NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Bo Butner will make a return to the 500-inch Pro Stock category driving the yellow Corral Boots/Cuadra/Columbia Impex entry while also continuing his pursuit of the first Mountain Motor Pro Stock championship at this weekend’s PlayNHRA Virginia Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park.

Butner, the 2017 Pro Stock world champion, will be driving the Elite Motorsports car normally handled by Fernando Cuadra Jr. The Cuadras, Fernando Jr. and twins David and Cristian, will not be competing this weekend due to business obligations.

“I don’t want to take away from the Mountain Motor program, at all, I’m involved in the engine program over there,” Butner said. “I think I’ll just be showing up in the staging lanes and jumping in Fernando Jr.’s car. It’s a new car, it’s good, just getting some more laps on it. It’s going to be fun. We’ve got a lot of cars on the entry lists, 20 in Pro Stock and there’s 16 in Mountain Motor Pro Stock with only eight spots. We had 14 Mountain Motors in Bristol and we didn’t get my wife, Randi Lyn, qualified, so I need to get that done or it’s going to be a long way home.”

Butner, who has won the first two events of the Mountain Motor Pro Stock season, is no stranger to driving multiple classes in a single event weekend. When he won the Charlotte JHG Mountain Motor Pro Stock event, the first of the season, he became just the second driver to win a national event in seven different categories. The other is Elite Motorsports teammate Jeg Coughlin Jr., who will be handling the SCAG power Equipment / Outlaw Mile Hi Light Beer car as he attempts to win his second victory at Virginia Motorsports Park.

“I’d run five classes in a weekend if they’d let me. I always race two classes in sportsman so on me personally it’s not going to be very different,” Butner said. “Elite Motorsports has a lot of guys over in the 500-inch side of things and our new crew over in the JHG Mountain Motor pits is gelling too so it’s going to be a busy but good weekend.”

Butner enters the weekend as the Pro Stock defending event winner. The last time Pro Stock raced at Virginia Motorsports Park was in 2019. Butner qualified No. 3 and took out Wally Stroupe, Chris McGaha and Jeg Coughlin Jr. en route to defeating Greg Anderson in the finals.

 “Virginia is awesome," he said. "I mean, it’s shocking how nice the track is. It’s one of the smoothest tracks we have on tour, probably nicest track I’ve been on. It’s a first-class facility and we should be there every year. With the heat this weekend though, the goal will be just to get from A to B, nobody is going to try to break records.”