NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

One might forgive Pro Stock racer Bo Butner and crew chief Dave Connolly if they’re both a little bleary-eyed on Saturday at Houston Raceway Park. The two KB Racing teammates arrived in Houston about 10:30 a.m. Saturday morning following an early flight from Alabama, where they were both competing in the Mickey Thompson Million Dollar Drag Race held yesterday at Montgomery Motorsports Park.

We can cut right to the chase and report that neither Butner nor Connolly won the top prize, a reported $350,000. Butner drove his dragster in the event and lost in the fourth round, while Connolly, behind the wheel of his Chevy II station wagon, made it to round five of the ten round marathon. Connolly’s fiancé Jennifer Folk, and her father, Randy, are the promoters of the Million Dollar Race. For the record, the winner of the Million Dollar main event was former NHRA Super Comp champion Kevin Brannon, who topped fellow Super Comp alumni Tom Dauber in the final round.

“We didn’t make any money, but we sure had a lot of fun,” said Butner. “That is a different world over there. They race on an eight-mile and that means every race is close. You’ve got to be just about perfect in order to win. Some of these kids who race these big events are just so good and some of them are making a ton of money.

We left the track about 3:30 in the morning and had to drive a couple of hours to Birmingham to make our flight in the morning. Overall, I don’t feel too bad. I got a little sleep so I’m ready to go.”

With the Million Dollar event behind him, Butner has now turned his focus to his KB Racing Camaro and what figures to be the last two Pro Stock events, at least for the foreseeable future. Butner hasn’t won an NHRA event since he scored the Super Gas title in last year’s Sonoma race, and his most recent Pro Stock win came more than a year ago in Richmond, when he defeated teammate Greg Anderson in the final round. Butner would love to wrap up the 2020 season with a win, which would be the 28th of his career.

“I’d definitely like to go out with a win and if I can get my old car back, I think we can do it,” Butner said. “I don’t think I’ve made a good A to B run this year. We just haven’t been able to hit the set-up. I don’t really think we’re that far off, but something is definitely missing. We just need to find it.”

When it comes to his future plans, Butner is mum but he’s not being coy. He genuinely isn’t sure what the future holds as far as his racing career. He hasn’t completely closed the door on Pro Stock although he admits that a full season is almost certainly out of the question.

“I just can’t do 18 races,” Butner said. “I’ve had some offers to go back to Pro Mod and I’ll definitely do some more big money bracket races. I’ve got a couple of dragsters now and that [Super Gas] Corvette that I picked up last year. I’ve definitely got some options, so I’ll just take a little while and see what shakes out. You’ll definitely see me out here in something.”