Butler & Midwest Generation to Debut New Look in Joliet
Wayne Butler and the newly incorporated 1320 Motorsports Race Team are headed to Joliet , Illinois this weekend for the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 NHRA National event. The Team is coming off a career season where they finished in the Top 10 in the Lucas Oil Division 3 points standings and ran career best numbers 5.78 at 248 MPH.
In 2008, with backing from Midwest Generation of Chicago, a subsidiary of Edison International and one of the largest independent power producers in the Midwest, United States , the Team is hoping to pick up right where they left off at the end of last year. Midwest Generation owns and operates six electric power generating facilities in Illinois and supervises operation of a plant in western Pennsylvania .
“We are so excited to have Midwest Generation come on board with us this year. I have had a relationship with them for a long time and this year we were able to set up a sponsorship with them for the 2008 season. This deal can be very successful for both of us; now it is time to get out there on the track and show them what we can do,” said Butler .
“To open the year at Joliet is really perfect for us. It is our home track and it is also very close to many of the Midwest Generation facilities. They even have two plants right here in the immediate Joliet area. We are going to have a lot of employees out to the track this weekend, many of whom have never been to a drag race. So hopefully we can show them a good time and maybe we will gain some new drag racing fans out of the deal too.”
Qualifying for the event will begin on Friday at 12:30 PM. The second time run will be at 4:30 that afternoon and continue on Saturday with the final qualifying shot coming at 8:45 Saturday morning. Final eliminations will begin Sunday morning and continue throughout the day.
Quick Facts
- Butler has been competing in the Top Alcohol Funny Car class for 12 years and is a 22 year veteran of the sport.
- Last season, he recorded career best numbers when he covered the quarter-mile in 5.78 seconds at 248 MPH.
- The heavy equipment operator builds and maintains the engines for the team and assumes the tuning duties at the track with the help of long time friends and family who work as the crew on the car.
