Josh St. Clair of Liberty celebrates in victory lane following a win at Wiscasset Speedway last season. Travis Barrett/Kennebec Journal

WISCASSET — How does one top a history-making 2021? To hear Josh St. Clair tell it, reduce your expectations for 2022.

“I have a saying, “ said St. Clair, of Liberty, who became the first driver in Wiscasset Speedway to win a championship in three separate divisions during the same season last summer. “‘Expectations are premeditated resentment.’ It’s better to keep the bar low and just go out and have fun and enjoy it.”

He’ll get that chance Saturday, when Wiscasset Speedway holds its first racing of the season. The action gets under way at 2 p.m.

There was plenty to enjoy at the track his grandfather, Dave St. Clair, once owned. The third-generation driver won nine features a year ago — four in the Pro Stock division and three in the Strictly Streets — en route to the championship in both. In winning the Pro Stock title, St. Clair became the first in his family to claim a championship in the track’s premier weekly division.

He also won two Late Model events en route to that title.

“To start with, I’ve been doing this since 2004 and it’s the first time I’d won one championship. To get three at once, it’s like … what???

Josh St. Clair, top, and Andrew McLaughlin survey the damage on a race car in the pit area at Wiscasset Speedway last season. Travis Barrett/Kennebec Journal

“The more I see people during offseason, everyone wants to know the same thing — how are you going to beat that? I didn’t intend on that happening. It all just shook out for me.”

While he remains in a bit of shock as to what he’s been able to accomplish, there is still one more thing left on St. Clair’s bucket list.

“I’d love to finish off the Boss Hogg,” he said of the race named after Dave St. Clair, an annual 150-lap Pro Stock open event. “I’ve led it last two years and then something happened at the end.

“That’s the one thats been at the top of the list for quite a long time.”

• • •

It’s been a whirlwind month already for Hudson, New Hampshire’s Derek Griffith.

Griffith, who posted a podium finish in last August’s Oxford 250, made his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut for Sam Hunt Racing at Richmond Raceway in Virginia on April 2 and then went to Martinsville Speedway where he threatened the Top 10 all evening in his second career start in the series.

Then he joined the Pro All Stars Series at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Easter Sunday and things didn’t go quite as smoothly.

Griffith was collected in an accident during his qualifying race that morning, one that sent his car upside down and careening into the first-turn wall at the 1.058-mile track. He said it was the hardest hit he’s ever taken in a race car.

Hudson, New Hampshire, driver Derek Griffith is in his second season with SpotOn as a sponsor. Griffith made his Xfinity Series debut this season. AP photo

“We made it three laps in our heat race and got completely destroyed,” Griffith said. “It was a really big heartbreaker. It’s one thing if I could fault myself for making a mistake or racing for the win. But I pulled up to let guys go and they wrecked each other.”

If there was one positive out of the accident, it was that Griffith was essentially unharmed.

“I’m totally fine,” said Griffith, 25. “I have one small bruise on my elbow. This gnarly head cold I’ve had all week has bothered me more than that did.

“We’ve always felt like it’s not worth it to save money on on a used seat or for something that doesn’t fit quite right. We’ve never sacrificed on equipment when it comes to safety. I’ve always made sure that I have the right stuff that fits and is tightened up the way it should be.”

Griffith noted that he’s suffered concussions while racing in the past, resulting from much less significant impacts. Though his car — the only PASS-legal Super Late Model he has — was totaled and he’ll miss this weekend’s PASS race at Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut, he wasn’t injured.

“I got unlucky wrecking, and then I got lucky while I was being unlucky,” Griffith said.

Griffith said he expects to be back on track with PASS on May 7 at Oxford Plains Speedway. His next scheduled Xfiniy Series race is at NHMS on July 16.