs a business. He says it can be hard to block out that part of your life while you should be focused on the racetrack.

It also makes it hard to balance your time between work and routine maintenance on the vehicles.

Griffith Stays Focused

Carson doesn’t focus or worry about who is in the other lane during competition. In fact, he says he’s pretty good at forgetting there is even someone over there. Instead, he’s focused on telling himself, “It’s just another time run.”

When it comes to winning or losing, Griffith says he is very hard on himself after getting a yellow ticket- especially if he’s given back a run that he didn’t need to.

Whether he is better at the starting or finish line all depends on what day it is. Somedays he will drive stripe like a champion, other days he’s crushing the tree, and occasionally those days line up perfectly.

Outside of racing, Carson spends his time working in the garage or fishing. He listens to rock music, especially Godsmack, and will be the first to order meat or seafood while out to eat. If you find him surfing the web, it’s usually for research on ways to grow his small business.

He would like to give a huge thank you to his Dad for keeping the racecars up to his standards. He would also like to thank his girlfriend, Kylie, for helping in the garage and at the track when she is able to attend.

This season, Carson Griffith is looking forward to traveling more and is planning to make it to at least one of the million-dollar races. He’s always happy to meet new people while racing at different tracks, so let him know you read about him here and introduce yourself!

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Learn more about other drivers by looking at DragChamp Racer Spotlight articles here.