White survives triple overtime at The Glen

Derek White continued his return to NASCAR last Friday, taking part in the Craftsman Truck Series race at Watkins Glen International, the Mission 176 at The Glen.

White made his second start of the year in the Truck Series driving the #69 Ford for MBM Motorsports, with sponsorship from OCR Gaz Bar and Mohawk Market and the Mohawk Warrior flag on the hood.

Watkins Glen is one of three road courses on the series’ schedule this year - road courses are race tracks like Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Friday’s race was the first road course race in White’s Truck Series career up to this point.

“It was different,” said White, of his experience driving on a road course.

White qualified in 31st place with a time of 79.63 seconds, placing last among all trucks which set a time - five did not, starting behind him on the grid. He was around two-and-a-half seconds slower than the car ahead of him in qualifying, and almost nine off the pace set by polesitter Corey Heim.

It took some time for him to get used to the aggressive racing style the series regulars were showing in the opening laps.

“The trucks are really fast, and I race against all these young guys that are very fearless. Basically, they don’t really care, they just go all out from lap one until the last lap, so it was kind of tough to hang with them for a while,” said White.

“But, once I got in the groove, I was okay.”

As the laps ticked down, trucks started to retire from the race, due to mechanical issues and a few crashes, but White stayed out of trouble, and after returning on the lead lap after the Stage 1 caution, he stayed on the lead lap and found himself, at points, inside the top 15, ultimately finishing the race in 19th.

This was his first-ever top 20 in the Truck Series and his best finish in one of NASCAR’s three top series since 2012, when he finished 18th in the Nationwide Series (now Xfinity Series) race in Montreal.

Physically, it was a tough race for White, with temperatures at the track reaching 30 C. In any car, but particularly NASCAR, the inside of the car is much hotter, in this case reaching the mid 50s C.

White felt the effects of the heat as he was driving.

“Around maybe lap 50, my left leg cramped up, so I had to drink a lot of water as I was driving,” said White.

The cramp went away, but he soon felt another in his right foot that almost made him drop out of the race entirely.

“I just toughed it out and I finished the race,” he said.

It would have been one thing if he would have had to manage the heat if the race ran the scheduled 72 laps. Instead, it ran 81 laps, due to three overtime restarts - restarts under the yellow flag following incidents. NASCAR races do not end under yellow, and there must be two laps under green to end the race, called the green-white-checkered.

After incidents during the first two overtimes, the last one was free of yellow flags, with the race being won by the polesitter Heim.

For White, finishing in the top 20 in difficult conditions against a field made up of younger drivers was a proud moment.

“They all wear cool suits and they’re young. I was probably the oldest driver out there, without a cool suit, so by me finishing the race on the lead lap in that heat....all my training I’ve been doing for my endurance paid off.”

White’s next race in the Truck Series will be on September 20 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Team EJP 175.

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