Butner speeds into NHRA Sonoma Nationals

It took all of one race for Bo Butner to have a better July than what ended up as a frustrating June during his 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.

After an impressive start in the redesigned Pro Stock class, Butner fell on hard times in June, winning just one round during a rigorous stretch of four straight races. With a week off, Butner regrouped in his Jim Butner Auto Chevrolet Camaro, advancing to the final round July 10 in Chicago.

That has paved the way for what the rising Pro Stock star hopes is a productive July during the famed Western Swing, which includes the 29th annual Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals, July 29-31, at Sonoma Raceway. It is the second stop of the treacherous three-race stretch, and Butner would like nothing more than to claim his first career Pro Stock victory there, adding to the dominance of his KB Racing teammates Jason Line and Greg Anderson, who have combined to win all 13 races in 2016.

“I kept joking that I won more rounds in Chicago than I did in the month of June,” said Butner, who remained third in Pro Stock points behind Line and Anderson. “It was probably the worst month of racing I’ve had in my life, and 99 percent of it was just mental. So that was a great feeling in Chicago, and I learned some stuff on hitting the tree a little better.

“You know, you can try too hard and over-think everything. You just have to sit back and remember where you came from. You have to take a different mindset and go have fun. We definitely have a team and a car capable of winning rounds and going fast.”

Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Chris McGaha (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were last year’s winner of an event that will be televised by the FOX national broadcast network for the first time. It is the 15th of 24 events during the 2016 season and only three events follow it before the Mello Yello Countdown to the Championship playoffs get underway.

That means Butner, who has three final-round appearances in 2016, picked an ideal time to stop his slide, and now he hopes to gain momentum out west. But it was a trip to Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School in Florida that may have paid major dividends in Butner’s championship chase.

Butner made a trip to the two-time Funny Car world champion’s famed school earlier this week and came away with a number of valuable pieces of information that could pay off in Sonoma and beyond.

“Sitting down and talking with him, it was about way more than racing,” Butner said. “Just his whole outlook, the things he knows and even just some of the exercises with your eyes, a lot of stuff makes perfect sense. It was very insightful and he’s a very smart guy. I know Jason and Greg have both went to him before and he’s helped so many people. It was definitely worth it, I appreciated it and it kind of worked out perfectly.”

It’s another way Butner, who has one No. 1 qualifier this season, continues to make improvements in his young Pro Stock career. Butner has had a long and successful career in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series sportsman ranks, winning 15 times, but he’s embraced the new challenges in Pro Stock, which now features fuel-injected engines, flat hoods, 10,500 RPM rev-limiters and shortened wheelie-bars.

“Jason told me (racing in Pro Stock) was going to be the toughest thing you’ve ever done, and it’s definitely the hardest thing in the world to win,” Butner said. “It’s tough. You have to be perfect out there. Jason and Greg are on it right now, but there’s a lot of guys starting to run well.”

Butner appears to be back on track, qualifying second in Chicago. But he’ll have to get by a host of standout drivers in the class, including Line, who has seven wins, and Anderson, who beat Butner in Chicago and has six victories in 2016. Other top contenders are McGaha, who raced to his first career victory at Sonoma last year, Allen Johnson, Drew Skillman, Vincent Nobile, five-time world champ Jeg Coughlin Jr. and two-time and reigning world champ Erica Enders.

But Butner’s sole focus is picking up that first Pro Stock win, and his performance in Chicago once again proved it’s capable of happening at any event.

“I’ve been fortunate to have some success and some chances to win,” Butner said. “We’re going out West and of course I want to win one of them. I think we should win one. That’s my mindset. But you still have to be perfect and things have to go your way. But my goal every time I leave the house is to win the race.”

In Top Fuel, Brown raced to the winner’s circle for his fourth victory of the year in 2015 en route to his second Top Fuel world championship. Brown has three wins and the points lead in 2016, along with four career Sonoma wins, but he will have to ward off a host of talented drivers, including Doug Kalitta, who has three victories this season and five in Sonoma. Others to watch include back-to-back 2016 winner Shawn Langdon, two-time 2016 winner Steve Torrence, eight-time world champion Tony Schumacher, J.R. Todd, Richie Crampton, Clay Millican, Terry McMillen and Brittany Force, who is also a two-time winner this season.

Beckman outlasted Tommy Johnson Jr. for the Funny Car victory last year in Sonoma, and went on to win two more races in 2015, finishing second to world champion Del Worsham. Beckman picked up his first win of 2016 in Chicago, but everyone is chasing points leader Ron Capps, who has four wins in Sonoma and four victories this year in his red-hot Rahn Tobler-tuned NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger. John Force will look to claim his eighth Sonoma win, while others gunning for the win include Houston winner Courtney Force, two-time 2016 event winner Matt Hagan, Alexis DeJoria, Tim Wilkerson and Gainesville victor Robert Hight.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Krawiec defeated Jerry Savoie in the final round a year ago, and holds the points lead in 2016 on the strength of three victories. His teammate, reigning world champion Andrew Hines, won in Chicago, is second in points and a two-time event winner in Sonoma. Savoie, a Louisiana alligator farmer, has raced to two runner-up finishes this season. Others to watch in the two-wheeled category include recent Englishtown, N.J., and 2004 Sonoma winner Angelle Sampey, Chip Ellis, Hector Arana, Matt Smith, LE Tonglet, Steve Johnson, Hector Arana Jr. and Scotty Pollacheck.

The Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals also will feature strong competition in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, where the future stars of the sport earn their racing stripes.

As part of NHRA’s ongoing celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Funny Car class, legendary Funny Car drivers Don “The Snake” Prudhomme and Ed “The Ace” McCulloch will be honored during pre-race ceremonies.

Mello Yello Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature two rounds at 4:30 and 7 p.m. on July 29, and the final two rounds of qualifying on July 30, at 1:10 p.m. and 5 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. on July 31.