Griff Allen is an American motorsports broadcaster, engineer, and actor/performer. Allen is known for his appearances on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

as host, reporter and analyst for ''

ESPN SpeedWorld ''ESPN SpeedWorld'' (formerly ''Auto Racing '79–'86'') is a former television series broadcast on ESPN from 1979–2006. The program that was based primarily based around NASCAR, CART, IMSA, Formula One, NHRA, and IHRA. The theme music is bas ...

'', the

Outdoor Channel Outdoor Channel is an American pay television channel focused on the outdoors, offering programming that includes hunting, fishing, Western lifestyle, off-road motorsports and adventure. The network can be viewed on multiple platforms including ...

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was o ...

Speed Channel Speed was an American sports-oriented cable and satellite television network that was owned by the Fox Sports Media Group division of 21st Century Fox. The network was dedicated to motorsports programming, including auto racing, as well as aut ...

, and other programming. Allen performs live analysis and commentary for:

AMA Superbike AMA Superbike Championship is an American motorcycle racing series that has been run every year beginning in 1976. For most of its existence it has been considered the premier motorcycle road racing series in the United States. It is sanctioned ...

, ASRA, CCS,

monster truck A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock pic ...

events,

motocross Motocross is a form of off-road motorcycle racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The sport evolved from motorcycle trials competitions held in the United Kingdom. History Motocross first evolved in Britain from motorcycle trials competi ...

, arenacross, drifting,

rock crawling Rock crawling is an extreme form of off-road driving using specialized vehicles ranging from stock to highly modified to overcome obstacles. In rock crawling, drivers typically drive highly modified four-wheel-drive vehicles such as trucks, Jeep ...

, car shows, major industry trade shows and auto shows. Allen served as the national spokesperson for the

Toyo Tires , commonly known as Toyo Tires, is a tire and rubber products company based in Itami, Japan. History The company started in 1945. In 1966, the company expanded to the United States as ''Toyo Tire USA Corporation''. In 1999, ''Nitto Tire Nort ...

''Take it to the Track'' program - which discourages illegal street racing. He has appeared frequently on local TV stations nationwide addressing issues of transportation-related public safety.

Career

Engineering

Allen worked in steel production, fluid systems component manufacturing,

actuator An actuator is a component of a machine that is responsible for moving and controlling a mechanism or system, for example by opening a valve. In simple terms, it is a "mover". An actuator requires a control device (controlled by control signal) a ...

development and investment

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a ''casting'', which is ejected ...

. On 20 October 1998, he was awarded

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

number 5,822,989 for his work in developing a fuel-saving clutch mechanism used in the heavy trucking industry along with co-inventors Michael L. Sturdevant and Edward T. Schneider. Allen holds a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

Acting

Allen appeared as Captain Georg von Trapp in

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...

and William Harrison Brent in the Ohio premier of

Perfect Crime Perfect crimes are crimes that are undetected, unattributed to an identifiable perpetrator, or otherwise unsolved or unsolvable as a kind of technical achievement on the part of the perpetrator. The term is used colloquially in law and fiction (es ...

Chagrin Valley Little Theatre Chagrin Valley Little Theatre is a community theater located in Chagrin Falls, Ohio in the United States. The theater has been in existence since 1930, and is one of the oldest community theaters in the country (the oldest being the Little Theatre ...

. He appeared as Mark Ferris in London Suite and Mike Connor in High Society with The Gates Mills Players - where he also directed the

Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...

nominated play

Love Letters A love letter is an expression of love in written form. However delivered, the letter may be anything from a short and simple message of love to a lengthy explanation and description of feelings. History One of the oldest references to a l ...

by A. R. Gurney. He also appeared as Brett - a police officer in the 2001

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

film ''Proximity'', and as a Desk Sergeant in the 2004 Christopher K. Young film ''Sugar''. Allen appeared as a CDC Official in ''Diagnosis: Unknown'' on the

Discovery Health Channel Discovery Health Channel was an American subscription television channel. Launched in July 1998, it was owned by Discovery Communications as a spin-off of Discovery Channel, focusing on health and wellness-oriented programming. In the beginning ...

. He has appeared in numerous radio and television commercials - most notably for

Summit Racing Equipment Summit Racing Equipment is an automotive parts retailer with four retail stores and distribution centers located in Tallmadge, Ohio; Sparks, Nevada; McDonough, Georgia; and Arlington, Texas. Summit Racing Equipment is also involved in motorsports ...

Motorsports broadcasting

Allen hosted the 2008 AMA Sports Banquet at the

Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum Barber Motorsports Park is an multi-purpose racing facility located in Birmingham, Alabama. It was built by George W. Barber, and includes the Barber Vintage Motorsport Museum. It has been the site of the IndyCar Series' Grand Prix of Alabam ...

.Snapshots
www.amadirectlink.com. Accessed 2009-05-05.

References

External links

*
www.playinthestreet.com
official website
American Motorcyclist Association (AMA)
- official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Griff Living people Motorsport announcers Actors from Shaker Heights, Ohio 21st-century American inventors Year of birth missing (living people)