Butler Wins at Marysville

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Billy Butler Wins at Marysville

Marysville, CA (June 9, 2018) …. Championship point race #8 saw a great turnout for both cars and fans at the Marysville Raceway on Saturday night. Eighteen-winged 360 sprint cars signed into the pits along with 14 IMCA Sport Mods, 10 Hobby Stocks, eight Crate Sprints and five Super Stocks. While the outside temperature was not too hot, a strong and steady wind didn’t do any favors to the racing surface. Things got slick early and often for the competitors.
Darren Johnson and Chad Thompson started on the front row of the 20-lap eight car main event for the Crate Sprint car division. Johnson led the opening circuit while Jeff Macedo moved into second on lap two. Mike Sayre found the track to his liking and passed Macedo for second on lap three. Johnson stretched his lead out to over a straightaway advantage by lap seven. The first 15-laps went non-stop until Jerry Douglas spun in turn two. This allowed Sayre and Macedo to close the gap and restart behind Johnson with just five laps to go. Jaylon Deas spun on the restart and the field had to do it all over again. Even with the two yellows, Johnson never faltered and led the final five laps with ease. Sayre held on to finish second. Third went to Macedo. It was one of the better main events for the Crate Sprints.
Raymond Benkowski and Jason Ferguson led the IMCA Sport Mods to the green flag of their 20-lap race. Benkowski showed the way on the first lap. Jimmy Ford moved into the second spot while Howard Law and Damian Merritt battled for third. Matt Micheli started seventh but quickly moved into fifth. Ford took the lead on lap seven. Micheli raced up to the fourth spot on lap 10 just before a yellow was needed on lap 11 for Sean Husley. Disaster struck on the restart as Micheli, Law and Keith Brown and Kiely Ricardo were all involved in a wreck. The race resumes with Ford in the lead followed by Benkowski and Merritt. On the ensuing restart turn two once again proved to be too tricky as the third-place car of Merritt spun along with Ferguson and Hunter Merritt.
A series of more yellows plagued the race. The track slicked off due to the constant wind. The battle for second heated up when Benkowski and Peckham made contact in turn one. This sent Benkowski around and to a stop. The race resumed with Ford up front but a lap later he was unable to hold off Peckham. Peckham drove to the inside of Ford and was the new leader. Peckham led the final few laps to get another win at Marysville. Ford came home second. Damian Merritt battled back to a third-place finish. Hunter Merritt finished fourth. Sean Hulsey also rebounded from an earlier spin to place fifth.
Winged 360 sprint car drivers Billy Butler and Brandon Powell earned the right to start on the front row for tonight’s 25-lap main event. The sprint car drivers were going to deal with a dry slick dusty race track. They were the third main event of the night and all signs pointed to the potential of numerous yellow flags. However, give these drivers a ton of credit. They put on a good show event with the horrid windy conditions. The first time the field headed into turn one, three cars spun led by Bradley Terrell. Also stopping was Rowdy McClenon and Bobby Butler. The race resumed with Billy Butler leading the show. Another yellow was needed when two cars collided on lap eight.
The restart saw Korey Lovell pass race leader Billy Butler before the start finish line. While it looked to the crowd that Lovell was leading, he was penalized two spots for the jump. A caution on lap 16 slowed the race again. This allowed the officials to put Lovell back in the third spot for the restart. Butler was once again up front. It was a place he would not relinquish. Brent Bjork should be commended for racing his race and keeping his nose clean. Bjork scored a season best second place finish. Bjork also earned his first career fast time award by turning a lap of 13.114 seconds around the quarter mile dirt oval. Lovell finished third. Kenny Allen was the hard charger tonight. Allen started 13th and raced to a fourth-place finish. Shawn Conde was fun to watch all night. Conde tried the high side a few times. One lap it helped, the next lap it didn’t. Conde worked hard for his fifth-place finish. McClenon came back to finish sixth. It was cool to see Bobby Butler so excited for Billy. Bobby was the first person to great Billy. He had a checkered flag in his hand ready to hand it off to Bobby.
Rod Oliver started fifth but by lap five he had the lead of the Super Stock main event. He would go on to lead the final 10 laps and win the race. Chris Warner was the second driver to cross the finish line. Richard Vanderploeg came home third, followed by James Castleberry. Eddie Gardner was the fifth car but only lasted a few laps and pulled to the infield. Oliver came back from a gear oil problem in his heat race to win the feature.
Shannon Collins took early control of the hobby stock main event. Lap five a yellow was needed for Cody Rickard. Race resumed with Collins up front. Yet, Collins made a mistake on lap six that allowed David Caluya and Mel Byers to pass him. But Sebastian Davis spun out in turn two before the lap was completed, thus, giving Collins the lead back. The next restart same situation for Collins as he drifted up the track. Caluya took the lead. One lap later it was Byers turn to lead. Yet, on lap nine, Byers right side wheel came off and he pulled to the infield. Caluya was back up front. However, Caluya gave up the lead to Jeremiah Creedon. With three laps to go Collins passed Creedon for the lead and went on to win the nights most entertaining race. Jacob Johnson survived the event to finish second. Will Harmon cruised to a third-place finish. Creedon was fourth and Caluya was fifth.
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