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August 27, 2005
Section: sports
Edition: BRADENTON
Page: 2D
BUTRUM HAVING DREAM SEASON
SCOTT LOCKWOOD, Herald Staff Writer
BRADENTON --- DEAN BUTRUM NEVER INTENDED TO BE A RACE CAR DRIVER.
THE 25-YEAR-OLD FROM SARASOTA WAS CONTENT AS A CASUAL FAN.
THEN ALONG CAME JESSIE DUTILLY.
SIX YEARS AGO, DUTILLY WAS AN UP-AND-COMING DRIVER AT DESOTO
SPEEDWAY. BUTRUM AGREED TO PUT HIS COMPANY'S NAME, DEAN'S TREE
SERVICE, ON DUTILLY'S CAR.
"ONCE I STARTED SPONSORING HIM, IT BECAME ADDICTING," BUTRUM SAID.
"AND I STARTED COMING OUT HERE EVERY WEEK HELPING HIM WITH HIS
RACE CAR. I ENDED UP BUYING ONE OF HIS OLD CARS AFTER HE MOVED UP
IN CLASS, AND THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW, I WAS RACING."
BUTRUM BURNED RUBBER FROM THE START. IN 2003, HE WAS ROOKIE OF
THE YEAR IN DESOTO'S MINI STOCK DIVISION. LAST SEASON, HE HAD 16
FEATURE RACE WINS EN ROUTE TO A SECOND-PLACE FINISH IN THE POINT
STANDINGS. BUTRUM IS INTENT ON WINNING A MINI STOCK CHAMPIONSHIP
THIS SEASON.
BUILDING A NEW RACE CAR WAS A HUGE UNDERTAKING FOR DUTILLY AND
BUTRUM, AS THEY ONLY HAD 30 DAYS TO GET IT READY TO RACE FOR THIS
SEASON. THEY WERE UP FOR THE CHALLENGE, AS THEY TURNED A SCRAP
1984 TOYOTA CELICA INTO A RACE-READY MACHINE IN FOUR WEEKS.
"DEAN REALLY WANTED TO WIN THE POINTS CHAMPIONSHIP THIS YEAR, SO
WE BUILT THIS CAR FROM THE GROUND UP . . . IN 28 DAYS, SO IT WAS A
TIGHT SCHEDULE," SAID DUTILLY, 25, OWNER AND CREW CHIEF OF THE NO.
32 CAR.
THE NEW CAR IS FAST. BUTRUM HAS FIVE FEATURE RACE VICTORIES AND
566 POINTS, 50 AHEAD OF SECOND-PLACE JON BAILEY.
FOR THE MOST PART, BUTRUM'S TEAM CONSISTS OF HIMSELF AND DUTILLY,
WHO IS THE POINTS LEADER IN THE LATE MODEL POINTS CHASE AT DESOTO.
WHILE RACING TAKES UP A LOT OF BUTRUM'S TIME, HIS DEAN'S TREE
SERVICE BUSINESS IN SARASOTA TAKES A LOT OF ENERGY AND EFFORT AS
WELL.
"I PUT JUST AS MANY HOURS INTO MY RACE CAR AS I DO MY BUSINESS
SOMETIMES, AND THAT'S NOT NECESSARILY THE SMART THING TO DO WHEN
YOU HAVE KIDS."
AS BUTRUM WORKS HIS WAY TOWARD HIS FIRST TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP,
HE'S ALSO LOOKING FORWARD TO THE END OF THE SEASON, WHEN HE HAS
MORE TIME FOR THE KIDS AND SOME OTHER PERSONAL HOBBIES.
"I RACE, I WORK, AND I LOVE TO FISH," HE SAYS. "THAT'S MY WHOLE NEW
THING FOR NEXT YEAR, I'M GOING TO DO A LOT MORE FISHING AND A LITTLE
LESS RACING."
PHOTO/ Photos by TED MASE/Special to the Herald
Dean Butrum, 25, has been racing in the Mini Stock series at DeSoto Speedway for
three years and is looking to win his first series championship. Dean Butrum turned
a scrap 1984 Toyota Celica into a race-ready machine in four weeks.
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