There is one thing that Hershel McGriff, in his 60-plus years of driving race cars, has never done well.
The 81-year-old can’t seem to get this retirement thing down.
He’s done it twice and two times he’s failed at it and made comebacks.
His first retirement was in 1954 after winning four races on what is now the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He came back in the mid-1960s.
His second retirement came in 2002 and the 12-time most popular driver in the NASCAR Camping World West Series officially came back June 19 when he attempted to qualify for the series race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif.
Next Sunday the 1986 series champion will try to qualify for the series race later that day at Portland International Raceway’s road course.
His first race was in 1945 on the other side of Interstate 5 at Portland Speedway at the age of 17.
McGriff’s son, Hershel Jr. — who drove a dirt late model for the the High Wallers Racing Team out of the Oregon State Penitentiary before retiring in 2001 — helped to build the current race car with some friends.
McGriff is going Monday to Thunderhill Park Raceway in Willows, Calif., to test the car for a day before returning to Portland to race.
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