Ryan Gifford

Ryan Gifford (born March 10, 1989) is an American professional stock car racing driver. A former development driver for Richard Childress Racing and a former member of NASCAR NEXT. He last drove the No. 2 Toyota Camry for Rev Racing in the regional K&N Pro Series East as a member of NASCAR's Drive for Diversity, and has made starts in the national Xfinity Series for RCR and Biagi-DenBeste Racing. Gifford is the first African-American driver to win a pole in the K&N East series, and works in the shop of Team Dillon Racing.

Ryan Gifford
Gifford at Richmond International Raceway in 2011
Nationality	American
Born	(1989-03-10) March 10, 1989 (age 35) Winchester, Tennessee
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East career
Debut season	2009
Starts	70
Wins	1
Poles	1
Best finish	9th in 2010
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
2 races run over 2 years
2014 position	67th
Best finish	63rd (2013)
First race	2013 U.S. Cellular 250 (Iowa)
Last race	2014 Get To Know Newton 250 (Iowa)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 1 0
Statistics current as of September 28, 2014.

Early life

Gifford is the son of Allen Burnette and Michelle Gifford, who died in 2010. Ryan also has a half-brother, Jabryle Hill. Ryan's grandfather Farrell Gifford was a drag racer, who introduced him to racing at age six. Gifford graduated from Franklin County High School and attended Middle Tennessee State University.^[1][2]

Gifford began his career in go-karts at the age of eight, competing in the World Karting Association from 2000 to 2004 and winning two track championships and finishing 3rd in national standings in his final season. In 2005 at age 15, he began the transition to stock car racing in dirt late models, earning 3 poles and four top 5s in his first season. In 2006, Gifford was noticed by Mike Dillon, the son-in-law of Richard Childress and RCR's general manager. Gifford would move into the Dillon's North Carolina household in 2008 to compete for RCR and Team Dillon Racing on both dirt and asphalt, registering 3 wins and 20 top 10's in 29 starts that season. In 2009, Gifford made four starts in the K&N Pro Series East and one in the West Series in a No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet for RCR. Gifford scored four top 5s including two second-place finishes.^[3][4][5]

K&N Pro Series East

Gifford's winning car at Richmond in 2013.

In 2010, Gifford one of eleven young drivers selected for NASCAR's recently revamped Drive for Diversity program, and would pilot the #2 Chevrolet in the K&N Pro Series East. Gifford raced alongside future national series drivers Darrell Wallace Jr. and Paulie Harraka.^[6] Gifford earned 4 top fives in the 10 race schedule, finishing 9th in points. Gifford also won a pole at Martinsville Speedway, the first pole by an African American in the series' history. Gifford returned in 2011 and 2012, posting a total of seven top 10s in 26 races, and finishing 10th and 11th in points respectively.

In 2013, Gifford was named part of the NASCAR NEXT program.^[7] Gifford was also joined by a new crew chief, veteran race car driver Mark Green.^[8] He won his first race, the Blue Ox 100, on April 27 at Richmond International Raceway. Gifford started 11th and worked his way to the front, beating Brandon Gdovic and Cole Custer on a late-race restart.^[9][10] Gifford would finish 11th in points with four top 5s and six top 10s.

After the race at Loudon, New Hampshire in July 2014, Gifford was fined $1,000 for an altercation with another driver. Gifford was also placed on probation for the rest of the year.^[11]

NASCAR Nationwide Series

In August 2013, Gifford made his national series debut at Iowa Speedway for Richard Childress Racing in their No. 33 Menards Chevrolet, coming from the 23rd starting position to finish 9th.^[12] In 2014, Gifford was signed to run two races for Biagi-DenBeste Racing at Iowa in May and Kentucky in June.^[13] Gifford finished 20th in his only appearance at Iowa.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Nationwide Series

NASCAR Nationwide Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	NNSC	Pts	Ref
2013	Richard Childress Racing	33	Chevy	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	RCH	TAL	DAR	CLT	DOV	IOW	MCH	ROA	KEN	DAY	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW 9	GLN	MOH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	PHO	HOM	63rd	35	[14]
2014	Biagi-DenBeste Racing	98	Ford	DAY	PHO	LVS	BRI	CAL	TEX	DAR	RCH	TAL	IOW 20	CLT	DOV	MCH	ROA	KEN	DAY	NHA	CHI	IND	IOW	GLN	MOH	BRI	ATL	RCH	CHI	KEN	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	PHO	HOM	67th	24	[15]

