By Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer
Josh White is a name you may not know. Making 19 starts in the ARCA Menard’s Racing Series from 2013 to 2015, a lone Gander Outdoors Truck Series start in 2016 has stood as his last time strapping into a racecar.
He’s looking to end that drought.
White, 28, has partnered with Mission 22, a nonprofit organization combatting the ever-rising veteran suicide rate. Every day, more than twenty veterans are lost to suicide. Mission 22 wants to bring that number to zero.
And having served five years in the United States Marine Corps., White is thrilled to help an organization that specializes in veteran care. White enlisted in 2009 and attended boot camp at Parris Island in January of 2010. Finishing his service in September of 2015, White has continued to keep fellow veterans on his mind.
“I am very excited to be a part of this organization,” White said. “I want to help other veterans, so this is an honor to be a part of an organization this influential.”
Founded in 2013, Mission 22 provides treatment programs to veterans for post-traumatic stress disorder, and other issues they might be facing. It organizes events and builds memorials to create social impact and awareness for these issues.
White, who hails from West Virginia, about 300 miles east of Mission 22’s headquarters in Nashville, Indiana, hopes the motorsports fanbase will advance their cause while also putting him back on track in 2019.
“I think with my fanbase and my racing career, we have the potential to be very powerful with reducing the veteran suicide rate,” he said. “To save a veteran’s life, is a success, a battle won. I would hope someone would do the same for me.”
With eyes aimed toward the cockpit, White hopes to return to the Truck Series by the end of the 2019 season, which will end a three-year drought off the racetrack.
“I have missed racing so much,” he said. “It never was just a passion but a way of life. When I stepped out of the race truck at Martinsville and sponsorship dried up, it was like I lost my life. I’ve had a hard life throughout my life time, racing is kind of my therapy. It helps me cope in a way.
“I am very much determined to come back. I want my life back. It’s more than passion — call it love, call it therapy, call it what you want, it’s my way of life.”
White is currently seeking new sponsors. To learn more information about Mission 22, visit their website HERE. And for more information on Josh White, visit FightingMarine.com.