A Racing Father & His Son: The McGrew Story

Column By: RAY ROGERS / RPW – BALLSTON SPA, NY – When you think of father’s and son’s in racing, you may think of the Earnhardt’s, the Elliott’s, or maybe even the McCreadie’s. But I think you’ll be hearing the McGrew a lot more in the coming years, as in Derrick McGrew Sr. & Jr.

I caught up with this father / son duo recently while preparing for a trip to Australia for the 2017 Kids Royal. The Kids Royal showcases the top Jr. kart racers from down under, and Derrick Jr. will be the first American to compete in the events Sub Jr. division.

To understand what makes the McGrew’s different, we have to go back to the beginning.

Derrick Sr. was raised by his grandfather and his uncle, Randy Hotaling. Both played the roll of Dad to young McGrew. When Derrick was ten, he got his first chance to get behind the wheel of a go-kart, and he raced locally for several years.

As he got older, he began his rise as a crew member…first working for Bob Savoie and then Maynard Forrette . One day, the legendary Jack Johnson asked Derrick to join his crew, and under the watchful eye of Jack himself, Derrick quickly became a valued member of the 12a team.

When Jack’s son, Ronnie, decided he wanted to follow his father as a race car driver, Derrick Sr was asked to be his crew chief. The team won many races and several championships under McGrew’s leadership, but Derrick wasn’t satisfied. He knew how to build a winning race car, but wanted the taste of victory as a driver. So once again, he climbed behind the wheel.

After struggling for several years as a driver, he started to get rolling and picked up his first win. Just as Derrick seemed to be right where he wanted to be, he learned that he was having a child. Derrick spent the next few years nurturing his son, putting his racing career on the back burner.

One day, as Sr. was picking up Jr. from pre-school, he happened to ask his son if he’d be interested in trying kart racing.

“Sure lets do it Dad,” said the youngster.

They acquired a kart from Dave Camera, and as Derrick Sr tells it, ” We went to a local track to get him some seat time. Jr. wasn’t quite old enough to race yet, but as he clicked off laps, I noticed his times where within a few tenths of the Jr1 class winners.”

Knowing his son would not learn a lot just turning laps alone, the elder McGrew went to the track’s promoter and asked if Jr could compete. He was given the green light, and right out of the box he won his very first race. That first year, Jr. collected a total of nine wins and two championships.

In 2014, Derrick Jr. had his best season to date, taking the checkers a impressive forty times and claiming four track championships. Two years later, while racing for the CKE team, he caught the eye of veteran NASCAR driver Elliott Sadler and was asked to drive a few races for the team he co-owns with his brother, Hermie.

While driving for Sadler Karting, Jr. had some solid finishes while competing against some of the best Junior racers in the country.

Since his first season in 2012, Derrick Jr. has amassed 123 wins and ten championships. Not bad for a nine-year-old.

The father and son team has also created a bond that some may not quite understand. Some might think that Sr may be pushing his son into the drivers seat, but that’s not the case. Young McGrew truly loves to race.

Jr. is also an A+ student in school, and has participated in many youth sports including Mixed Martial Arts , Football, Basketball and has recently started cross training on his own to improve his stamina for the upcoming race season.

I then asked the young racer if he missed out on kids.

“I have tons of friends at the track and away from it, so when I’m not racing, I am playing with them,” he said.

His father had almost the exact same answer.

“No matter if Jr. wins or finishes last, he gets out of the kart and is off playing with his friends,” he said.

The young man seem to have that balance between strapping the helmet on, racing at 70 MPH and racing Matchbox cars in the dirt pile. However, I wanted to know what the nine-year-old had on the brain for his future.

“I sure would like to race with Stewart Friesen, or maybe have the chance to race against my hero, T-Mac Tim McCreadie,” he said. “But If I’m not racing, I think I want to be a Engineer.”

The 2017 season kicks off soon for the young McGrew. In April, he will be traveling to Australia to compete in one of his biggest race to date, representing the USA in The Kids Royal. He will also be stepping up to hopefully run in the Xcel Modifieds and Slingshots, along with his regular karting schedule. Plans are to run between 60 and 100 races this season, all up and down the east coast.

All that racing has a price tag attached, and Derrick Sr says that’s the hard part.

“Luckily, we’ve had great sponsor support,” he said. “I tell Jr. don’t worry about that end right now. That’s my job. I do my best as a single dad to give my son the best I can.”

Some of the people who help make it happen include CQC Auto Sales, Performance Manufacturing, Brownell Construction, Derrick Sr’s Grandfather, Parillo Services and all their friends and family that give anything they can to help out.

The team is always looking for new sponsorship opportunities, and have set up a gofundme page to help with expenses for his upcoming trip to Australia. If you interested in helping this young, talented driver reach his goals, visit www.gofundme.com/derrickmcgrewjr or contact Derrick McGrew Sr directly.

What makes these two different from most racing father’s and son’s? Well Sr. has stepped up as a father, and is using racing as a tool to teach his son the values he will certainly use later in his life. Most of all that, he’s teaching his son that winning isn’t everything. Doing what you love with who you love is what makes you smile…even you lose.