HALIFAX, NS – Cole Butcher led 182 of 250 laps en route to winning the Atlantic Cat 250 at Scotia Speedworld on Saturday night. It was Butcher’s first ‘250’ win and it came at his home track before a large crowd. In collecting the checkers for the event, Butcher (Porters Lake) will take home a cheque in excess of $14,500 and see his name engraved on the Scott Fraser Memorial Cup, joining all those who have won the event before him. The win moved Butcher to second in Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour point standings, 43 markers behind Dylan Blenkhorn (Truro). Frank Fraser (left) presents Cole Butcher with the Scott Fraser Memorial Cup Craig Slaunwhite (Terence Bay), the 2014 Atlantic Cat 250 winner, was second and Greg Proude (Springdale, PE) was third. Five-time series champion John Flemming (Halifax) wound up fourth and Russell Smith, Jr. (Lakeside) was fifth, substituting for Daryl Mahar who was injured earlier this year. Proude battled back from suspension issues and Flemming came from the back of the pack three times after being caught up in a series of cautions that slowed the first half of the race. In all, there were 19 cautions, 14 of which came in the first 125 laps which took just under two hours to complete. The second half of the race saw was completed in less than an hour. Series point leader Blenkhorn finished sixth. Polesitter Harry Ross White (Kennetcook) finished ninth. Cassius Clark (Farmington, Maine), the defending champion of the event and favourite to win this year’s edition, broke a transmission on lap five and watched the race from the pits, dropping him to third in the point standings, 26 behind Butcher. click for complete race reults Ben Rowe (Turner, Maine), scheduled to start 10th, accepted the Atlantic Tiltload Pole Challenge after those before him declined the bonus offer which paid extra winnings if a driver relinquished his starting spot to go to the rear. Rowe, substituting for Shawn Turple, ran as high as sixth, finishing 11th after spinning off the track late in the first half of the race. Four Atlantic Tiltload heat races determined the starting positions for the race and won by White, DJ Casey (Prospect), Clark, and Darren MacKinnon (Charlottetown, PE). Smith Jr. won the King Freight Future Winners Award. White picked up the Exide Batteries Rookie of the Race. Butcher collected the Linde Most Laps Led Award. In support class action, Merle Corbin (Sackville) won the Toursec Lightning feature and Cory Hall (Jolicure, NB) won the Upper Clements Park Maritime League of Legends feature. The Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour is off next weekend but returns to Petty International Raceway on August 27 for the Cummins 150 which will highlight River Glade International weekend. Scotia Speedworld’s CARSTAR Weekly Racing Series resumes next Friday. About the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour: The Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour (PST) is considered the highest level of stock car racing in Canada. The Tour is recognized in the industry as one of the healthiest stock car racing series in North America. PST visits five tracks throughout the Maritimes during its May through September season. The Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour is owned and operated by Maritime Pro Stock Tour Limited. For more information, call our administration office at 902.481.2531 or click www.maritimeprostocktour.com . You can also follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/prostocktour and like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/prostocktour. About Scotia Speedworld: Scotia Speedworld (SSW) is a 3/10-mile asphalt oval racing facility. SSW is the only track in Nova Scotia to host a weekly racing series, which runs May through September and features six different classes of racecars. SSW also hosts special events, including Monster Jam and the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour. SSW is located at Exit 6 on Highway 102, across from the Halifax Stanfield International Airport. For more information please click on www.ScotiaSpeedworld.ca or call our Event Hotline at (902) 873-2277 or our office at (902) 481-2514. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sswracing and follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/sswracing.
