POST RACE: Top-10 for Butler, III in Iowa

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Top-10 for Ken Butler, III in Iowa

 

NEWTON, Iowa (April 20, 2008) - Ken Butler, III and his Aaron's Lucky Dog
Dream Machine team were confident that they had a fast car this weekend at
Iowa Speedway. With practice and qualifying cancelled due to rain, the No.
22 Toyota started in the ninth position. KBIII fought a tight condition all
day, wrestling the No. 22 Aaron's Lucky Dog Toyota Camry home in the seventh
position, his season-best finish.

 

"We just fought a tight car all day," stated Butler. "Throughout the race I
had to change my line because I was so tight in one and two and especially
three and four. I arched it into the corners more, played with it a little
throughout the race, just to get it to turn. I really want to thank Wayne
and my guys. They didn't give up the entire race."

 

Despite the tight condition, the car was fast as Butler drover from ninth to
the fifth position in the first 15 laps. The first caution of the day came
at lap 15 in the Prairie Meadows 250. Crew Chief Wayne Carroll immediately
asked his driver to "tell me about the car, KB." Butler replied that "this
this is so tight. I'm really fighting it." When pit road opened, the No. 22
for a track bar adjustment and fuel.

 

With the next caution coming at lap 27, Butler came to the pits for more
adjustments, this time a track bar and wedge adjustments and some additional
tape on the grill, all in an effort to free-up the No. 22.

 

Even with an ill-handling car Butler kept the No. 22 Aaron's Lucky Dog Dream
Machine in the top-10 for each of the 250 laps. Carroll called lap times to
his driver throughout the race as Butler searched for a line that was fast
and allowed him to manage the car. 

 

"At the beginning of the race, it just wasn't turning right," said Butler.
"We'd come in and free it up. It would get a little better for a while, but
it wasn't great. We'd come it again, and free it up some more. And every
time we'd put on tires, it would take forever for the car to come in. we
weren't fast off the get go, just later the car would come in. The second to
last run we had, after the changes, we were finally decent. We were pretty
good between [turns] one and two, but [turns] three and four the thing would
just not turn. It would not turn. I had to back up my corners SO much. The
slow cars were even faster than me in three and four, which means we were
that good in one and two and down the straightaways to hold our position
like we did." 

 

The pit crew put back on track in the top-5 following the caution at lap
214. Butler radioed that he couldn't turn it at all and asked if the team
had gone in the opposite direction with their adjustments on the last pit
stop. Fighting hard for the final 34 laps, Butler slid from the fourth
position to the seventh position when the checkered flag waved. The crew
quickly examined the car following the race to find that left rear tire
pressure had equalized.

 

Following the race, Butler added that "the front tire equalized which means
we had no stagger in the rear. And if that tire hadn't done what it did,
equalized that last run we would have been there. I don't think those last
few cars would have gotten by us and we would have stayed up in the top-5
with no problem. When the cars would catch me, I couldn't even race them, it
just wouldn't turn."

 

Butler smiled and said, "We'll move on to Kansas now. This is my first trip
there. We were planning to test there, but the rain cancelled the ARCA open
test. I like Kentucky a lot, so I think we'll do well. I want to thank all
the Aaron's and all the associates for cheering us on each week. We'll get
this Aaron's Lucky Dog Toyota in Victory Lane soon!"

 

Next Stop:  KBIII and the Aaron's Lucky Dog Dream Machine Team travel to
Kansas City, KS this weekend to race Friday, April 25th in the Kansas
Lottery $150 Grand. The race goes green at 5:00 p.m. The race will air on
SPEED, Saturday, April 26th at 8:30 p.m. All times are Eastern.

 

For more on Ken Butler, III, please visit www.butlerbrothersracing.com.

 

For more on Eddie Sharp Racing, please log onto www.teamesr.com.

 

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Media Contact:    Jody L. Jennings

                                 Public Relations Manager

   Eddie Sharp Racing
   C: 205.910-4429 
   O: 704.489-8809
     jjennings@teamesr.com