Cole Butcher Delivers Second Straight Win in Sunshine State 200 at Five Flags

Not even a late-race restart could deny Cole Butcher a second straight victory in the Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA STARS National Tour's Sunshine State 200 at Five Flags Speedway.

Butcher inherited the top spot following the end of the first stage and led nearly every lap thereafter in the second race for the ASA STARS National Tour this season. As the race drew to a close, the Nova Scotia driver held nearly a four-second advantage over NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor Jake Garcia.

However, a late caution for Nicholas Naugle with five laps to go set up an overtime restart, offering Garcia and the rest of the field another shot at the win. Instead, Butcher pulled away on the restart and held on for his fifth career ASA STARS National Tour win.

"I just can't thank my Wilson Motorsports team enough," said Butcher. "Yesterday, we struggled a little bit. We found our issue after practice and here we are again.

"I cannot thank the 35 [of Garcia], the 54 [of Matthew Craig], everybody enough for racing me clean. That was a butt-kicking."

The butt-kicking may have been in jeopardy with the late caution. However, Butcher did his best to maintain his composure, nailing the final restart and taking away opportunities for Garcia and Craig to challenge for the victory.

"I played this back a couple of times last year and I lost a couple. I just kept it calm, cool and collected. I wish my wife and my little boy were here, but we'll get some pictures when we get home."

Garcia, last year's winner in the All American 400 at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, had a chance to pick up another ASA STARS National Tour win. However, he elected not to force the issue with Butcher out of respect for the previous on-track interactions.

"The last couple of laps, I was pretty close, within a car length for most of it," said Garcia. "You know, he's always raced me clean, so there was no sense in going in there and trying to dive bomb him or anything like that today."

Still, it was another strong outing for Garcia and the Fr8 Racing team, with the Georgia driver taking advantage of the Sunday afternoon event to climb back in a Super Late Model.

"I feel like the last few races with Fr8 Racing have been really good. I don't think we race as much as we'd like to as a team, but when we do, we make it count and I feel like we learn a lot each time. We keep getting our stuff better, and hopefully, throughout the year, we can get a couple of wins."

Craig held on for a third-place finish, giving him three top-10 finishes in three ASA STARS National Tour events at Five Flags Speedway. The North Carolina native felt this car was the best he had brought to the Sunshine State 200 in its three years.

"We had a pretty good car. We struggled to run good throughout the whole race here the last couple of years. I think today was a good improvement. We just needed a little more on the long run, we started getting free. That last 50-lap run, I knew I needed to be a little bit freer to have a little more speed, but I think I went a little too far and freed it up too much."

Stephen Nasse finished fourth, with Colby Howard rounding out the top five. Clyde Hart Memorial winner Gavan Boschele finished sixth, followed by Kyle Steckly, 2024 Snowball Derby winner Kaden Honeycutt, Bubba Pollard and Jake Finch.

Pollard lost a lap early in the race as his car stalled on the race track in the opening laps to bring out the event's first caution. His team swapped out the ignition box under the caution and worked extensively on the car throughout the day, and Pollard raced his way back into the top 10 over the course of the afternoon.

Carson Brown started on the pole for the race and won the first stage for the Sunshine State 200. However, a miscommunication regarding when to pit during the stage one caution cost Brown to lead, and brake issues ended his day shortly thereafter.

The next stop for the ASA STARS National Tour is a new one for the series, Dominion Raceway in Thornburg, Virginia. Dominion hosts the Appalachian Sucker Punch 250 presented by Jones Utilities on April 5.

-Photo credit: Jason Reasin

Sunshine State 200 Unofficial Results