By Marty Little
BRADENTON, Fla. – TBARA points leader Shane Butler wrestled the lead from Ben Fritz with five laps remaining and won Saturday night’s 30 lap sprint car feature event at DeSoto Super Speedway.
Thing got off to a rough start as 16 year-old Collin Cabre, starting on the outside of the front row, lost control entering turn three on lap one and tangled with pole sitter Jim Alvis. Alvis went hard into the wall and took Larry Brazil, Jr. with him. Both were finished for the evening with no injuries. Following a red flag to clear the track Fritz jumped out front and put on one of his best drives of the season. Butler, who is locked in a furious point battle with Dude Teate, worked his way from the rear and made his pass for the lead with just a handful of laps remaining and sped to the checkers for his first ever victory here and his second this season. Fritz hung tough to collect runner-up money over Teate, Troy DeCaire and Shane Miller.
The 2010 TBARA tour wraps up at Citrus Coutny Speedway in Inverness on Nov. 6 with only 31 points separating Butler from Teate. With 55 points available, one of these two will be the new champion when the checkered flag waves Saturday night.
Feature (30 laps – 1. Shane Butler, 2. Ben Fritz, 3. Dude Teate, 4. Troy DeCaire, 5. Shane Miller, 6. Bo Hartley, 7. Johnny Gilbertson, 8. Keith Butler, 9. Sonny Hartley, 10. John Gilbert III, 11. Collin Cabre, 12. Bryan Riddle, 13. Jimmy Alvis, Jr., 14. Jason Bradford, 15. Jimmy Alvis, 16. Larry Brazil, Jr.
Heat race victories fell to Fritz and DeCaire.