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Butcher Looking to Go Where No Blizzard Series Driver has Gone in Quest for Perfection

Butcher Looking to Go Where No Blizzard Series Driver has Gone in Quest for Perfection

By Chuck Corder
5flagsspeedway.com reporter

Cole Butcher enters uncharted waters when he arrives in Pensacola this week.
The 29-year-old Canadian driver—who lives in Charlotte, N.C., these days—has won all three Deep South Cranes Blizzard Series races this season at Five Flags Speedway. In the series’ 20-year history, no one has ever swept the entire Blizzard slate.

Butcher goes for history Saturday night at Five Flags in the Southern Super Series Deep South Cranes 100, the Blizzard Series championship race. Butcher leads Stephen Nasse (-26) and Matt Craig (-27) heading into the Super Late Models season finale Saturday before December’s 58th annual Snowball Derby.
“It would be cool to have my name up there with some of the greatest short-track drivers in history,” Butcher said, “and be able to see that for the foreseeable future.
“My approach is to win, don’t do anything stupid and be there at the end. Nasse’s program has been stellar the last few weeks. I expect him, Matt Craig, Carson Brown, Bubba (Pollard) to all be really competitive and try to set themselves up for the Derby.”

The SLMs will crown a track champion along with the Allen Turner Hyundai Pro Late Series (100 laps) and the Story and Bleich Roofing Crown Stocks (25) on Night of Champions No. 2.
Drivers from all across the country will descend on the famed half-mile asphalt oval as they look to build their notebooks for Derby Week. No bigger name than NASCAR legend Kevin Harvick, who will make his second career Blizzard Series appearance. Keelan Harvick, the 49-year-old former Cup Series champion's 13-year-old son, will battle in the Pro Late Models 100-lapper.
Gates open at 4 p.m. Saturday with Late Model qualifying beginning at 5:30 and pre-race ceremonies scheduled for 7:15. Admission is $20 for adults; $17 for seniors, military and students; $5 for children ages 6 to 11; free for kids 5 and under.
Butcher has sliced up Five Flags in 2025 and has been consistently winning in the Donnie Wilson Motorsports No. 28 the past two seasons. He had a win and two more top-fives in 2024.
He also has excelled at the Derby with four top-fives in eight starts, a best of third place twice (2019, 2021) in short-track racing’s crown jewel.
“Pensacola is different track every time you go there,” Butcher said. “I don’t take anything for granted. The competition is tough. Everyone has been stout. It just goes to show you how great this Wilson Motorsports team has been.”
Butcher has won seven times and also leads the Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA Stars National Tour Series in addition to his Blizzard lead. He trails Pollard by 12 points in the Southern Super Series standings.

“We’ve been a contender at almost every race this year,” he said. “We have a really good program and everything going in the right direction.”
The right direction begins by qualifying well. Butcher has started second twice and third once in the three 100-lapers this season. He has wasted little time in reaching clean air, leading 297 of 300 total laps.
“It’s easier to control the race,” Butcher said, “especially with these cars being so aero-sensitive and maintaining tires. Everybody has the hammer down for 100 laps, so it’s easier to dictate the race with the lead.
“Five Flags is so line-sensitive, and that meshes well with my driving style. I’ve been good at duplicating my line and putting the car where it needs to be every lap.”
He hopes to find that same groove Saturday night with history hanging in the balance.

“The team, everybody in the shop, we’re all looking to head down to a place we’ve thrived,” Butcher said. “Our equipment is stellar, the process in the shop is fantastic and the crew is able to adapt to different conditions once we get to the track. I’m just the lucky one that gets to drive it.”

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