Darwin Griffin

1987 ABA National No.1 Cruiser and Mid-School BMX Pro

A BMXRacingHistory.com preview · hosted on Legend Bike Co

At a glance

Born February 24, 1969, Oxnard, California
Prime years 1982–1989 · Height / Weight at peak (1986–88) 6'2", 205 lb
Factory teams Mongoose (1983–84) · GT Racing (1984) · Blue Max (1984–85, 1986) · Raleigh (1985) · U.S. Boss (1985, 1987–88, briefly 1988) · Zeronine (1986) · Revcore (1988) · White Bear BMX Racing Products (1988–89)
Known for 1987 ABA National No.1 Cruiser · 1985 IBMXF 16-17 Cruiser World Champion · White Bear Darwin Griffin Shredder signature frame

Big kid on a cruiser, and just about everybody at the track knew his name. Darwin Griffin held the 1987 ABA No.1 Cruiser plate and was one of the most-watched amateurs the mid-school era produced. He won nationals on both U.S. sanctions and at the IBMXF Worlds. Between 1983 and 1989 he cycled through nearly every major factory program going, and he closed out his amateur run with his own signature frame on White Bear before turning pro at the tail end of 1988. He has since passed away. Period press and BMX community posts mark him as RIP, though no verified date turned up in the sources reviewed for this page.

Starting out — Helendale and Oxnard

Griffin first threw a leg over a bike in 1980, age 11, out in the Silver Lakes community of Helendale, California. A local youth group his brother Dana belonged to pitched in with the Lions Club to build a motocross park, and a newspaper ad for a BMX race is what put the two brothers on a starting gate for the first time. Griffin won the first race he ever entered, on a Moxey 4. He came up through ABA District 20 (CA-20). Before any factory looked his way he rode for local shops — Wheels, Oxnard Bike Shop, Normura.

Pro Flo, Mongoose, and the ESPN Pro Spectacular — 1983 to 1984

Pro Flo picked him up in 1983, the same year he won the non-sanctioned Jag World Championship in 14 Expert. His real opening came at the ESPN Pro Spectacular finals in late December 1983. Mongoose liked what it saw and added him to the factory team on December 28, 1983. That ride lasted about four months. In mid-April 1984 he moved to GT Racing under Gary Turner, and by September he was on Blue Max.

The cruiser years — 1984 and 1985

The cruiser class is where his record really started stacking up. In 1984 he won the NBL 15 Cruiser Grandnational, the ABA 15 Expert and 15-16 Cruiser U.S. Gold Cup, and the USBA 15 Expert 7-UP World Championship. He also took both the 15 Expert and 14-15 Cruiser titles in the Larry Wilcox / Pepsi West Coast BMX Challenge Series.

Then 1985 went bigger. The NBL 16 Cruiser Grandnational. The 16 Cruiser Murray World Cup IV. The IBMXF 16-17 Cruiser World Championship, plus a 16 Boys silver at that same Worlds.

The Blue Max contract dispute — August 1985

Three days out from the 1985 NBL Grandnational, Griffin walked from Blue Max. A Blue Max spokesman quoted in BMX Action said Griffin had sent a letter to BMX Products — parent of both Blue Max and Mongoose — laying out large contingency demands for the Grandnationals. BMX Plus! later put the numbers at $1,000 for each first-place finish and $5,000 for each National No.1 plate. Skip Hess, the president of BMX Products, reportedly said "drop him." And just like that Griffin was off the team. Raleigh signed him on the last day of the Grandnational and kept the ride through October.

The 1987 No.1 Cruiser season — U.S. Boss

The U.S. Boss run is the one people remember him by. In 1987 he won the ABA 17-21 Cruiser Grandnational and the No.1 Cruiser plate. Same year, he took the NBL 18-24 Cruiser Vision World Cup. BMX Action put him on the Terrible Ten amateur list two years running — 1987 at No.6, then again in 1988.

Revcore, a four-day Boss return, and White Bear — 1988

Revcore signed him at the NBL Peachtree National on April 8, 1988, to fill the seat Eddie Fiola's frequent racing partner Eric Carter had vacated. That ride ran about two months. From July 2 to July 5, 1988, Griffin was back on U.S. Boss — four days, and done. He was on White Bear by the 1988 Midwest Nationals on July 16. The deal came with a signature frame and fork, the White Bear Darwin Griffin Shredder, which set him up to turn pro on White Bear five months later.

Turning pro — December 28, 1988

Griffin turned pro at the 1988 NBL Christmas Classic in Columbus, Ohio on December 28, 1988. He placed second in B-pro on day one. The next day he won the Pro Award for a $240 purse. His first A-pro win came two months later, at the ABA Winternationals in Chandler, Arizona on February 19, 1989, paying $870. He stayed on White Bear into May 1989, then later raced for BADD & Co. starting January 1992, Herda/Hawk in 1995, and O'Neal in 2000.

Where Darwin Griffin fits in the bigger story

Riders: Scot Breithaupt, Stu Thomsen, Perry Kramer, Greg Hill, Eddie Fiola, Mike Miranda, Pete Loncarevich, R.L. Osborn, Tommy Brackens, Todd Anderson, Denny Davidow, Clint Miller, Jeff Bottema, Damian Fulton, Billy Griggs, Matt Hadan. Brands: CW, Diamond Back, GT, Haro, Hoffman, Hutch, JMC, Mongoose, Redline, Schwinn, Skyway, S&M, Torker, Webco, TW, California Racing Designs, Bottema Forks, Hustler, Voris Dixon, Hyper, White Bear. Sanctions: BUMS, NBA, NBL, ABA, IBMXF, USA BMX.

Sources

Wikipedia, "Darwin Griffin." BMX Action April 1984, May 1986, December 1985, August 1987, October 1988, November 1988, June 1989. BMX Plus! December 1985, May 1986, October 1988, November 1988, April 1989, June 1989. Super BMX & Freestyle December 1985, August 1988, November 1988. American BMXer November 1985, April 1988, August 1988. USA BMX "The Terrible Ten Tradition" feature (2013). BMXmuseum.com reference pages and forum threads on the 1988 White Bear Darwin Griffin Shredder.

About this page. A preview of the forthcoming BMXRacingHistory.com. See also: History of BMX.