July 23, 2005 (Hickory, NC)

The 2005 Late Model Series at Hickory Motor Speedway (HMS) continued Saturday night and Brett Butler finished with another solid top-ten.

Twenty-three cars qualified for the 50-lap event at the world’s most historic short-track and Butler faced some serious competition from previous track champions, NASCAR veterans, talented development drivers and regular Late Model racers. The entry list included famed NASCAR driver/crew chief Andy Petree, Hendrick Motorsports development driver Jarit Johnson and 2004 Hickory track champion Matt McCall.

Butler qualified 20th but would not stay there long. As soon as the green flag fell, Brett took a couple of laps to warm up his tires then proceeded to pick off a couple of cars ahead of him before dodging a spin in front of him on lap four. Butler avoided several other spins ahead of him, continued to pick up positions throughout the race, and watched in his rearview mirror as the No. 4 car of James Edwards hit another car that launched Edwards onto his roof and skidded down the front stretch with twelve laps to go. Edwards would escape the incident uninjured.

Butler’s car was setup to run the low-line of the track and certainly had the horsepower to make passes coming out of the turns. “Man that car was fast,” said Butler. “We kept the fenders on it all night and came out with another top-10. My team was really on their game and I appreciate everything they have done for me up to this point. I can’t wait to get back out there next week.”

Brett took the checkered flag in the seventh position which is his second top-ten finish in a row in the Late Model Division. Brett is a regular at Hickory Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Weekly Racing Series Late Model Division that runs each week at HMS.

LATE MODELS
1. 95 Keith Bumgarner
2. 59 Coleman Pressley
3. 32 Kevin Leicht
4. 15 David Mercer
5. 17 Kyle Mansch
6. 16 Mack Little III
7. 00 Brett Butler
8. 21 Brian Connor
9. 51 Bill Burd
10. 77 Joe Henderson III
11. 44 Jarit Johnson
12. 14 Randy Burnett
13. 57 Colt James
14. 29 Mark Johnson
15. 99 Tommy Lane
16. 05 Danny Chafin
17. 58 Carl Cormier
18. 4 James Edwards
19. 33 Andy Petree
20. 76 Akinori Ogata
21. 40 Matt McCall
22. 01 Pete Silva
23. 92 Chris Bristol – DQ