For those who even casually follow NHRA drag racing, Bo Butner’s name is one easily recognized. Butner has raced and won in everything from Pro Stock to Super Street, and he’s got over 30 wins and two world championships to show for it. But before this past weekend, Butner had one thing left on his bucket list: winning the JEGS Allstars. Finally, after decades behind the wheel, the 52-year old racer got it done.
This past weekend, during the famed Stampede of Speed at Texas Motorplex, Division 3 Super Gas representative Butner powered through the competition to win the JEGS Allstars race, and he nearly doubled with a semifinals finish in the main event, the 41st annual NHRA Texas FallNationals.
“That Allstars win has been on my bucket list a long time,” said Butner, who was making his fourth Allstars appearance and reached the final round of Stock in the Allstars in his first attempt in 2012. “It was a great race, but it’s just so hard to win. I’m very happy to get it done.”
In the first round of the race that brings the best of the best in each division to battle against one another for ultimate bragging rights, Butner got the nod when Division 6 champion Nathan Huber broke out of the 9.90 index. In the second round, Butner’s .016-second reaction time was matched to the thousandth by Division 2’s Tim Powell, and he inched closer to the goal with a dead-on 9.903 to his opponent’s 9.914. In the final, Butner launched first, and Division 4 veteran Charlie Stewart worked to make up the difference but came up short at the top end. With wife Randi Lyn and friends cheering on the starting line, Butner had the victory in his pocket with a 9.928 to 9.931.
“It was awesome, and you’ll never forget it,” said Butner. “But last night I got to thinking – what’s next?”
“What’s next” nearly happened on Sunday at Texas Motorplex when Butner reached the Super Gas semifinals of the FallNationals, the very race where he claimed his first national event victory as an NHRA racer in Super Stock in 1999. After performing the burnout and staging, Butner launched off the starting line next to Kyle Pawuk and was nearly in sight of a second Texas Motorplex winner’s cowboy hat for the weekend, but he soon realized his Corvette roadster had lost its giddy up. A bolt broke within the throttle stop when he let go, and Butner’s day was done. Pawuk went on to win for the first time and celebrate alongside his father, two-time world champion and this year’s Factory Stock Showdown Dallas winner Mark Pawuk.
“Until that point, I felt like I had a pretty good shot to win that round and the race; I didn’t want anybody to beat me today,” said Butner, after the race had concluded. “But look, we go on. We’re going to Las Vegas for the next race, and before that I get to go home and see my grandkids and my mom. Thursday, we’ll leave for the 24 Hours of Lemons race with Jim Greenleaf from Summit Racing, my son JB, and my good friend Greg Esarey. That’s always a lot of fun. We’ve got the Trunk-or-Treat at Jim Butner Auto Group on October 26th, and so much goes into that – it’s really amazing to see it come together every year. We finish the year with the 2027 New Year Resolution Race at Bradenton Motorsports park, and that’s something we’re really excited for, too.
“We’ve got so much to look forward to, and we had a pretty good week in Dallas with Randi Lyn driving good in Stock and getting win lights, too, and I’m very happy. We have to thank JEGS for supporting the Allstars race; I grew up racing with all the Coughlin boys, and they’re a great group who have done a lot for our sport. We’re just having so much fun out here. I say it all the time: We’re very blessed, and I am very grateful.”
Butner thanked Clark County Auto Auction, Jim Butner Auto Group, Summit Racing Equipment, Advanced Product Design, WELD Racing, Dial Lab, Hoosier Racing Tire, and Abruzzi Racing Transmissions.
