Local racer, Ryder White wins Sauble Speedway championship

By Brian Lockhart

Local racer, Ryder White has been awarded the 2002 Sauble Speedway Late Model championship after winning every feature race this season, except one, at the Speedway.

His total of race wins this season actually comes in at around 55, however, because ‘you can't race at two places at the same time' he settled on Sauble Speedway as his home track and the place where he competed in every race for the year.

Ryder also raced at Peterborough Speedway, Sunset Speedway, and Full Throttle Motor Speedway in Varney, with outstanding results. He became the ‘one to beat' this season and his car and number became very well known.

Twelve-year-old Ryder has been racing for four years – first getting behind the wheel of his Junior Late Model car when he was just nine years old.

“There was eight races in the series (at Sauble),” Ryder explained. “There was supposed to be nine but one of them got rained out.”

The eight feature races were on top of 14 heat races he won at the track.

“At the start of the season I was leading the points at the three racetracks that I ran at,” Ryder said. “You can't be at three racetracks at the same time so I lost my points at those other tracks. Sauble is the closest track to where we stay at Sauble Beach so I decided to run there. I'm going to move up to mini-stock next season – the class I'll be running in at Sauble is called the ‘combined fours.' To move up, there's no in-between. You either stay in the Late Model, or move up to mini-stock.”

The late model Ryder has been racing is similar to a NASCAR type vehicle but smaller. When he moves up a class next season he'll be driving a full size Honda Civic turned into a race car.

This means a whole different style of racing including learning how to drive with a stick-shift.

“Now that he's moving up a class, the driving will be different,” explained Ryder's dad, and crew chief Mike White. “The Late Model cars run off of momentum, it's full throttle all the way around. Now that he's moving up a class the driving is a bit different. You can't keep the pedal to the metal. You have to have the pedal down on the straight and lift in the corners and maybe use the brake to slow down to make the corner, then accelerate off the corner.”

Ryder's success this season has gained him quite the notoriety at regional race tracks around the province. After winning so many races this year, when fans and other drivers see his orange, blue, and white car, arriving, they know he is going to do well, and they'll be chasing him.

The move up to the mini-stock division next year will provide a new set of challenges as a driver, but Ryder's experience and natural talent on the track will give him a solid edge when the season gets underway.