ASA STARS National Tour Glass City 200 Update | Cole Butcher Enjoys a Sunday Afternoon Drive at Pensacola
ASA STARS National Tour Glass City 200 Update | Cole Butcher Enjoys a Sunday Afternoon Drive at Pensacola
PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Canadian driver Cole Butcher started his 2024 march towards a potential ASA STARS National Tour title with a strong victory in the Sunshine State 200 at Five Flags Speedway. Butcher rebounded from a distant ninth-place run at New Smyrna last won to lead the most laps out duel his teammate Gio Ruggiero for the win on Sunday. You can expect Butcher and the rest of the ASA STARS National Tour field at the 36th Running of the Glass City 200, coming to Toledo Speedway on Saturday, September 14th.
36th Running of the Glass City 200 Presented by DTS Drive Train Specialists ASA STARS National Tour | Late Model Sportsman & Factory Stocks Championship Night
September 14, 2024
Toledo Speedway
“It was the best car I think I’ve ever had here,” said Butcher after the win. “I Can’t thank my crew, Wilson Motorsports, Bons Suess, Jerry Stump, Andrew, my wife, my parents, The list is long. All the Five Flags staff, just for putting this on, this is the best car I think I’ve ever had and I can’t thank Gio for racing me clean, it felt good.”
Butcher passed Ruggiero for the final time with 23 laps to go as he sailed away for the win. Butcher and Ruggerio are both out of the Donnie Wilson Motorsports stable and came home in first and third as multi-time Five Flags Speedway winner Stephen Nasse passed Ruggiero for second with 15 laps to go.
It was a tough one,” said Nasse. “ It was a day full of ups and downs and had a lot of mistakes on my part on restarts, which absolutely just killed us out there. The track position was huge. The way these guys are running, they’re running so fast. I just want to thank Anthony Campi and his guys for bringing me a good piece, you know, we were there in contention. We will get there soon.”
It was a strong weekend for Ruggiero who won the ARCA East race the night before. The defending Southern Super Series champion was in line at times to get his first win at Five Flags in the ASA ranks which were in combination with the Southern Super Series and the tracks Blizzard Series.
“We had a good day, said Ruggiero. “We fell back a little bit there in the beginning, but you know, just glad my teammate Cole Butcher won instead of me. You know, if I’m not gonna win, at least he won. So I raced him hard there and then tried not to give up the lead. I was just too tight.”
Jacob Gomes had a solid fourth-place finish as GoFast Pole Award winner Matt Craig rebounded from an ill-handling car to post fifth.
New Smyrna Speedway winner Bubba Pollard was in the top five most of the day but lost an engine with 25 laps to go, That yellow set up the final dash to the checkered flags.
Pollard wasn’t the only contender to have issues as rookie Dawson Sutton who paced practice on Saturday got to the lead before an oil leak took them out before halfway.
Defending race winner Casey Roderick Spun when he and John Bolen made contact entering turn 1 just before the lap 150 Phoenix Water Solutions Stage break and rebounded to 11th.
The rest of the top 10 were Michael Hinde, Jake Finch, Colby Howard, Jett Noland, and Sean Hignorani.
The next ASA STARS National Tour event will be on Thursday, May 23rd at Hickory Motor Speedway (NCV) for the Tar Heel 250. This will be the second trip to Hickory for the series and the third stop for the 2024 season. The Glass City 200 will run on September 14th, 2024, the eighth round of the 2024 racing season.
ASA STARS National Tour
Founded by Track Enterprises President Bob Sargent, The ASA STARS National Tour for pavement super-late model stock cars debuted in March 2023 for Super Late Model racing in America.
The ASA STARS National Tour is a ten-race championship series, offering a $100,000 point fund. The tour will visit ten different race tracks in 7 states in 2024, with the season beginning in February during Florida Speedweeks, and concluding in early November at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
Track Enterprises (TE) is a racing Promotions Company based in Illinois, which owns and operates the ASA STARS National Tour. In addition to the STARS National Tour, Track Enterprises owns and operates Championship Racing Association (CRA) and the ASA Midwest Tour. TE also has a strategic alliance and controlling interest in the ASA Southern Super Series.
About the Glass City 200
The 36th Running of the Glass City 200 Presented by DTS Drive Train Specialists and Courtyard by Marriott roars under the ASA STARS National Tour banner in Toledo on Saturday, September 14th. The near-perennial event has provided some of of the most memorable moments in Ohio pavement short track racing history over the past fifty-six years, with local and national stars taking part in this historic event. Jesse Love took the historic 35th running in 2023, and the 2024 edition is poised to provide much of the same excitement. You can get your tickets now for this race by clicking here, or the link below.
36th Running of the Glass City 200 Presented by DTS Drive Train Specialists ASA STARS National Tour | Late Model Sportsman & Factory Stocks Championship Night
September 14, 2024
Toledo Speedway