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Buttrick Does it Again, Defends West Florida Coatings Sportsmen Snowball Derby Title

By Chuck Corder

The late models have Augie Grill and Bubba Pollard.

But even those two stalwarts must gawk at the accomplishments of one Steve Buttrick.

No one dominates Five Flags Speedway like the West Florida Coatings Sportsmen driver.

Buttrick successfully defended his Sportsmen Snowball Derby title, leading wire to wire late into Thursday night.

“The car was on a rail all night long,� he said. “It feels good to be able to defend this title, that’s for sure.�

There was no question Buttrick had the fast car all night. He proved that during qualifying when he not only scored the pole, but also set a new track record in the process with a 20.640-second lap.

“I didn’t realize I broke the track record by that much,� Buttrick said. “I knew it was good, but nothing like that.�

Once, the 50-lap feature began, though, Buttrick had to earn the trip back to Victory Lane. He was perfect on restarts, and he had to be because the race was marred by cautions that climbed into the double digits.

Each time Buttrick put the throttle down, runner-up Bubba Winslow was right there challenging for the lead.

Winslow made his stiffest move on the final restart with 41 laps completed.

He pinched down on Buttrick in Turn 1, but it wasn’t enough. Then over in Turn 3, Winslow banged bumpers with Buttrick. That didn’t rattled the old man’s cage either.

“I knew we had to be aggressive on the restarts,� Winslow said. “It still wasn’t enough.�

The 24-car field was whittled in half by the end of the race because of all the collisions.

A red flag was even brought at one point as emergency medical personnel attended to a track official in the grandstands.

Through it all, Buttrick’s focus wasn’t disturbed. In fact, he was as loose as he could be.

“During that red flag, I almost fell asleep,� he said. “But it’s the same thing every time: just go.�

It has been a winning formula for the last two years that’s for sure.

Sportsmen Snowball Derby 50 Lapper—1. Steve Buttrick, 2. Bubba Winslow, 3. Shanna Ard, 4. Jimmy Goodwin, 5. James Patrick, 6. Michael Couture, 7. Jared Courtney, 8. Michael Sanford, 9. Raymond Ray, 10. Johnny Greene Jr., 11. Michael Ledlow, 12. Calvin Cook, 13. Willie Kitchen, 14. Bryce Dulabhan, 15. Chad Robinson, 16. John Ward Jr., 17. Chris Nielsen, 18. Lee Reynolds, 19. Marty White, 20. Bo Resmondo, 21. Wayne Burkett, 22. Jonathan Langham, 23. Brannon Fowler, 24. Jim Pokrant

 

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