Cole Butcher emerges victorious in ASA Pensacola over Gio Ruggiero

Cole Butcher took everything Gio Ruggiero had, within reason, and he wouldn’t have had it any other way en route to an ASA STARS victory on Sunday at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida.

The two Wilson Motorsports drivers battled door-to-door early in the final stage, with Butcher ultimately prevailing by two seconds over Stephen Nasse, who took an Anthony Campi Racing No. 51 to second over Ruggiero.

We were too loose there. This Monster Energy team is all good and we will keep digging.”

“This was the best car I think I’ve ever had here,” said Butcher in Victory Lane. I can’t thank Gio [enough] for racing me clean. This felt good.”

The two teammates did bounce off each other several times off the final stage restart with Butcher prevailing with a crossover three laps into the run.

“Gio’s really good, as you’ve seen yesterday, winning the ARCA race,” Butcher said. “He’s a great racer, and I can’t thank him enough. I wasn’t getting him on the outside. He was really good on the bottom. I crossed him over and then we set sail. I just can’t thank these Wilson guys enough.

“Once I heard my lap times, I just put my head down and set sail. This one feels good.”

The good will was extended from Ruggiero too.

“We had a good day,” Ruggiero said. “We fell back a little bit there at the beginning. I’m glad my teammate, Cole Butcher, won. If I’m not going to win, at least he won. We were racing hard there and tried not to give up the lead. I was just too tight. I fought a really tight car all day and didn’t really fix it, but that’s alright. We learned, and we’ll be back for the next one.

“It’s not horrible. We didn’t tear up the car today, so that’s good. Like I say, I’m here to win, and we’ll have to get it in the next one.”

Nasse got Ruggiero with 15 laps to go to finish second.

“It was a tough one,” said Nasse. “A day full of ups and downs. I had a lot of mistakes on my part on restarts which absolutely killed us out there. Track position was huge. The way these tires are racing, aero is playing a part. You get behind somebody and it’s tough to get by. You really had to work it just right.”

New Smyrna winner Bubba Pollard was sidelined with an engine failure in the third stage.

Butcher led four times for a total of 102 laps, the most of any driver. In addition, Butcher won the first stage break, and finished second in the second stage, leading to big points day.

He now leads the standings over Casey Roderick and Pollard.

California racer Jacob Gomes made the long haul to the Florida panhandle and finished fourth. Matthew Craig completed the top 5 from the pole.

ASA STARS Sunshine State 200
Five Flags Speedway
March 24 2024

1. Cole Butcher
2. Stephen Nasse
3. Gio Ruggiero
4. Jacob Gomes
5. Matthew Craig
6. Michael Hinde
7. Jake Finch
8. Colby Howard
9. Jett Noland
10. Sean Hingorani
11. Casey Roderick
12. Billy VanMeter
13. Conner Jones
14. Albert Francis
15. Jace Hansen
16. Jo Lawrence
17. Bubba Pollard
18. John Bolen
19. Kyle Steckly
20. Connor Okrzesik
21. Michael Atwell
22. Dustin Smith
23. Dawson Sutton
24. Caden Kvapil
25. Michael Goddard
26. Austin Nason
27. Kasey Kleyn
28. Timothy Watson
29. Dylan Fetcho