Tobey Butler

Before current Washington NASCAR stars Greg Biffle and Kasey Kahne stepped foot into a race car, there was another young driver from that state, Tobey Butler, that was making a name for himself at the local short tracks. In mid-season 1982, the then 22 year old was leading the Super Stock points at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington and received a big break to drive in the NASCAR Winston West Series. He drove a car in which veteran driver Roy Smith drove to a series championship in 1981. Butler started 11th and fell out in the second half of the race, finishing 16th in his debut. He would not make another start in that series until 1987.

Meanwhile, Butler continued to race locally at Evergreen Speedway and in 1986 joined the NASCAR Northwest Tour. In his rookie year, he won twice and finished third in points. He won the series championship in his second season in 1987. While fellow competitors such as Chad Little and Derrike Cope moved up the ranks to the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, Butler remained with the Northwest Tour and his familiar #38 Ford Thunderbird into the mid-1990s. He claimed a total of 20 wins in the series, but perhaps his biggest win came in 1992 when he won the Copper World Classic at Phoenix International Raceway with the NASCAR Southwest Tour.

Butler appeared to be on the move at the beginning of 1994, moving up to the NASCAR Winston West Series. In the first two events, Butler finished in the top five and then even made his only Winston Cup Series attempt at Sears Point Raceway, but failed to qualify. Following Sears Point, Butler did not compete again with the Winston West Series the rest of the season. He sold his body shop, which helped fund his racing team and moved to North Carolina with his wife and son to further his racing career.

However, Butler did not disappear. At the age of 35, one of the NASCAR Craftsman SuperTruck Series founders Jim Venable gave Butler the chance to drive his truck in the second of three Winter Heat exhibition races at Tucson Raceway Park. He finished sixth in his debut and raced full time in their Ford truck sponsored by Ortho Lawn and Garden in 1995. The season didn't go as well as expected, as Butler only claimed three top fives and five top tens in twenty starts, ranking tenth in the final standings. In 1996, Butler was replaced with 1995 NASCAR Winston West Series champion Doug George.

Butler did make selected starts for NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader, including a pole and sixth place finish at his home track at Evergreen Speedway. He also claimed a sixth place finish at Phoenix later in the year. He made two Winston West Series starts as well, leading the most laps and finishing with a top ten at Evergreen Speedway driving for championship owner John Strausser. He would also return to victory lane, in his first career start with the ARCA Series at Salem Speedway driving for Ken Schrader. He would race a few more ARCA races for Schrader and would finish in the top five twice at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Tobey Butler's 1996 Hero Card

In 1997, Butler competed in some Truck Series races for Schrader again as well as a few other owners, but his best finish was a ninth at Portland.

Butler virtually disappeared from the racing scene for nearly a decade, but resurfaced in 2007 back at the track he started his racing career, Evergreen Speedway. Butler was named the new director of racing at the track and would also oversee tech. However, he is not mentioned on the race track's site as a current staff member.

Butler has been rewarded for his accomplishments over the last few decades. He was named one of Evergreen Speedway's top 50 drivers in 2004, and was inducted into Evergreen Speedway's hall of fame in 2006.

Sources:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XZgNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=z2UDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4428,2152632&dq=tobey-butler

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=elcPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=p4YDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3202,3048452&dq=tobey-butler

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ricOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vX0DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3933,589056&dq=tobey-butler

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19941225&slug=1949291

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/snohomishcountynews/2003660950_evergreen11n0.html

http://www.racingwest.com