Cole Butcher wins 3rd straight, leaves field in the dust
April 11th, 2025
On a speedy, cool Friday night in Pensacola, the ASA Southern Super Series rolled into Five Flags Speedway for the first leg of its weekend doubleheader, and race #4 on the schedule—a 100-lap showdown that saw Canadian standout #28 Cole Butcher with Donnie Wilson Motorsports execute a commanding flag-to-flag performance en route to his third straight Super Late Model victory under ASA sanctioning.
After a redraw placed the top-eight qualifiers into a shake-up, #7 Jackson Boone rolled off from the pole, with #28 Butcher slotted beside him on the front row. As the green flag waved and the field roared to life, Boone got the initial jump, but Butcher refused to yield the preferred groove. With pinpoint precision and throttle, Butcher powered around the outside through Turn 3 and cleared Boone by the exit of Turn 4, officially leading lap 1 as the field settled in behind him.
From that point forward, Butcher's #28 Donnie Wilson Motorsports machine looked untouchable.
By lap 5, Butcher had already stretched his advantage to several car lengths. Behind him, a tight battle brewed as Carson Brown’s #81 began stalking Boone’s #7 in the race for second. The top three ran nose-to-tail at a blistering pace, taking full advantage of the crisp evening air that seemed to encourage fast, consistent laps.
Ten laps into the contest, Brown made his first serious move, peeking to the inside of Boone but couldn’t complete the pass. Butcher, meanwhile, capitalized on the clean air, extending his lead to over a second by lap 12, as the rest of the field began falling into single-file order.
The pace remained relentless through the opening segment. By lap 25, Butcher’s lead hovered just under two seconds, and most of the field was strung out behind him. Further back, the battles were less frequent but still intense—especially around 13th, where his Donnie Wilson Motorsports teammate #24 Gavan Boschele fought past #22 George Phillips in one of the night’s rare green-flag passes.
On lap 27, Brown finally completed the move on Boone, surging into second and quickly establishing himself as the only car even marginally capable of matching Butcher’s pace. Brown and Butcher began exchanging fastest laps, with Brown closing the gap to around 1.5 seconds by lap 35.
By lap 40, Brown had trimmed the gap to a steady 1.3–1.5 seconds, but Butcher appeared comfortably in control. With a mandatory caution looming at lap 50—triggered if the race ran green for that long—teams and fans alike watched to see whether anyone could mount a serious threat.
Butcher answered with a firm "no." He responded by slightly upping his pace again, growing the gap back to 1.9 seconds by the time the yellow flag flew at the halfway point.
If it wasn’t already, it was now very clear: the #28 was the car to beat.
Under caution, most of the front-runners stayed out, including Butcher, Brown, Boone, #51 Jake Finch, #96 Spencer Davis, #51 Stephen Nasse, and #26 Bubba Pollard. The lone exception was 6th-place qualifier and polesitter #54 Matt Craig, who dove to pit road for adjustments—a gamble that quickly backfired.
On the restart, Butcher chose the inside and executed it flawlessly once more. Brown showed speed but couldn’t match the launch. Behind them, Nasse moved around Davis for 5th, while Craig was stuck on the high side and promptly freight-trained by the field, falling deep outside the top 10.
Boschele, now showing signs of life, cracked the top 10 by passing #18 Colby Howard. On lap 56, he began pressuring Pollard for 8th and ultimately completed the pass by lap 60. Simultaneously, Hansen in the #08 looked racy in his pursuit of Davis for 6th.
By now, Butcher had opened his lead once again—sitting one second ahead of Brown at lap 60, and by lap 70, that margin had grown to 1.5 seconds. Boone, now a distant third, trailed the leader by more than four seconds as the final third of the race ticked away.
Lapped traffic loomed on the horizon, but it made little difference.
At lap 90, Butcher swept past fellow Nova Scotian #08 Nicholas Naugle, continuing to stretch the gap despite Brown still having clean track. With just 10 laps remaining, Butcher led by 1.8 seconds and showed no signs of faltering.
The final laps were a mere formality. Brown remained the only serious contender, but Butcher never made a mistake. On lap 100, he crossed the line unchallenged, clinching his third consecutive win in a Super Late Model event under ASA sanctioning—adding yet another highlight to a scorching hot spring stretch.
With the win, Butcher further cements his lead in both the ASA Southern Super Series and the Blizzard Series standings. He heads into Saturday’s Mobile International Speedway event riding high on momentum, confidence, and a streak that has made it abundantly clear: right now, Cole Butcher is the man to beat.
Final finishing positions:
#28 Cole Butcher
#81 Carson Brown
#7 Jackson Boone
#51f Jake Finch
#51n Stephen Nasse
#08h Jace Hansen
#24 Gavan Boschele
#96 Spencer Davis
#26 Bubba Pollard
#18 Colby Howard
#33 Dustin Smith
#54 Matthew Craig
#22 George Phillips
#2 John Bolen
#14 Chase Pinsonneault
#08n Nicholas Naugle
#1 Kasey Kleyn
#5 Dylan Armstrong
