Cole Butcher Wins First ASA STARS National Tour Event at Dominion

For the second race in a row, Cole Butcher scored the win with the Appalachian Sucker Punch ASA STARS National Tour.

The victory came at a new venue this time, as Butcher won the Appalachian Sucker PUnch 250 presented by Jones Utilities at Dominion Raceway in the series' first visit to the 4/10-mile oval in Virginia.

Butcher took the lead from Jake Garcia with 80 laps to go and kept his pace ahead of Derek Thorn in the closing laps for his sixth career ASA STARS National Tour win.

"I can't thank my team enough," said Butcher in victory lane. "We were pretty good when we unloaded. We knew we had some work to do, but it was just track position. This place is just so hard to pass. I cannot thank the competitors enough for racing each other clean.

"I know everybody had a little bit of doubts in us, but I think everybody did a great job, so congratulations to all of them."

While Thorn charged at the end of the race, Butcher still maintained a faster pace, allowing him to win by a second and a half at the end of 250 laps.

"Once Derek got by the 35 [of Garcia], we were still a tenth faster," said Butcher. "That's just a testament to how great these Wilson Motorsports cars are. I can't thank everybody enough back at TPC, Toyota, TGR. We've been putting in some work the last three weeks and it's definitely paid off."

It may not have been a victory for Derek Thorn, but finishing second to Butcher still felt like a massive accomplishment for the former Snowball Derby winner. With finishes of 14th and 12th in the first two ASA STARS National Tour events of 2025 with Highlands Motorsports, Saturday's effort was a big step forward for the team.

"We got that restart at the end there, and a lot of guys pitted behind us for changes," said Thorn. "A lot of them could have stayed out, but at the end of the day, we ended up putting tires on. Josh Reeves made a great call there at the end to put tires on and get the gas as late as it was.

"Luckily, we made quick work. A lot of those guys that were on tires had a little bit of speed there at the end. The car was awesome. Considering the first few races of this year, for us to rebound and have a second-place finish is a huge leg-up for the team."

Full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competitor Jake Garcia took advantage of a weekend off for the Truck Series and picked up a third-place finish at Dominion. After qualifying 16th, Garcia worked his way through the field and stayed out during an early caution to gain track position.

From there, Garcia had a car to race up front, leading most of the middle third of the event before coming home third.

"The biggest thing was getting some track position early there," said Garcia. "We started 16th there, so we didn't do a very good job of qualifying and put ourselves in a little bit of a hole.

"By lap 125 or so we were in the lead. When we were leading laps, I thought we were pretty good. I guess we missed adjustments a little bit there on the pit stop. I ended up not being quite as good. Overall, really proud of our guys. They did a really good job this weekend. I'm happy to race up here because I've got a lot of family up here. They come out and watch whenever I race nearby, so happy to get to see some of them."

Carson Brown finished fourth, with Dawson Sutton rounding out the top five.

The next race for the ASA STARS National Tour is at Hickory Motor Speedway as part of a doubleheader Memorial Day weekend for the series. The series competes at Hickory on Thursday, May 22 before heading to Newport Speedway in Tennessee on Saturday, May 24.

-Photo credit: Ultimate Lap Photo

Appalachian Sucker Punch 250 Unofficial Results