@ProStockTour •Halifax, NS – (November 14th, 2016) In front of a sold out crowd at the Delta Hotel in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Cole Butcher of Porter’s Lake, Nova Scotia was officially crowned the youngest champion in Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour history.
Butcher, at 20 years old, became the seventh different champion on the series in the 16 year history of the popular Maritime stock car tour.
Once Butcher and his team warmed up to their new race car in 2016, they became a powerful force on the series. The #53 Atlantic Tiltload sponsored Chevrolet won three races on the series, including two (Atlantic Cat 250, Dartmouth Dodge 200) at Scotia Speedworld and the mid-Summer Irving Blending & Packaging 150 at Petty International Raceway. Along with his three victories, Butcher amassed seven podium finishes, seven top fives and finished all but one of the 12 races in the top ten. Butcher also completed the most laps of any driver on the circuit, running 1,747 of the total 1,750 laps over the 12 race schedule. As the champion, Butcher received $10,000 from series sponsor Parts for Trucks and a championship ring commissioned by Inglis Jewelers.
The Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour honored eligible full-time teams at the event, whom shared in the $50,000 Parts for Trucks Point Fund.
Harry Ross White of Noel Road, Nova Scotia received the Exide Batteries Rookie of the Year Award. White, commonly known around racing circles as “HOSS,” won a back and forth battle over Nevin Scott (Marshfield, PE) for the freshman title. HOSS had six top tens in his first season on the series and led the field to green in the Atlantic Cat 250 at his home track of Scotia Speedworld driving the #49 Archibald Drilling and Blasting Chevrolet.
One of the most prestigious awards on the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour, the Cathy Ledwidge Memorial Most Sportsmanlike Driver Award, went to Donald Chisholm (Antiogonish, NS) as voted by the drivers of the series.
Numerous contingency awards were presented as a part of the evening’s festivities. Darren MacKinnon of Charlottetown, PE was the recipient of the EIT Race Radios Consistency Award as the highest finishing driver in the series standings, finishing third overall, without a feature win in 2016. Craig Slaunwhite (Terence Bay, NS) gained the most positions in the year end point standings from 2015 to 2016 to pocket the Urquhart MacDonald Most Improved Driver Award.
Darren MacKinnon also won the popular Irving Oil Blending & Packaging Fan Favorite Award. The award winner was selected by fans on MaritimeProStockTour.com, who voted online for their favorite drivers leading up to the awards banquet. MacKinnon received a $500 cash award and a skid of product courtesy of Irving.
Various vendor draws were made to eligible Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour teams in attendance at the Delta Prince Edward. R&D Performancenter of Lower Onslow, Nova Scotia presented Terry Dougay (Alban, PE) with a $300 gift certificate, while Kent Vincent (Crapuad, PE) won a Five Star body. MK Auto Products awarded Harry Ross White with a new ARBodies body. Darren MacKinnon won an electric welder courtesy of series sponsor Linde.
Series sponsor Lucas Oil presented $750 product sponsorships to King Racing (Pictou,NS) Craig Slaunwhite and Dylan Gosbee (Cornwall, PE) as chosen by random draw.
Tim’s Corner Motorsports presented Best of 2016 Racing Awards to the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour, Petty International Raceway and Riverside International Speedway. The Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour received the Fan Favorite Touring Series Award while Riverside International Speedway and Petty International Raceway received awards in the TCM Fan Favorite Short Track categories. Voting for both awards took place online at TimsCorner.ca during the month of October.
Doug Banfield of Parts for Trucks presented a cheque for $3000 to the Scott Kelly Memorial Toy Fund at the IWK Children’s Hospital. One hundred percent of series hat and T-shirt sales each season are donated to the charity. Over the last five seasons the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour has donated over $13,000 to the Scott Kelly Memorial Toy Fund.
With the annual Awards Gala on Saturday, the 2016 Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour season is complete. The focus now shifts to the 17th edition of the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour, which is scheduled to start in Spring 2017. For complete information on the series and the upcoming season, as it becomes available, fans are encouraged to check out www.maritimeprostocktour.com or follow the series on Twitter @prostocktour
About the Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour:
The Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour (PST) is considered the highest level of stock car racing in Canada. The Tour is recognized in the industry as one of the healthiest stock car racing series in North America. PST visits five tracks throughout the Maritimes during its May through September season. The Parts for Trucks Pro Stock Tour is owned and operated by Maritime Pro Stock Tour Limited. For more information, call our administration office at 902.481.2531 or click www.maritimeprostocktour.com . You can also follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/prostocktour and like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/prostocktour
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