K&N Pro Series East

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	NKNPSEC	Pts	Ref
2009	Richard Childress Racing	29	Chevy	GRE	TRI 17	IOW	SBO 2	GLN	NHA 4	TMP	ADI	LRP	NHA	DOV 2						19th	617	[16]
2010	Rev Racing	2	Chevy	GRE 4	SBO 4	IOW 16	MAR 12*	NHA 4	LRP 22	LEE 19	JFC 3	NHA 28	DOV 19							9th	1290	[17]
2011			Toyota	GRE 13	SBO 5	RCH 31		BGS 10	JFC 12	LGY 23	NHA 12	COL 14	GRE 11	NHA 19	DOV 7					10th	1509	[18]
		02					IOW 4
2012		2		BRI 3	GRE 13	RCH 21	IOW 17	BGS 18	JFC 28	LGY 18	CNB 4	COL 13	IOW 23	NHA 12	DOV 15	GRE 12	CAR 7			11th	413	[19]
2013				BRI 3	GRE 13	FIF 9	RCH 1	BGS 15	IOW 21	LGY 5	COL 4	IOW 6	VIR 21	GRE 19	NHA 25	DOV 28	RAL 22			11th	429	[20]
2014				NSM 23	DAY 20	BRI 34	GRE 6	RCH 22	IOW 15	BGS 7	FIF 18	LGY 21	NHA 26		IOW 27	GLN 23	VIR 9	GRE 8	DOV 9	15th	431	[21]
		6												COL 5

Camping World West Series

NASCAR Camping World West Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	NCWWSC	Pts	Ref
2009	Richard Childress Racing	29	Chevy	CTS	AAS	PHO	MAD	IOW	DCS	SON	IRW	PIR	MMP	CNS	IOW 6	AAS	51st	150	[22]

References

1. McCarter, Mark (February 12, 2013). "Ryan Gifford aiming for victory lane through NASCAR's 'Drive for Diversity' program". Al.com. Winchester, Tennessee: Alabama Media Group, Advanced Digital. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
2. "Michelle Gifford". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Winchester, Tennessee. April 7, 2010. Archived from the original on 28 March 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
3. "Bio". Ryan Gifford Racing. Ryan Gifford Racing, Terso. 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
4. "Ryan Gifford". Hometracks.NASCAR.com. NASCAR. 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
5. Thompson, Paula (June 17, 2014). "Fast Facts: Ryan Gifford". Skirts and Scuffs. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
6. Official Release (February 9, 2010). "Drive For Diversity Introduces 2010 Driver Lineup". Hometracks.NASCAR.com. Daytona Beach, Florida: NASCAR. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
7. Associated Press (June 21, 2013). "Winchester, TN native on NASCAR's NEXT roster". wrcbtv.com. Newtown, Iowa: WRCB, AP. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
8. Meredith, Luke (August 1, 2013). "GIFFORD READY FOR LONG-AWAITED NATIONWIDE DEBUT". AP.org. Des Moines, Iowa: The Tampa Tribune, Associated Press. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
9. Kerchner, Mike (April 27, 2013). "Short-Track Roundup: Ryan Gifford, 15-year-old Gray Gaulding turn heads at NASCAR K&N Series race". Autoweek. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
10. "Gifford Gets First Win". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. April 25, 2013. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
11. Long, Dustin (July 16, 2014). "Gifford Ready to Race After Fine Paid". MRN. Mooresville, North Carolina: Motor Racing Network. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
12. Cavana, Alan (August 19, 2013). "News: Meet Nascar's Ryan Gifford". BET.com. BET, NASCAR. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
13. Eddinger, Mark (May 1, 2014). "Ryan Gifford Will Drive Two NASCAR Nationwide Series Races for Biagi-DenBeste Racing". MOTORSPORTS 101. Sports Media 101 Inc. Archived from the original on September 21, 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
14. "Ryan Gifford – 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
15. "Ryan Gifford – 2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
16. "Ryan Gifford – 2009 NASCAR Camping World East Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
17. "Ryan Gifford – 2010 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
18. "Ryan Gifford – 2011 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
19. "Ryan Gifford – 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
20. "Ryan Gifford – 2013 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
21. "Ryan Gifford – 2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
22. "Ryan Gifford – 2009 NASCAR Camping World West Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved June 25, 2020.

External links

• Ryan Gifford driver statistics at Racing-Reference