Robert White has driven race cars on and off for nearly 30 years, but prior to this season had only been on the Lucas Oil Speedway dirt a handful of times.

The addition of the Medieval USRA Stock Cars to the Big Adventure Weekly Racing Series lineup led White to make Lucas Oil Speedway his weekly, Saturday night home for the first time. It’s proven a successful decision for the veteran Lebanon racer.

“It’s been a pretty good season,” said White, who is third in O’Reilly Auto Parts USRA Stock Cars points, with a pair of second-place finishes among five top-fives in seven events. David Hendrix leads the way, with Darren Phillips 136 points behind and White 32 in back of Phillips.

“We blew a motor earlier and last week our ignition switch went bad while we were getting ready to go into second,” White added. “Other than that, it’s been good.”

The USRA Stock Cars will headline Saturday’s Ozarks Food Harvest Food Drive Night at the Races Presented by KOLR. They’ll go 25 laps for $750-to-win and White will be looking to complete a trifecta of goals he set prior to the season.

The 45-year-old from Lebanon said he’s raced a couple of Big Buck 50s and maybe competed three times total at Lucas Oil Speedway over the years.

“The Stock Cars are what got me to go over there,” White said. “It’s a more-affordable class. It’s what we’re all about.

“It’s tough competition,” he added, noting that points leader Hendrix of Waynesville and Derek Brown of Stoutland—both from near his hometown—are former track champions at Wheatland.

“I had three goals going over there,” White added. “One was to pass David Hendrix, two was to pass Derek Brown and three was to win a race. We’ve got two of them done so far. Hopefully we can win a race before (the season) is over.”

White said he’s known Hendrix and Brown since they were youngsters and worked for Lebanon’s Tony Jackson Jr. for eight or nine years.

“So I’ve been around racing pretty much all my life,” White said.

Racing is a big part of racing for the White family. Robert began racing Pure Stocks as a 16-year-old on the pavement at Lebanon I-44 Speedway.

“When it switched over to dirt I started racing on dirt after that,” White said. “I’ve been having way more fun on dirt, but I’ll race on anything. I’ll race a lawnmower if you want to race it.”

White has raced B-Mods, Midwest Mods and Factory Stocks with championships in the Midwest Mods and Pure Stocks at Lebanon Midway Speedway. His sons, Jacob and Brian, also have won Pure Stock championships at Midway.

“I got to win two of my championships the same year they won their championships, which was pretty special,” Robert White said.

Brian White recently purchased Gary Donaldson’s Stock Car and plans to get it ready to race at Lucas Oil Speedway soon. Brian White is putting together a Pure Stock to race at Midway. Both sons and Robert White’s wife, Cindy, help him in the pits.

Team sponsors include Price Enterprises from Lebanon, Complete Services in Springfield, Icon Racing Graphics and The Butcher Shop out of Camdenton.

“I was gonna race the whole season for points, but blew the motor and missed a race,” Robert White said. “A goal now is to get second in points. David has kind of checked out on everybody, but we’re only (32) points out of second, so that ought to be a good race.

“I’m just having a blast for an old man and having a lot of fun.”

Ozarks Food Harvest and Lucas Oil Speedway had its first Food Drive Night at the Races in 2008. The partnership has been annual event since 2011 with a total of 71,400 pounds of food donated overall, equating to 85,680 meals. Last year’s food drive at the speedway saw attendees donate more than 7,000 pounds of food.

Twenty-five percent of the food donated will go to Hickory County C.A.R.E.S., the Ozarks Food Harvest's partner in Wheatland. The remainder will be distributed across the organization's 28-county service area.

For more information about the Ozarks Food Harvest visit OzarksFoodHarvest.org.

Frogs Jr Fan Club Pit Tour: As is a weekly tradition at Lucas Oil Speedway, young fans arriving early are invited to sign up for the Frogs Jr Fan Club Pit Tour. Kids ages 5-12 can sign up on the midway, behind the main grandstands, before 5 p.m. with eight names drawn for a special pit-area tour at 5:15 with flagman Mike Striegel.

They will get to meet some of the drivers, see the cars up close and attend the drivers' meeting prior to returning to the midway. Each of the eight will receive a Frogs Jr Fan Club T-Shirt, checkered flag and a gift bag sponsored by RaceGear Unlimited to put items in they receive from the drivers.

Drivers can pick up free tickets: Upon check-in at the pit office, drivers in attendance this Saturday can receive up to 50 free general admission tickets for Aug. 28 Rempfer Memorial Season Championship Night. Drivers with the most tickets used on Aug. 28 will win one free season crew member pit pass for 2022.

Gates open at 4 p.m. with hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05.

Admission:
(FREE with four non-perishable food items)
Adults (16+) $12
Military & Seniors (62+) $9
Youth (6-15) $5
Kids (Under 6) FREE
Family Pass (two Adults and up to three Youth) $30
Pit Pass $30

For ticket information for any event during the 2021 Lucas Oil Speedway season, contact Admissions Director Nichole McMillan at (417) 282-5984 or via email at Nichole@lucasoilspeedway.com. Fans also can use the online ticketing system.