A full moon, eighty degree weather, open wheel race cars and a dirt track. Put them together and you’ve got mixture that’s bound to keep you on the edge of your seat waiting for what’s going to happen next.
That was the case at Butler Speedway on Saturday, where the sprint feature had a car flip — under caution — and the modified feature was a race decided by mere inches and won by a driver that had never captured a feature in the division. Feature victories went to Ryan Grubaugh (winged sprints), Ray Jackson (UMP Modifieds), Logan Beckwith (sportsman), and Keith Hiller (street stocks).
Ken Mackey and Chris Jones started at the front of the 21-car field in the winged sprint feature. On the initial start, May 29 feature winner Doug Zimmerman flew off turn 2, bringing the race to a stop. Mackey, a nine-time track champion, jumped to the lead on the second try and looked to be on the way to his first feature victory of the 2010 season. But with the full moon looming overhead, he would dive to the infield with some kind of mechanical woes midway through.
Grubaugh started inside the fourth row and had made his way to third when second-running Dan Hall fell out of the race. With Mackey’s departure, Grubaugh took over the lead and would hold it the remainder of the race. However, there was plenty of action behind, and even under caution. Jared Horstman and Chad Blonde banged wheels under the yellow flag on the frontstretch, with the end result of Blonde flipping. Blonde was unable to continue, while Horstman was not allowed to rejoin the race. The incident brought out a red flag and concluded with a conversation between the duo.
Grubaugh’s win came in a 360 cu. in. powered racer. Gary Fast and Sean Robinson made their way to second and third, while Shelby Bilton was fourth and Mark Broughman took fifth. The rest of the top 10 were Greg Wheeler, Rocky LoPresto, Chris Jones, Chad Hart, and Gerry Hart. Sprint car heat races were won by Horstman, Mackey, and Zimmerman.
Butler Speedway Results — June 26, 2010
Winged Sprints
Feature: 1. 00 Ryan Grubaugh, 2. 26 Gary Fast, 3. 1 Sean Robinson, 4. 27 Shelby Bilton, 5. 52 Mark Broughman, 6. 48 Greg Wheeler, 7. 57x Rocky LoPresto, 8. 23j Chris Jones, 9. 39jr Chad Hart, 10. 39 Chad Hart, 11. 27k Ryan Kirkendall, 12. 29s Marques Huffer, 13. 12b Mike Baker, 14. 44 Tom Davies, 15. 1r Chad Blonde, 16. 17 Jared Horstman, 17. 19 Doug Zimmerman, 18. 25m Ken Mackey, 19. 9q Ken Quimby, 20. Dan Hall, 21. 38 Aaron Smith
Heat Winners: Jared Horstman, Ken Mackey, Doug Zimmerman