TRUCKS: Cole Butcher accidentally strikes a squirrel, then the wall at tricky Texas
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Luis Torres, @TheLTFiles
Cole Butcher picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Friday’s SpeedyCash.com 250 at the Texas Motor Speedway when his #13 Atlantic Tilt Load Ford crashed after he completed 51 of 172 laps.
The finish came in Butcher’s ninth series start. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 8th for the #13, the 144th for Ford, and the 207th from a crash. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 38th for the #13, the 1,091st for Ford, and the 1,454th from a crash.
Born in Porters Lake, Nova Scotia, Butcher has become one of Canada’s most impressive talents in late model racing. He’s a two-time winner of the Oxford 250, a frequent podium finisher at the Snowball Derby, and just last year simultaneously won four touring series championships in the ASA STARS National Tour, Blizzard Series, ASA Southern Super Series, and the ASA/CRA Super Series. He also made his Craftsman Truck Series debut last fall at Bristol and Phoenix, both times driving for fellow countryman Stewart Friesen in the #62, and both times finishing 23rd.
This January, news broke that Butcher had landed a full-time deal with ThorSport Racing to drive their #13 Ford. Atlantic Tilt Load, a heavy transportation firm based in his current residence of Dartmouth, has for years sponsored Butcher in late models painted the same shade of red as the company’s trucks. Now in the company’s 30th anniversary season, the company would back Butcher’s rookie campaign in the Truck Series. Entering Friday, his best run of the season was his first career top-ten finish at Rockingham, where he took 10th after he qualified a season-best 4th. He sat 18th in points, saddled with a crash near the end of the Atlanta race, and a practice accident in St. Petersburg that forced him to rally from 30th to 14th at the checkered flag.
For Texas, Butcher was one of 35 drivers set to attempt the 36-truck field, marking the first short field for a Truck Series race since last November’s championship race at Phoenix, which saw 34. Right from the outset, he showed impressive speed. Butcher ranked 5th in opening practice with a best lap of 29.518 seconds (182.939mph), joining all three of his ThorSport teammates in the Top Five, led by Jake Garcia in the #98 Quanta / Curb Records Ford. Butcher was seventh on track for qualifying, where he improved to 4th with a lap of 29.226 seconds (184.767mph), where teammates Garcia and Ben Rhodes swept the front row. Butcher had not only tied his qualifying performance from Rockingham, but was the fastest rookie in the field. According to Matt Weaver, Butcher also ran over a squirrel that strayed onto the track during the session.
Securing the 35th and final starting spot was Cory Roper, who returned to the Truck Series for the first time since October 4, 2024 at Talladega, the season when his Roper Racing #04 last competed in the series. This time around, Roper drove the #62 Drydene Toyota for Halmar Friesen Racing, the same team that won the most recent series race at Bristol in the hands of Cup regular Christopher Bell. But in the early minutes of practice, Roper bounced off the Turn 4 wall, forcing the team to make repairs that incurred him a redundant tail-end penalty. Meanwhile at Team Reaume, both Josh Reaume in the #22 Aerial Titans Ford and Frankie Muniz in the #33 Morgan & Morgan Ford were prohibited for practicing after both their trucks failed to pass the first round of inspection for four straight races. The pair filled Row 16 with Reaume taking 31st on the grid and Muniz in 32nd.
When the green flag dropped, Roper remained in the 35th spot, the last truck on the inside line. Coming off Turn 2, he was battling to the outside of Caleb Costner in the #93 Piedmont Outfitters / Realtree Chevrolet, and both were already trailing the field by open track. Roper completed the pass, putting Costner in last at the end of Lap 1, showing 4.857 seconds back of the lead, four-tenths behind Roper. The gap of two-tenths of a second remained about the same until Lap 4, when Costner was 11.072 seconds back of the lead, about six-tenths behind Roper. The next time by on Lap 5, Roper dropped Josh Reaume to 34th. Costner reeled in Reaume, then lost ground by Lap 7, showing 17.264 seconds back of the lead to 34th-place Reaume at 15.854. That 1.4-second gap increased to two seconds by Lap 8, then nearly three seconds on Lap 9 and four on Lap 12. On Lap 15, Reaume passed teammate Frankie Muniz, dropping Muniz’ #33 to 34th. And on Lap 16, Costner was the first driver to be lapped.
During that run, around Lap 13, Kyle Busch was running 8th in his #7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet when he snapped loose off Turn 4 and slapped the outside wall. He continued without significant smoke from his battered right-front fender, losing at least one spot. On Lap 19, Busch finally pitted under green for fresh tires and quick repairs. This dropped Busch off the lead lap and into last place, trailing a now 34th-place Costner with 33rd-place Muniz also a lap down.
Busch was still in last place on Lap 24, when the first caution fell after Roper spun from 30th place on the inside of Turn 2, then slid into the inside wall on the backstretch with his left-front corner. During this caution, Busch received additional repairs on pit road, then by Lap 25 climbed to 33rd ahead of now 34th-place Roper. The last spot now belonged Corey LaJoie, who took over the position due to a flat tire on his #10 Mopar RAM just before Roper’s caution. By Lap 26, Roper lost a second lap, taking last from LaJoie. Both lost multiple laps after extended stops. By the time Stage 2 began on Lap 47, LaJoie was in 34th, four laps down, and Roper held last, seven down.
Butcher’s damaged truck rolls back to pit road. (PHOTO: Luis Torres, @TheLTFiles)
On Lap 51, Butcher was running in the 18th spot battling to the inside of teammate Garcia in the #98 when Butcher broke loose and backed into the outside wall, shoving his rear panel up to his rear tires. Butcher managed to make it to pit road, only to pull into the garage area, and he took last from Roper by around Lap 58. By Lap 65, the now last-place Butcher was confirmed the first driver out of the race. Roper climbed no further and finished in 34th, citing suspension issues in the closing stages. Conner Jones in the #42 Comprehensive Logistics Chevrolet and Grant Enfinger in the #9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet finished 33rd and 32nd after the first of two red flags caused by a truck digging their splitter into the infield grass off Turn 4. Both fell out early with heavy damage – the nose of Enfinger’s truck ripped off in the grass and Jones with the driver’s side door sheared away. Kris Wright, who drew a caution of his own for hitting the wall, finished 31st, nine laps down in his #81 F.N.B. Corporation Chevrolet.
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #13 in a Truck Series race since August 30, 2020, when Johnny Sauter had a vibration after 22 laps around Gateway. The number had never finished last in a Truck Series race at Texas.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
35) #13-Cole Butcher / 51 laps / crash
34) #62-Cory Roper / 123 laps / suspension
33) #42-Conner Jones / 155 laps / crash
32) #9-Grant Enfinger / 156 laps / crash
31) #81-Kris Wright / 163 laps / running
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) ThorSport Racing (2)
2nd) Front Row Motorsports, Halmar Friesen Racing, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, Niece Motorsports, Team Reaume (1)
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Ford (4)
2nd) Chevrolet (2)
3rd) Toyota (1)
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
