Ten years after being involved in one of the scariest accidents a sprint car driver has ever survived, Harli White will run in both the 360 and 410 divisions of the Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway over the next two weeks.

The 22-year-old from Lindsay, OK, began racing in a 600 mini sprint at the age of 12, but her career almost ended as quickly as it started when a minor crash turned her car into a fireball with her trapped inside of it. A decade later, White only sees her near-death experience as a positive influence to her racing.

"No, I don't think so," White replied when asked if the crash affected how she raced. "It's made me have no fear, if that makes sense."

Fearless is a perfect description of White; in fact, it might be an understatement. To be able to climb back into a car after such a violent crash is an incredible feat at any age, but to do so even before the teenage years had settled in -- and with such limited experience as to what to expect from her sprint car -- is no less than incredible.

White is letting the past stay where it belongs as she gears up for 360 qualification on Thursday in Knoxville. She has only had the chance to race there a handful of times but has spent the last two weeks in the area running the weekly race and familiarizing herself with the track.

As the racing world descends again on Knoxville, White is excited to for the experience of Nationals and the atmosphere of the Sprint Car Capital of the World.

"I think along with everyone who has been to Knoxville I just love the atmosphere and the whole town of Knoxville is a racing town," White said. "It's cool to see the whole town get together for the Nationals and every race at Knoxville. The staff is great, I always feel super safe coming to Knoxville. Everything about the track is what excites me."

The driver has run the last two Saturday races at Knoxville in her 360 but hasn't cracked into the A-main as of yet, finishing fifth in the B-main on July 22 and 10th in the B-main on July 29. Her biggest problem has been finding the speed to advance through time trials.


"This past Saturday at Knoxville, we didn't do great at all -- we really struggled," she said. "We don't time trial at all during the year, so whenever we come to Knoxville it's a new thing for us. Time trialing is everything at Knoxville, and unfortunately we haven't been able to time trial good at all, which has put us behind. We have changed motors and changed cars so maybe that can give us a better lap time and make me feel more comfortable going back to my 'ol' faithful' car as we call it."

White advanced into the A-Main on July 7 at Mason City (Iowa) Speedway and finished 16th after starting 23rd.


In order to find what she's missing on the track, White is saying goodbye to her newer sprint that she's been using for around half a season and returning to a car in which she feels more comfortable -- and that brought her more successful runs in February and March.

"I've run [the new car] for about half the season now," she said. "I had run this car that I just switched to in February and a little bit in March. So I've only ran it about four or five times this year, but I've done really well in it. I haven't raced it yet at Knoxville so I'm excited to get back in it."

(Donnie Ray Crawford continues to be honored by White on her firesuit; he was the driver who saved her from the burning crash a decade ago.)

Next weekend will be White's first 410 race in the States. Her overall debut was made in Australia, where she traveled to race and gain experience during the offseason.

"I'm excited -- in Australia it was very tough, but we got a lot of learning experience," White said. "At Knoxville I can't get enough laps, so whether it's in a 410 or a 360 I'm just glad to be making laps and am trying to learn something from the race track. It's pretty tough so I have a lot of learning to do."

Since White raced at an accepted international track, she is eligible to race in the SPEED SPORT Challenge, an invitation-only race that will take place on August 11 during the 410 Knoxville Nationals.

"We are just running a 410 for the Nationals," she said. "I don't usually run a 410, but I went to Australia this past winter and raced in a 410, which qualifies me to race in the SPEED SPORT challenge at Knoxville. We decided to try to find a motor to run so I could compete in the SPEED SPORT Challenge."

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