Officials from Fast Track Racing announced today that Lilburn, Georgia native Brett Butler will drive the No. 47 Rockingham Speedway-Palm Beach Grading (PBG) Chevrolet Silverado for Saturday's Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway.
Butler, the brother of NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) rookie Ken Butler III looks to make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) debut in the series' first short track event of the season.
The 23-year old driver rises to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series after a healthy stint in the USARacing Series and most recently in the ARCA RE/MAX Series where the Sherrills Ford, North Carolina resident made his most recent start in the series season opener at Daytona International Speedway for Andy Belmont Racing (ABR) last month.
Now facing his biggest challenge and easily the paramount race of his young career, Butler is ready to accept and deliver.
"This is an amazing opportunity for me," said Butler, who holds a career best USARacing finish of eighth at USA International Speedway (2006) and Iowa Speedway (2008). "The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is a tough series but I'm confident with the support of the Fast Track Racing team and the leadership of Andy Hillenburg, we'll make a successful debut."
With a healthy entry list expected for the fourth race of the season, Butler is quick to realize that mastering the field won't be easy but is banking on his past short track success to help him succeed at the legendary paperclip racetrack.
"Andy (Hillenburg, truck owner) has a track known as "Little Rock" on the grounds of Rockingham Speedway which has been compared to Martinsville Speedway, so I've spent some time there, trying to prepare myself for this weekend," sounded Butler, a former High School wrestling ace. "Additionally, I've had a lot of laps on short tracks that sport similar characteristics to Martinsville Speedway so I'm hoping that all those ingredients put together will deliver a top-20 run on Saturday."
Hillenburg, the 1995 ARCA RE/MAX Series champion clearly sees potential in Brett Butler and is excited to give him an opportunity to strut his stuff.
"I've been able to watch Brett in the USARacing Series and in ARCA and he is a quick learner," noted Hillenburg, President of Rockingham Speedway. "This is a win-win situation for Fast Track Racing. With Brett's determination and enthusiasm and the hard-work of the Fast Track Racing team we should be able to easily surpass the expectations we've set for ourselves. I hope we're able to work with Brett a lot more this year."
Entering Martinsville, the No. 47 NCWTS team sits 28th in the owner's standings in the safe zone to be guaranteed a starting spot with the sixth race of the season at Lowe's Motor Speedway in May.
Between the USARacing Series (35) and the ARCA RE/MAX Series (three), Butler has started 38 races with three top-10 finishes in the USARacing Series and a career 17th place finish at Salem Speedway in 2007 after starting a personal best 14th in ARCA. He has controlled the USARacing field for 99 laps in five events. He also holds a top-10 career best USARacing qualifying run of ninth at Hickory Motor Speedway in 2007.
The Kroger 250 is set for Saturday, March 28 with live coverage on FOX (television) and MRN (radio) beginning at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time. The race will also air on Sirius Satellite Radio NASCAR Channel 128 at 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
