Truck issue forces White out of race

What was gearing up to be a fun weekend on a new racetrack ended in disappointment for Derek White and his #69 MBM Motorsports team, as they were unable to finish the Onlybulls Green Flag 150, the inaugural NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race in the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

“We had some issues with the fuel pump,” said White.

“The fuse burnt on it twice, the second time NASCAR made me park it because I caused two cautions.”

He did so on lap 52 of 80, finishing in 35th place overall.

Two more complications arose during the weekend that made it a tough race. The first was that most of practice and qualifying were cancelled due to rain, meaning most drivers went into Saturday’s race having not even completed 10 laps on the track.

“It was kind of difficult to navigate through the 14-turn racetrack,” said White, who added that going in blind on a road course is a lot more challenging than doing the same thing on an oval because of the track complexity.

Second was the Florida heat making itself felt.

“It was 85 F and it was about 150-160 F inside the truck,” said White.

“They took four of the drivers to the infield care centre for dehydration, but I was okay. That’s what I trained in the sauna every day for.”

White’s next Truck Series race should be at the Watkins Glen road course in New York State in May, but he may appear again at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama in the ARCA Menard Series in April, depending on scheduling.

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