The Scoop
EAGLE RIVER’S WHITE SHINES IN ARIZONA IMCA ACTION
Posted on: Friday January 24, 2025
Eagle River’s Dustin White (73) squares off with Omro’s Kaden Besaw (10k) at 141 Speedway in Francis Creek. (danlewisphoto.net)
Like many racers these days, Dustin White enjoys traveling with his race car, hitting different tracks and series.
The 30-year-old Eagle River B mod racer loves running at his home track Eagle River Speedway. However, White’s never been one to chase points anywhere.
So while you can catch White most Tuesday nights at Eagle River Speedway this summer, White isn’t afraid to load up his race car, with his wife and two kids and hit the road in search of the best competition he can find.
Last week, White ditched the sub-zero weather we face in northern Wisconsin and loaded up the race car, wife Haley and kids Ellie and Ollie and headed to the Central Arizona Speedway. White represented the Badger state well, capturing the IMCA Winter Nationals in his northern sportmod.
White captured one feature win along the way, and finished in the top ten every night except the final evening of racing when he suffered his only DNF in eight nights when he blew a clutch.
The eight nights of racing boasted some solid car counts, too. “They averaged more than 50 sportmods a night and had 59 of them run the deal in total,” White explained. “There was some tough competition down there. As for the track itself, they list it as a three-eighths mile but it’s got really wide, sweeping corners. So nothing really compared to anything I’ve run back home in Wisconsin or even when we travel to Iowa, for that matter.”
According to White, they farmed the track frequently at Arizona and the racing surface stayed tacky most nights. White’s car is a Bob Harris Enterprises (BHE) chassis that he picked up towards the tail end of the 2023 season. “So how this started with this car was we picked it up in Iowa in September of ’23 and drove straight to 141 Speedway (Francis Creek) for their Fall special,” White said. “So from there, we actually did head out to Arizona last year for this deal one year ago. So when we went back this year, our goal was to make the show every night, which we did. We expected to do better this year, but we weren’t expecting to win the deal.”
The sportmod features paid $1,000-to-win each night. For capturing the series titles, White scored a handful of contingency prizes: a set of pistons for a motor, a custom helmet and firesuit.
White relied upon a couple of loyal crew members who were also able to swing the trip. “Cory Scott he’s the old man who follows me around,” White joked. “He drove the race car down there. My wife and I drove the jeep with the kids. Wyler Haynes (who races street stocks at Eagle River) was also there. He’s like my main crew guy. Tommy Pecaro from Pecaro Motorsports helps us out too, building the carburetors. We rented a vacation house with a pool. One day we went to the zoo. The girls and kids sight saw a bit. Racing started at 2 p.m. on days we were racing but we made the best of it.”
White has wheeled a late model in recent years at his home track Eagle River Speedway.
White’s raced a few different classes during his eight year racing career. He started out racing a street stock and briefly wheeled an IMCA stock car. He also battled in Eagle River’s late model division which features spec tires and the 604 crate motor. “I really enjoy racing that late model, but I really love to travel,” White explained. “That’s the beauty of the sportmod. We can pretty much race that thing anywhere. We’ve always loved traveling. When they had that Cowbell street stock tour, we chased that. It’s how you get better. Racing against the best competition.”
White’s racing career kicked off in the street stock class. (QC Willy photo)
When he’s not racing, White owns and operates Dustin White Construction and builds homes for a living. “That allows me a little bit of flexibility to take off for races,” White said. “My guys did a great job keeping things rolling back home while we were in Arizona. We work 12 months of a year.”
While it’s only January, White is sitting well in IMCA’s national point standings. “But don’t worry, we’re never going to chase that title,” White joked. “This year our game plan will be making most of the shows at Eagle River and hitting some specials and what not at 141 Speedway and I want to return to IMCA’s Supernationals down in Boone, Iowa. But honestly, 141 weekly gets a lot more cars weekly than any of the Iowa tracks. And the competition is as good as it gets.”
White had a great run going in his heat race in Boone last September. But it was someone he trades paint with closer to home regularly who beat him out in his heat race. “I had a tire go down and it was Frank Gasperini who wound up beating me,” White said. “It’s funny when we’ve traveled over the years with all the Eagle River racers to big shows like the Captain Of The Creek at 141 or Iowa or wherever. We’d all pit next to each other. Our goal is for everyone to win their respective heat races. But you know what often happened? It would usually be me and most if not all of the Zdroiks in the same heat race. It’s just how the luck seemed to play out sometime.”
White plans on piloting the same car this year and that car will be sponsored by Dustin White Construction. Badger Truck Repair, Mark Haynes, Hinterland Truck Repair, Valeria Contracting, Lightning Storm Graphics, Bob Harris Enterprises, Shiloh Construction Services, Friendship House, Superior Plumbing and Heating.