Does so despite running out of fuel for overtime green-white-checkers finish

LAS VEGAS (Feb. 28, 2009) – Ken Butler III (KB3) and the No. 23 Aaron’s Dream Machine Chevrolet team survived multiple cautions, a pit road penalty for speeding and running over a cone diving down pit road to avoid a wreck at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday. But, to finish a race you need to have enough fuel.

KB3 had enough to finish the race, but not beyond the scheduled distance of 200 laps.  While waiting for a green/white/checkers finish restart on lap 207, Butler’s car ran out of fuel while going down the backstretch. This forced NASCAR to hold off throwing the final green of the Sam’s Town 300 until Butler was pushed to pit road. Once there, a splash of gas and a dash off pit road allowed him to finish in 17th place, two positions down from where he was running.

Prior to the exciting finish, Butler began the day with fellow Aaron’s driver David Reutimann coming to the starting grid lending his support to the young Butler. Once he started 37th, it quickly became apparent he was ready to race. After going down a lap by the 65th circuit, Butler tried to take advantage of a fuel only pit stop for track position.

The move put him up to 22nd, one lap down and second in line for the Lucky Dog.  However, spinning his wheels on a lap 89 restart cost him just enough track position to miss out on the Lucky Dog.

From there, it became a game of survival by all to finish the race. When the spinning, smoke and series of cautions had ceased; it was Butler finishing in the top-20 with 17th on the final chart. This was the second top-20 finish in as many races for the Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate.

Ken Butler, III – driver

Another top-20 finish: “Once we got into the race a little bit, I really could feel how the car started to take off. I mean, the No. 23 Aaron’s Dream Machine was running great today and I was able to take advantage of how it handled in the turns.

“I got to race against some people this week and enjoyed that part. There were times I was in traffic up front being a lap down and got to mix it up with other drivers – that was fun.
What did you learn this week: “That I need to learn how the car will react on new tires vs. old/scuff tires. That is something I will learn more and have to work on each week, and that’s fine with me. It was a good day for us and I got another top-20 finish.”

What happened where you dove down pit road: “Well, I saw the wreck starting in front of me there in Turn 4 and knew there was only one place to go – down pit road. I dove down there coming off 4 and smacked right into a cone. I didn’t realize how hard I hit it until the car was really tight in the turns.

“I was having to really wrestle the car through the end parts of the race. Then, when I got out of the car afterwards, I could quickly see why the car was tight. The nose is messed up a little bit, but not anything we can’t fix back at the R3 Motorsports shop.”

Heard you had a little fun before the race: “Yeah, I went out to the Nationwide display in front of the track to sign some autographs. I was out there for about 30 minutes and they had a nice line the whole time. It was fun, I’m looking forward to doing that again.”

What about on Friday night: “I was able to take part in an Aaron’s store appearance with my fellow Aaron’s driver David Reutimann. They had a radio remote and we signed hero cards, gave out Lucky Dog stuffed animals, met some of the Aaron’s associates and gave away some pretty cool prizes.”

The NASCAR Nationwide Series is off the next two weeks before returning to action at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 14.