LATE RACE INCIDENT SPOILS SOLID RUN FOR JASON WHITE AT DAYTONA
Daytona Beach, FL (2-18-2011) – After a solid run in the top-5 for most of Friday night’s NextEra Energy Resources 250, Jason White and the No. 23 GunBroker.com Chevrolet got caught up in a late-race incident, relegating the rookie team to a 30th place finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway.
White, in his fourth year in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, qualified the No. 23 GunBroker.com Chevrolet twelfth in Thursday evening’s time trials. The Richmond, VA native took only one lap around Daytona’s 2.5-mile superspeedway notching a fast lap of 51.191 seconds (175.812 mph), placing the rookie team on the outside of the sixth row for the start of the 100-lap shootout Friday night.
The 36-truck field took the green flag just past 7:30 p.m. ET in front of an estimated crowd of 57,000. Driver, Jason White and crew chief Chad Kendrick had a solid plan in place to move to the front of the pack when the green flag fell, which is exactly what they did. By lap 4, the orange and black GunBroker.com Chevy had found its way to the bottom of the track running single file in the 5th position.
White maintained his position inside the top-5 over the next 34 laps which included a green flag pit stop on lap 30 for a minor chassis adjustment and fuel. When the first caution flag was waved at lap 39 for an accident in turn two, Kendrick made the call to leave the No. 23 machine out on the track. When the race resumed on lap 42, White was scored in the fourth position.
Restarting on the top of the race track, White struggled over the next five laps to get his GunBroker.com Chevy to the bottom of the track and was shuffled all the way back to the 16th position. When the second caution flag of the evening fell on lap 55 for debris, Chad Kendrick used the opportunity to bring the GunBroker.com machine down pit road for fuel and four Goodyear tires. White would resume the race in the 28th position.
With 43 laps to go, White made a charge to the front, and was scored 15th just three laps later. The field was slowed once again at lap 67 for accident in turn one. Kendrick made the call to bring the No. 23 machine down pit road for the final stop of the evening to top off with fuel, and White would maintain his position on the race track when the field went back to green on lap 69.
Just seven laps later, the No. 5 machine of Travis Kvapil cut a left front tire while making his way into Turn-1, causing a 14 truck pile-up and ultimately ending the night for Jason White and the Joe Denette Motorsports team.
Michael Waltrip went on to win his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race followed by Elliott Sadler in second, while Clay Rogers rounded out the top-3.
“Obviously, this isn’t the finish we were looking for at Daytona,” said White. “We had such a great GunBroker.com Chevy here and ran up front most of the night. We got back in the pack following a pit stop and when the wreck happened we got piled up and had nowhere to go. That is just the way it happens sometimes at Daytona though. The team and I will put this behind us and we look forward to Phoenix.”
Up next for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is the second stop of the season at Phoenix International Raceway. The Lucas Oil 150 will take the green flag Friday night, February 25 at 8:00 p.m. ET. Race coverage will be televised on SPEED and also broadcasted live on MRN Radio at 7:45 p.m. ET.
For more information on Joe Denette Motorsports please visit: www.JoeDenetteMotorsports.com
For more information on Jason White and GunBroker.com please visit: www.GunBrokerRacing.com
Follow Joe Denette Motorsports on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/TeamJDM23
Follow Jason White on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/JasonWhite23
Follow GunBroker.com on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/GunBroker
