Hants County’s Cole Butcher brings home runner-up finish
GEARY, N.B.: Ashton Tucker has gone back-to-back at SpeedWeekend 2020, capturing the coveted checkered flag in the ReMax East Coast Elite Realty 250 On Sept. 6. The win came with more than $20,000 in purse winnings
Tucker led 181 of the 250 green flag laps around Speedway 660, but it all came down to a final restart between Tucker and Kyle Reid in the no. 42, who spun his tires allowing Tucker to get away and for Cole Butcher of Hantsport in the no. 53 Atlantic Tiltload-sponsored machine to sneak by for the runner-up position.
“It was pretty cool to pull off the back-to-back win,” said Tucker, one of the rising stars on the Maritime stock car scene. “The car was solid, and we were able to get the win.
“The car was hooked up. I don’t think we could have done anything to change it to make it better.”
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The last few cautions did have him wondering of others were saving anything.
“I didn’t know if anyone had anything for me, but we managed to keep it up front and get that checkered flag,” said Tucker to The Laker News post-race.
Butcher said no one was getting by Tucker in his Brad Siliker Motorsports hot rod no. 2.
“We weren’t as good as the 2, but nobody’s been as good as the 2 all year,” he said. “It was a good race, we put on a show for the fans.”
He found the weekend different.
“It was relaxing, we weren’t rushing and yelling so it was a different experience,” he said.
Butcher is already eyeing the Jim Hallahan 250 set for Scotia Speedworld on Sept. 12, the first Maritime Parts for Trucks Pro Stock event this year because of COVID19. The track is awaiting word from Public Health for approval of their proposed plan to allow fans in to watch in multiple bubbles.
“We may have some surprises for the fans,” he said. “We’ve been testing there, and our piece has been fairly good.
“I’m looking forward to that race.”
Steve Halpin (Saint John, NB) and Lonnie Sommerville (Barnesville, NB) completed the top five. Twenty-seven cars entered the event.
Dave O’Blenis (Boundary Creek, NB), Craig Slaunwhite (Terence Bay, NS); and Ryan Messer (Harvey, NB) took home heat race wins.
Brad Eddy of Lower Sackville drove the no. 17 machine to a P 23 finish. He was caught up in a couple of the wrecks that were no fault of his doing.
Truro’s Gary Elliott, with Tyler Hallahan of Elmsdale as one of his crew members, did not start the big feature race.
OFFICIAL RESULTS – 20TH ANNUAL RE/MAX 250
1st – #2 Ashton Tucker
2nd – #53 Cole Butcher
3rd – #42 Kyle Reid
4th – #03 Steve Halpin
5th – #23 Lonnie Sommerville
6th -#40 Robbie MacEwen
7th – #88 Kevin Moore
8th – #48 Dave O’Blenis
9th – #1 Ryan Messer
10th – #20 Greg Fahey
11th – #99 Craig Slaunwhite
12th – #18 Darren MacKinnon
13th – #9 John Rankin
14th – #32S Sarah McKay
15th – #08 Nicholas Naugle
16th – #91 Dylan Gosbee
17th – #32 Chris Hughes
18th – #26 Brent Roy
19th – #10 Devin Snell
20th – #52 Shawn Tucker
21st – #81 Ian Rasmussen
22nd – #54 Jarrett Butcher
23rd – #17 Brad Eddy
24th – #11 Cal Hatfield
25th – #24 Ben Pelletier
26th – #97 Chris Duncan
DNS – #36 Gary Elliott
Heat Winners – Dave O’Blenis, Craig Slaunwhite, Ryan Messer
- With information from Tim’s Corner Motorsports
