The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/565373
A-6 Local Wednesday, September 2, 2015 The Press-Dispatch in 1986 when he was 17 years old. Michelle couldn't remember if he got his first win at the Pike County Fair or the Otwell Fourth of Ju- ly celebration. "We would have been married eight years in September." She did remember, long before there was ever any romance between the two of them, going to demo der- bies to watch White. "Way back before I even knew him, I remember going to the fair to see number 8. He was the one everyone went to see. I had no idea back then I would ever be mar- ried to him," In 2011, White decid- ed to slow down his derby schedule and ran his last race in 2011. "He was getting older and he had a family. He re- alized he was taking chanc- es and he wanted to spend more time with his family," said Jeff's father Jim White. A fter a couple years of hiatus from the demo cir- cuit, he bought an old Pon- tiac Grand Safari station wagon and had it sitting out behind his house. "He said 'someday I want to race one more time,'" said Michelle. That all came to a halt suddenly on a Wednesday morning last month. White died of a heart at- tack. Through the years of beating and banging cars with his competitors, White smashed a lot of doors, fenders and radia- tors, but along the way, he forged a lot of friendships. "I knew he was well- liked, but I didn't know he was that well thought of," said Jim White. White said during the demo derbies, the guys looked like they were trying to kill each other, but when it was over, they were friends. White said he was over- whelmed by the number of demo derby competitors of Jeff's who came to pay their respects. "I competed against Jeff. Ran with him and ran against him, and helped him build cars in this ga- rage," said Jason Scott. They had a friendly com- petition. "We ran against each other, but we always shook hands with each oth- er afterwards," said Scott. "I used to run derbies," said Parnell Adams, who suffered a serious brain in- jury in a work accident. Adams said he was at a derby when he met White through another friend, Ja- son Scott. "He asked me if I was running the event. I said, 'no, I don't have an engine,' He said 'I have an engine.' He let me use that engine for two years," ex- plained Adams on how he became friends with White. "We have been good friends," said Adams. It was Adams who had came up with the idea of "One Last Ride." Adams said he had been praying a lot and think- ing about White. Then on the day of the Jeff's funer- al, "All of a sudden, I just burst into tears." Adams had the idea to build up the car White had kept behind his house and run it in the Labor Day As- sociation's Demo Derby. "I called Jason (Scott) and said 'if we build that car, will you run it? '" said Adams. Jason had been thinking the same thing. Before they could call Michelle to ask her if she would approve of it, she called Jason and asked him if they would build the car and run it. "We hadn't talked to Mi- chelle," said Adams. "It was a God thing," said Michelle about how they all had come to the same idea at the same time. The group jumped in- to action. Blocker, Jason Scott, Neal Whitehead, Phil Claridge, Adams, Chad Brown and White's brother-in-law got the car out of the back yard, moved it into White's garage and started turning it into a de- mo car. "They have been here nearly every night from early in the evening until late, sometimes until 2 a.m., working on this. And they are back out here on Saturday and Sunday work- ing all day," said Mark Rus- sell, Michelle's father. Mark Russell, Michelle's brother, said this is the first time he has ever been in- volved in building a car. "I'm just trying to do what- ever I can to help. Pretty much a gofer," said Russell. Jason Scott said with the group working together, they were able to do in two weeks what typically takes well over a month. On Sunday afternoon, they had a fish fry at White's house to celebrate. They worked to put on the finishing touches, painting and putting trim on it. Then they fired it up. Jeff's stepson, Hunter Russell, eight-years-old, climbed into the car he helped put together with Scott and they started it up as the whole gang gathered around. Tears ran down Michelle's face and she hugged her father as the engine roared, and a rough and rugged group of demo derby competitors raced through a variety of bit- ter sweet emotions, rang- ing from pride of getting the car up and running to memories of Jeff and hon- oring his life. "I really can't put in- to words what it means to me. It was really a big part of Jeff's life," said Michelle. "We have shared a lot of tears and memories, and laughs over the last few weeks," said Michelle about the group gathering at her house working on the car. "He was the best thing to happen to me and my son, to have him and Tyler com- plete our family," said Mi- chelle. "He was so humble in the way he helped people. He would have never realized how many people's lives he affected." Sunday, September 6 at 5 p.m., in the place Jeff White's career began (Pike County 4-H Fairgrounds), the group's sweat and tears over the last few weeks will be fired up. Jason Scott will drive it out into the arena to compete in one last ride to honor their friend and fel- low competitor. WHITE Continued from page 1 Mark Russell consoles his daughter Michelle just after her son Hunter, 8, helps Jason Scott start up a demo derby car that friends put together in the last two weeks in honor of Jeff White, Michelle's husband, to compete in the Labor Day Association demo derby on Sunday night. White died of a heart attack last month. A large group of Jeff White's friends gathered Sunday for a fish fry to celebrate getting the car togeth- er to memorialize White. The group is (l to r): Parnell Adams, Colton Russell, Mark Russell, Phil Clar- idge, Scott Blocker, Neal Whitehead, Chad Brown, seated in car is Hunter Russell and Jason Scott, Mi- chelle Russell, Jody Claridge, Erin Claridge and Melissa Goodpasture. Jeff White is shown with some of his many trophies from a long career of demo derbies. He won his first one when he was 17 years old in 1986. Jason Scott sprays black paint on the front of the car. Old friends Jason Scott and Jeff White hold tro- phies following a demo derby in the past. Hunter Russell puts his foot on the window sill to climb in the car to start it up for the first time Sun- day afternoon.