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New Tracks Bring More Experience to Ken
Butler III
23 year-old Butler Brings Home Top 15
Finish
May 5, 2006
Mooresville, NC – Every driver has their favorite type of track. Some prefer the short track bull rings such as Bristol Motor Speedway while others prefer the high banking of the super speedways. For 23-year-old Ken Butler III, Shenandoah Speedway, where the USAR Hooters Pro Cup raced this past Thursday, won’t be making his list of favorite tracks.
“We struggled in practice. We tested on Wednesday and we spun out three times and hit the wall. It hit straight on the wall, and I just spun out. We struggled all day long and Matt Crafton, my driving coach, helped to get the car set up to where it would rotate a little bit better.”
“The track was difficult for me,” said Butler. “I am not a big fan of flat tracks. We weren’t that great and then we did more things to try and get the car to run better. We got the Aaron’s Dream Machine to be pretty decent but we were still never great. We qualified 26th and I just pretty much tried to keep my nose clean throughout the race.”
Lapped traffic proved to be the Achilles heel that prevented KBIII from bringing home his second top 10 in a row.
“We pitted late and got new tires; I think we got up to 10th with about 25 laps to go. Then we got caught up with the freaking lapped cars. The 02 and the 22 were racing each other and I was right behind them and I couldn’t get around them. I was definitely faster than they were, but the 02 tried to block me and I ended up getting into him and he spun out. When he spun out, he hit me and I couldn’t get my car started. Then the leaders passed me with eight laps to go.
“We ended up finishing 14th,” added Butler. “I was the first car a lap down to finish and I think we could have brought the Aaron’s Dream Machine home for a better finish. It was the first time for pretty much everyone to go that track, but I am just not a big fan of it. We did good until we got involved with that lapped traffic. We were 10th when that happened, and I wasn’t too happy with them.
“So now we just have to get ready for what is coming up. The next race is at Kil-Kare Speedway in Xenia, Ohio. I am going there to test next Thursday. I hear it is a pretty crazy place, so it should be a good race.”