CANUCKS AT SPEEDWEEKS: JASON WHITE

by Bryce Turner

White returned to Daytona International Speedway for the fifth straight year, where his best ARCA Menards Series race to date went from happiness to heartache in just a matter of seconds.

The Sun Peaks, BC driver joined Jeff McClure Racing for the event, giving him a competitive ride at what has become his favourite type of track. White says that he enjoys all types of racing, but that he has found a knack for superspeedways, with scenarios that he compares to a chess match.

A blown cylinder in practice and a lastminute motor change before qualifying led the team to a mid-pack starting position. The No. 44 Chevy ran near the back during the early part of the race, before making an impactful pit stop.

“The car came alive; it was just an absolute rocket ship,” said White. “It just needed a simple adjustment and it was really fast. We worked our way up, we were three-wide, down on the bottom and up on the top, wherever we wanted to go, we could go with that car.”

White took the lead with 16 to go and held the spot on a restart, with three laps remaining. His spotter, T.J. Bell, told him to stay low and paint the yellow line, where he controlled the pack until the last lap, when they let him get out to a two-to-three car-length advantage on the backstretch.

“I was quick on my brake and I was trying to back it up, but you can’t just hit the brake or you’re going to get run over and you’re going to cause a wreck and you’re going to look like the fool,” said White.

White also wanted to avoid making an aggressive block, as he didn’t want to be remembered as the driver who blocked the field and crashed. He held the bottom entering turns three and four, where he was a sitting duck; the field freight-trained him, with Greg Van Alst winning and White finishing ninth.

“I’m still not quite understanding why nobody came down and took that air,” said White. “There was a lot of speed to gain, in that air, and it still baffles my mind that not one car chose to come down there (with me).”

The contrast of winning and losing was captured in a video shared on social media, which showed the winner taking the checkered flag in the background, while White sat in his car on pit road.

“I could hear my heart pounding over the engine…I thought ‘this is it, this is the day’ and, all of the sudden, the carpet gets taken out from under you like that,” he said. “A lot of emotions, even some tears, and (I was) just trying to gather my thoughts and get ready because I knew there were going to be cameras stuffed in my face as soon as I got out of the car.”

Despite the disappointing ending, it was still a strong performance for White, recording his first laps led in ARCA (14 in total), with his second top-ten finish in the series. He felt like the race proved that he can be competitive and win races in the right equipment. He was also able to take away some lessons for next time.

“I’m going to hang my brake a little bit, coming in the middle of (turns) one and two, I’m going to make sure that they’re on my bumper so they can’t get a run on me,” said White. “Or I’m going to be in second at the white flag, even if I’ve got to back it up and let a car go by, because the second-place car has control more than the first-place car does.”

White also raced in the NASCAR Truck Series event, where a shop fire at Reaume Brothers Racing forced him into a rental truck for the race. The truck needed a lot of work at the track and was way off the pace, but the team overcame adversity to complete every lap, with White finishing 21st.

White plans to take part in future superspeedway races, as well as some local events, in a series such as RS1. IT

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