Nascar Spotter Brett Griffin Guides Drivers From Above And Behind The Scenes

Out of the blue, Elliott Sadler picked up the phone and called his public relations representative and said he needed a new business manager. On the other end of the line was Brett Griffin, a young man from the small town Pageland, South Carolina.

Griffin, who started working as Sadler’s PR representative at Wood Brothers Racing in 1999, imagined he’d eventually be a racer’s manager, but not so rapidly. It was late 2000, and the next day, Sadler called and made a second offer that would change Griffin’s life.

“I’m 26 years old, working for Elliott as his business manager, and the next day, Elliott called me and said, ‘I want you to come spot for me,’” Griffin recalled. “I’ve done two races in my life, one at Watkins Glen and one at New Hampshire in 2000.

“As Elliott began making changes in his career, he wanted to make a spotter change and I’ll never forget it. When he first offered it to me, I thought I was going to throw up, because I said, ‘What if I can’t do this?’ I called him back and said, ‘I’ll spot for you as long as you don’t fire me as your spotter and business manager on the same day. I can’t lose two jobs at one time.’”

Not only did Griffin never get fired, but he remained with Sadler throughout the rest of his Nascar career as both a business manager and eyes from above. He negotiated sponsor and team contracts with major corporate partners, forming a company with Sadler and former Robert Yates Racing teammate called Driver’s Choice. He also spotted for Jeff Burton, followed by Clint Bowyer from 2012 through 2020.

While Griffin worked with Bower at the Cup level, he continued on as Sadler’s spotter in the Xfinity Series. The two competed for eight championships, winning eight races and finishing runner-up in the standings four times.

Once Griffin’s drivers retired from Nascar racing, he started his own company, SpotOn Activations. Now, he’s seen as one of the most informative people in the garage, returning to the spotter’s stand with Kaulig Racing, while also developing his own firm.

“I decided I want to spend a lot of time and effort on experiential marketing,” Griffin said. “I’ve been fortunate to manage drivers in this space, to work with teams, work with sponsors, racetracks, race entitlement deals and a lot in this sport.

“At the end of the day, what makes me happy is seeing people have fun. Anybody who knows me knows I love to have a good time. There’s seven days a week that Brett Griffin is down to have a good time.”

Griffin’s two-decade journey began with David Allen, Dale Earnhardt’s manager. He was interviewing to work on Ron Hornaday’s NAPA program in what is now the Camping World Truck Series, but Allen instead referred him to Doug Cox. Cox hired Griffin to work on Sadler’s Citgo program and Michael Waltrip’s BAND-AID team.

“My very first weekend at the racetrack, I thought I landed this dream job and everything would be glamorous,” Griffin said. “My first weekend was at Richmond in May 1999 and I handed out 100,000 packs of Band-Aids. As my boss began to trust me, I got to do more things with the drivers and with the media, and with our guest hospitality situation. I spent two years with Cox Marketing Group.”

Over the years, Griffin has negotiated and activated over $70 million in marketing and sponsorship inside of Nascar and outside of the sport. He’s worked with brands like Mars Incorporated, 5-Hour Energy, Stanley Tools, Tylenol, OneMain Financial, Offerpad and, currently, Nutrien Ag Solutions.

Nutrien Ag Solutions came to Griffin and Sadler, but Sadler retired from full-time racing following the 2018 Xfinity Series season with JR Motorsports. He agreed to run two Xfinity Series events for Kaulig Racing in 2019 with Ross Chastain running in the brand’s colors for five more contests. The brand stuck with Chastain the following year before working with Jeb Burton.

But the leadership at Nutrien Ag Solutions announced it would leave Nascar following the 2021 season, leaving Burton without a ride. Griffin helped Burton navigate the free agency market with the remaining sponsorship dollars he had.

“Then, we’re in December, and my phone rings with someone at Nutrien Ag Solutions saying we’ve had some management changes and we want to come back to Nascar,” Griffin said. “We jumped through a lot of hoops and everybody kind of has their plan for the year.

“I called Chris Rice [president of Kaulig Racing] and said we want to come back, and I want to change the path of this sponsorship. I want to pursue someone who will win races for the brand because we never made decisions in the past based on winning. We signed 11 races with AJ Allmendinger, and so far he’s won three of them.”

Meanwhile, Griffin is still spotting and, no, he was never fired from the two jobs. He’s working with Justin Haley in the Cup Series and Daniel Hemric in the Xfinity Series, guiding the two drivers week-in and week-out.

Griffin is an analyst on Dirty Mo Media’s Door, Bumper, Clear, a podcast with TJ Majors and Freddie Kraft, where they can talk unfiltered about anything and everything Nascar related. Earlier this year, DBC debuted on MAVTV.

To be in this position, where Griffin wears multiple hats and works with some of the most well-known people in racing, is humble for the man who grew up in a town with a population of approximately 2,000 people.

Griffin said, “It’s surreal for me to think back and talk about it. You don’t stop to look backwards because, if you do, you’ll get passed by everybody who’s trying to do what you’re doing.

“This conversation gives me chills because I’ve come a long way from a really small town with a very humble beginning. I grew up with a single mom. It’s almost like I’ve defied the odds.”