Shawn Valenti scores exciting SOD Butler Bash victory
ERIE, MI (August 5, 2018) – Shawn Valenti, Fostoria, Ohio, powered to victory in the Engine Pro Sprints On Dirt presented by ARP finale of the two-night 5th annual Butler Bash at Butler Speedway last night. Valenti started on the pole for the feature and led all twenty-five laps in his Gressman Powersports powered Triple X Race Co #7 to win over Chad Blonde (Litchfield, Michigan) and Quentin Blonde (Litchfield, Michigan).
The feature line up set the stage for an exciting race with Valenti, 2nd in SOD points, on the pole and point leader Chad Blonde on the outside of the front row. Valenti took the lead at the start but was under tremendous pressure from Blonde who threw everything he had at the leader searching for a faster groove. Valenti found a line that was best and stuck with it flawlessly to stay out front. Traffic was a challenge for the leaders with Valenti having a little easier time of it than Blonde. Late race restarts showed Valenti was in command for the win.
Josh Turner brought out the red flag on lap 12 when he flipped over the top of the track in turn four. Ryan Ruhl, running 3rd through the first half of the race, dropped out with mechanical issues on lap 17. Daryl Shaffer flipped hard at the end of the front straight and Boston Mead stopped with a broken shifter on lap 19. Mead restarted on the rear and charged to a 5th place finish. As the checkered flag flew, Ricky Ferkel climbed over Thomas Schinderle’s tire and flipped off of turn 2.
Josh Turner was the fastest qualifier both nights of the Butler Bash. Boston Mead took the Engler Machine & Tool heat and Josh Turner won the COMP Cams heat race.
Qualifying – Lane Automotive/MSD Ignition Fast Masters (fast qualifiers) $50 each
| Group | Time | # | Driver |
| Engler Machine & Tool Heat | 13.628 | 27B | Boston Mead |
| COMP Cams Heat | 13.321 | 4T | Josh Turner |
Heat Races
| Engler Machine & Tool Heat #1 | |||
| # | Driver | Contingency | |
| 1 | 5b | Chad Blonde | |
| 2 | 39 | Tylar Rankin | |
| 3 | 41 | Thomas Schinderle | Benic Enterprises |
| 4 | 27B | Boston Mead | Racing Optics |
| 5 | 0 | Ricky Ferkel | |
| 6 | 1a | Mark Aldrich | |
| 7 | 27K | Brad Wickham | |
| 8 | 8 | Justin Ward | |
| 9 | 52 | Zac Broughman | |
| 10 | 29 | Daryl Shaffer | |
| COMP Cams Heat #2 | |||
| # | Driver | Contingency | |
| 1 | 71H | Ryan Ruhl | |
| 2 | 10s | Jay Steinebach | |
| 3 | 7 | Shawn Valenti | Benic Enterprises |
| 4 | 5QB | Quentin Blonde | Racing Optics |
| 5 | 4T | Josh Turner | |
| 6 | 24+ | Mike Schumacher | |
| 7 | 6 | Tyler Bearden | |
| 8 | 57x | Skippy Bradford | |
| 9 | 8W | Josh Ward | |
Feature
| # | Driver | Awards | Contingencies | |
| 1 | 7 | Shawn Valenti | Rod End Supply | |
| 2 | 5b | Chad Blonde | Jim Coffey & Son | Rod End Supply |
| 3 | 5QB | Quentin Blonde | Rod End Supply | |
| 4 | 10s | Jay Steinebach | Schoenfeld Headers | |
| 5 | 27B | Boston Mead | ATL Racing Fuel Cells | |
| 6 | 39 | Tylar Rankin | Allstar Performance | |
| 7 | 41 | Thomas Schinderle | ||
| 8 | 1a | Mark Aldrich | ||
| 9 | 0 | Ricky Ferkel | ||
| 10 | 8 | Justin Ward | ||
| 11 | 27K | Brad Wickham | Keizer Aluminum Wheels | |
| 12 | 24+ | Mike Schumacher | ||
| 13 | 52 | Zac Broughman | ||
| 14 | 57x | Skippy Bradford | ||
| 15 | 6 | Tyler Bearden | ||
| 16 | 29 | Daryl Shaffer | ||
| 17 | 71H | Ryan Ruhl | ||
| 18 | 4T | Josh Turner | ||
| 19 | 8W | Josh Ward |
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger – Quentin Blonde (+4)
BR Motorsports Contingency (feature top 10 draw) – Tylar Rankin
DMI (Diversified Machine) Contingency (feature 12-16 draw) – Mike Schumacher
Perfit Corporation Lucky Dog – Tylar Rankin
Allstar Performance Better Luck Next Time – Josh Turner
For more information about Butler Motor Speedway, go to www.butlerspeedway.net and the speedway’s Facebook page at https://goo.gl/csxUkX. To learn more about Engine Pro, go to www.enginepro.com. For more information about ARP, go to www.arp-bolts.com. Follow SOD at www.sprintsondirt.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sprintsondirt.
