Homestead, FL. (November 20, 2010) In his only NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race this season at the final event on the schedule in Homestead, Florida Derek White the 2010 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series rookie of the year wanted to learn as much as he could and bring the #6 Race101/OCR Gaz Bar Chevrolet Truck to the finish. After weeks of hard work and preparation White along with his team accomplished both of their goals.
It wasn’t important to White that he would begin the race in the #6 Race101/OCR Gaz Bar Chevrolet from the back row. With some of the best racers in the world ahead of him as soon as the green flag waved White took the opportunity to see where he could improve on each lap. “On every corner I was trying to watch some of the faster Trucks and use their line” said White. “At the same time I made sure that I wasn’t holding anybody up” he added.
White’s concern for the other drivers and keeping the #6 Race101/OCR Gaz Bar Chevrolet out of the way also got the attention of NASCAR. “The NASCAR officials told us to pick up the pace a bit” explained White afterwards. “I was letting off a bit too much is all it was, just part of the learning process.
The first caution period of the race came on lap 30 and the #6 Race101/OCR Gaz Bar Chevrolet team made a pit stop for fuel and fresh tires. After the race returned to green flag conditions, White ran his quickest lap of the race to that point on lap 37. “The new tires helped, but also slowing down for the yellow allowed me just to refocus and pick up the speed a little more” he stated.
The #6 Race101/OCR Gaz Bar Chevrolet team called White to pit road for another stop during the third caution period of the race. Fresh tires, fuel and bit of tape added to the front nose all helped Derek in the late stages of the race. On lap 91 White clocked his best lap time of the evening with a 34.569 second trip around the 1 ½ mile oval.
Through much of the race White was pushing the #6 Race101/OCR Gaz Bar Chevrolet to catch the #57 Truck which was running in the position ahead of him on the track. Though he closed the gap several times White just couldn’t seem to make the pass to get back on the same lap. “I was a little quicker on the straightaway but he seemed to carry a bit more speed through the corners” stated White. “And each time I got close to him the yellow would come out and I didn’t get the chance to try and make a pass” he added.
When the checkered flag fell White crossed the line in the #6 Race101/OCR Gaz Bar Chevrolet in 33rd position. Though he certainly would have liked to finish higher he was extremely pleased and proud of what the team had accomplished. “Our goal was to finish the race and we did that” said White. “These guys all worked so hard to get ready for this race and we brought the truck home without a mark on it. I learned so much racing against these drivers, our lap times improved by over four seconds from the first session which is fantastic. I had a great time and can’t thank everybody enough for all their hard work. We’ll enjoy this for a couple days and then we’re going to start looking at what we can do in 2011” said the happy driver.
Look for Derek White to participate in the 2011 season opening event of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Daytona International Speedway next February and also look for him to return to the NASCAR Canadian Tire series next season. Follow the latest news about Derek White by following this link to his website.
Attached Photo: Derek White in the #6 Race101/OCR Gaz Bar Chevrolet team make a pit stop at Homestead.
