Bo Butner and his JHG Chevy show consistent improvement ahead of Bristol Eliminations
BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 18, 2022) – Throughout Pro Stock qualifying at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, Bo Butner and his Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Chevrolet Camaro made consistent progress that could easily translate to success on Sunday. For Butner, the steady increase in pace was welcome as he is still in the hunt for his first win of the season with his new team.
“It’s exciting to see our JHG Chevy showing a little bit of what it’s capable of,” said Butner, an 11-time Pro Stock winner and the 2017 Pro Stock world champion. “We’ve been making progress, and we know we’ve got the best equipment and great people. It’s really just a matter of time before everything comes together. Tomorrow, we get to see how it all shakes out, but we have a chance – and that’s a great feeling going into Sunday.”
Butner and the JHG Chevrolet Camaro proved to be a top-half contender out of the gate with a strong 6.713-second pass at 203.80 mph in the first session. They followed up on Saturday with an improved 6.706, 205.60 and an even better 6.685, 206.54 in the final session. Although they consistently improved in the better conditions, so did the rest of the class, so Butner will start from the No. 10 position.
His first-round opponent will be Dallas Glenn. It will be the first time the two have gone head-to-head on a two-lane course on Sunday, although they did race in the same quade in the second round of the Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas earlier this year.
This weekend in Bristol, Butner has not only been on the Pro Stock sheets at Bristol Dragway; he also raced a Super Gas entry in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series portion of the event. The category was rich with former champions, including Butner and fellow Pro Stock racer Troy Coughlin Jr.
After winning the recent national open in Bowling Green, Ky., driving his Corvette roadster, Butner was eager to build on that in Bristol. His racecar was a bit too efficient, however, and a double-breakout in the first round did not fall in his favor.
“I can’t get mad,” he said. “The car is a little quicker than I thought, and we did a good job – the guy next to us was just better. But now we’re down to Pro Stock, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Butner’s next turn in a Sportsman car will come next weekend at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio. There, Butner will drive his Top Dragster – a car he’s also had some success with: he won the Spring Fling Bracket Race with it last year.
“I can’t wait for Norwalk,” he said. “We’re not done after that, either – we’ll probably take a couple of Sportsman cars on the Western Swing. I’m hoping to stay pretty busy and not just be in the pro world. We’re having a great time with all of it, right now.”
For now, Butner is dialed into making big moves on Sunday towards his first Pro Stock win of the season.
“I feel like we’re on the right track,” he said. “If it doesn’t happen tomorrow, I have faith that it will happen before the year is done. It’s going to be awesome to get that done for Jason Johnson and Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage.”
Eliminations for the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway will take place at noon ET on Sunday, June 19, 2022.
Qualifying results:
Q1: 6.713-second, 203.80 mph (No. 6)
Q2: 6.706, 205.60 (No. 8)
Q3: 6.685, 206.54 (No. 10)
First round match-up:
Bo Butner vs. Dallas Glenn