TJ Pruitt
Lucas Oil Sportsman star Bo Butner made his first laps in a Pro Stock car following the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals on Monday at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte. Butner expects to receive his license in time to race at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals in mid-May.
With Greg Anderson, Jason Line, and the KB Racing team on hand to assist and advise, Butner wheeled the Speed Dawg Shifter Knobs/KB Racing Camaro normally driven by Jimmy Alund.
Butner’s racing career started when he was 21 and working at his fathers used car dealership. He took a 1972 Chevy Nova in on trade and after just one pass down an eighth-mile dragstrip, that car started a love for drag racing. Since then he has filled up a résumé that most sportsman racers could only dream about, including a national championship (Comp, 2006) and four divisional championships.
Butner’s journey into the Pro Stock began when he was looking for a different engine program for his Competition eliminator car, and Line decided the KB Racing team was up for challenge. The two teams spent time together during testing and cheered each other on at NHRA races around the country. That initial business deal turned into a friendship and now has progressed to bigger things.
The video below as shot by Butner’s fiancée, Randi Lyn Shipp, during his first runs behind the wheel.
