Collins decides to end partnership

Brian Collins had just racked up his fourth Class 8 win of the 1999 Laughlin SCORE Desert Series Saturday in the Las Vegas Primm 300 when he made the startling announcement that he and White Lightning Racing's Dale White were calling it quits.

Or are they?

Collins said he was splitting with White and will run all future SCORE races under the Collins Motorsports banner.

"This was our last race together," Collins said. "It's just a business decision. I want to do desert and maybe I want more attention, maybe that's the problem.

"I told Dale, 'I want to be friends, I don't want to have any hard feelings.' They've been great for me -- they've taken me to a new height in racing."

Collins and White have won seven races together, including the prestigious Baja 1000 and Baja 500, during the past two years under the White Lightning banner. Collins admitted it would be difficult severing ties with such a successful partnership.

"It was a hard decision to make," Collins said. "It's hard to walk out on a winning team. It wasn't a race decision, it was a business decision, and sometimes those are the hardest decisions to make."

White, however, said Collins' decision to open his own race shop won't be the end of their off-road racing relationship.

"He wants to have his own race shop, but he still wants us to build his cars and do his powertrain," White said. "He has got enough stuff now and maybe it's time for him to get his own shop.

"We're not totally splitting ... we're still going to be working together and we should be driving together in some of the longer races."

Although White said he planned to co-drive with Collins in the season finale, the 32nd annual Baja 1000 in November, Collins said he may not run the 1000 unless "some things come together" this week, referring to a sponsorship deal.

"I've got to have some things happen, and if they don't happen I'll probably just shut it down (for the rest of the year)," Collins said.

White said the split could prove to be beneficial to both parties because he needs to devote more time to the business side of racing, and Collins is expected to step up in class, to the Trophy-Truck division, next season.

"I'm going to concentrate on our powertrain business and not so much on the fielding of the cars," White said. "We'll still be working together and we're still going to do the engines and powertrain for (Collins).

"The racing has been taking so much time, and we need to spend more time getting our powertrain company up and running."

Collins and White, as co-drivers, won the season-opening Laughlin Desert Challenge in Class 8 and followed that with a victory in the San Felipe 250. Their third win of 1999 came in July at the Fireworks 250 near Barstow, Calif.

Collins was the lone driver in the Chevy C1500 in Saturday's Primm 300, but White monitored the race from a helicopter.

Like Collins, White said there was no animosity over Collins' decision to run his own program.

"It has been a really good partnership ... and we're still good friends," White said. "In fact, we're more than friends -- we're like family."

archive