July 25, 2005 (Kenly, NC)

Ken Butler III returned to the Southern National Speedway in Kenly, NC this Saturday with his No. 99 USAR Hooters ProCup Dream Machine hoping for a banner day with his new Crew Chief, Danny Crafton. Butler and Crafton had tested at the 2/5-mile, high-banked speedway the previous week and found a chassis setup that was very fast. They backed that up during the two-hour practice on Saturday morning.

The crew unloaded Saturday with the setup they used during the test and KBIII practiced race runs and qualifying laps during the two-hour practice. Crafton experimented with various shock, spring and air pressure combinations trying to get the Dream Machine working a little better coming off the turns. Once the practice ended Saturday afternoon, the crew decided to return the car to its original setup for the afternoon qualifying session.

Butler was the fourteenth car to run the qualifying laps Saturday afternoon. The track temperature was well over 107 degrees under the hot North Carolina sun, but the heat did not detour KBIII. Ken turned a lap of 16.117 seconds securing him a season-best sixteenth starting position. Rookie Kirk Leone won his first pole of the season with a lap of 15.872 seconds with an average speed of 90.92 mph.

With the help of local area SALO stores, the Aaron’s Marketing team was on hand outside of the track offering some of the 4000 attending race fans opportunities to register to win the 50th anniversary sweepstakes, show off some of Aaron’s Dream Products and loading fans with hats, Dream Sticks, ADVO’s, gift guides and discounts. Over 1000 people browsed our display area and the grandstands were a sea of red as most everyone donned the Aaron’s hat.

Like all USAR races, fans are invited onto the track prior to the race to meet and get autographs from the drivers. KBIII’s star is certainly on the rise as fans lined-up for a chance to get a photograph and autograph from the popular series rookie. Officials finally had to stop his line in order to have time for the pre-race ceremonies.

With high expectations for a solid finish, Butler strapped into the Dream Machine focused on working his way to the front. When the green flag dropped, KBIII kept pace and held his position, letting the front-runners settle in single file. Behind Butler, it was a different story. Cars were shuffling for position and making some bold moves that were risky so early
in a 250-lap event.

A caution came out on lap-17 as five cars behind Butler crashed coming out of turn-2. Officials called the 99 into the pits to inspect the car for possible fluid leaking from the Dream Machine. The team found a cut transmission cooler line and pushed the car behind the wall for repairs. Ten minutes later, KBIII was back on the track, though several laps down.

Butler returned with gusto and was turning lap-times the same as the front-running cars. However the loss of transmission fluid earlier had taken its toll and the transmission came apart on lap-36 ending Kens evening. KBIII would finish 30th.

Mark McFarland won the race followed by Clay Rogers, Shane Huffman, Jody Lavender and Richard Landreth.

Despite an early end to his evening against a very competitive field, Butler remains 19th in the championship points and fifth in the rookie of the year chase. The next USAR race will be at the Peach State Speedway in Jefferson, GA, August 13.