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Buttrick, Fowler for All the Sportsman Marbles on Whataburger Night of Champions; Nelson will Enjoy Victory Lap for Bombers on Saturday

By Chuck Corder

This was all supposed to be a mere formality. An afterthought.

Steve Buttrick has won 10 — count ’em 10! — Beef “O� Brady’s Sportsman features this season and his second track title in four years seemed a virtual lock.

That was before last Friday night.

Buttrick and his familiar blue No. 33 were collected in an unfortunate incident late in the 25-lap feature, resulting in a costly “DNF� that figured to leave the Whataburger Night of Champions this Saturday at Five Flags Speedway shrouded in some mystery.

But after some sleepless nights this week, the three-time defending Sportsman Snowball Derby king is confident his familiar blue No. 33 will be right in the mix come Saturday.

“It’s looking good, but there was a lotta damage,� Buttrick said. “It was bent. But after working on it for five days, we’ve straightened it out pretty good.�

Four other divisions — the Allen Turner Pro Late Models, the Butler U-Pull-It Bombers, the Modifieds and Pro Trucks — also will crown champs when the gates open at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Admission to the regular season finale is as follows: $15 for adults; $12 for seniors, military and students; $8 for children ages 6 to 11; and free for kids under 6.

With Buttrick’s misfortune and Brannon Fowler’s subsequent first victory of the year, the two-time defending track champion cut what was once a seemingly insurmountable deficit to 46 points going into Saturday evening.

The 33-year-old Fowler feels like he has a new lease on life.

“I hate it for Steve that he had the kind of luck he did last Friday,� he said. “With us winning, it made us a contender this Saturday. It’s still a long shot. But just like this past Friday, anything can happen.

“Our goal is to try and be the fast qualifier and try to win race. That’s the best we can ask for. How everything falls is the way it falls.�

Fowler’s chances do seem distant. With 100 points being awarded to the feature winner and three points separating each finishing position, Fowler would need to finish some 15 spots ahead of Buttrick, depending on how qualifying shakes out.

“The mindset is just win races, and let the points fall how they do,� Fowler said. “I’m proud of our team this year. We’ve been resilient. It does wonders for your confidence to be able to show up and know you’ve got a good piece that’s capable of winning. Hopefully, that’ll carry onto Saturday night.�

He proved how good his No. 00 was last Friday.

With Buttrick opting to start near the tail end of the 14-car field, Fowler drove away from the field.

On Lap 22, Buttrick’s chances at winning were bleak, but the grizzled veteran wasn’t about to throw in the towel. Trying to crack the top four, he went inside of Dayton Sidner coming out of Turn 4.

Sidner came down and, unintentionally, across Buttrick’s nose as the two cars went careening down the front stretch.

Buttrick sustained severe damage to his front end and could not complete the race.

“(Sidner) got on the outside there and I guess he was trying to get back to the bottom,� Buttrick recalled. “But if you lose your lane, you lose your lane. You’ve gotta stay on the outside until you’re clear.

“Hopefully, something like that won’t happen this week.�

 

Butler U-Pull-It Bombers

Michael Nelson crashed the party. And he couldn’t be happier.

While suspense reigns supreme for four of the five classes racing at the Whataburger Night of Champions on Saturday at Five Flags Speedway, there is not an ounce of drama for the Butler U-Pull-It Bombers.

Nelson, who won last year’s Bombers Snowball Derby, added his first career track title to his ballooning resume thanks to a fourth-place finish last Friday.

When Tracey Soles, Nelson’s closest competitor coming into the 20-lap feature, struggled mightily throughout the race, any hope for a dramatic finish between the pair fell by the wayside.

Nelson leads Hunter Ward, who won for the second time last Friday, and 13-year-old Ryan Worsham, also a two-time feature winner this season, by more than 160 points each.

With 100 points serving as the highest amount a feature winner can receive, Nelson is assured of the championship.

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