INNISFIL, Ontario — It may have gotten real close for comfort for sometimes, but that didn’t mean Doug Butler was about to denied as he started off the year by winning the Mini Stock feature on Saturday night at Sunset Speedway.

Doug Butler won the first heat in front of Johnny Paradzinski, Curtis Stewart, Cole Ecker, Peter Wakeling, Madisson Tienkamps, Ryder White, and Peter Inglis.

John Bird was victorious in the second qualifier ahead of Blaise Shaw, Charlie Smith, Cameron McGlashan, Jacob Sutcliffe, Pat Farrow, and Eric Stewart.

Johnny Paradzinski grabbed the checkered flag in the third heat, followed by Butler, D’Antimo, Ecker, Stewart, Wakeling, Inglis, and Tienkamps.

The final heat did not go smoothly, as contact in turns three and four saw McGlashan and Tyler Seaboyer go around, with Smith pulling off on Lap 8. Blaise Shaw captured the win in front of Bird, Sutcliffe, Seaboyer, McGlashan, and Rainey.

Come feature time, Cameron McGlashan started pole in front of Jacob Sutcliffe, Curtis Stewart, Jason D’Antimo, Blaise Shaw, Johnny Paradzinski, John Bird, Doug Butler, Cole Ecker, Peter Wakeling, Eric Rainey, Pat Farrow, Madisson Tienkamps, Tyler Seaboyer, Ryder White, and Peter Inglis.

The drop of the green flag saw the battle begin right away with Stewart, McGlashan, and Sutcliffe three-wide for the lead down the backstretch. Curtis Stewart grabbed the advantage on Lap 2 with McGlashan slotting into second on Lap 3, as Paradzinski and Butler battled for third. It was short lived, with Paradzinski taking over the runner-up spot a lap later, bringing Butler through with him. Unfortunately, Paradzinski did not get to finish the story, offering a bump for Stewart before pulling off with mechanical issues.

The race’s lone caution flew on Lap 6, as courtesy of contact at the front of the field. As the field came around to put Tienkamps a lap down, she slid up off turn four, with Butler on the outside as he tried to stay off the wall. D’Antimo would make it three-wide, with the rest of the field quickly closing in as they tried to split the traffic. Farrow made contact with McGlashan in the process, resulting in McGlashan going around in turns one and two right in front of Shaw. Both Shaw and McGlashan were sent to the tail of the field as involved cars.

Doug Butler got a restart, making his way into the lead ahead of Stewart, Bird, Ecker and Sutcliffe, as Seaboyer battled Farrow for sixth. Seaboyer got the spot, passing Sutcliffe on Lap 12 to break into the top-five. Shaw got by Farrow for seventh a lap later, as Wakeling and McGlashan ran side-by-side for ninth. Shaw continued to move forward, passing Sutcliffe for sixth, bringing Farrow, McGlashan, Farrow, and Wakeling through with him. Unfortunately, Wakeling’s strong run hit a snag with a solo spin with five laps to go.

Doug Butler got another good restart, pacing the field the rest of the way en route to winning in front of Curtis Stewart and John Bird. Tyler Seaboyer and Cole Ecker made contact on the last lap, resulting in Ecker going around on the backstretch. Seaboyer kept it straight and going, placing fourth with Blaise Shaw rounding out the top-five.

Pos         Car#       Driver

1              10           Doug Butler

2              6              Curtis Stewart

3              77           John Bird

4              23           Tyler Seaboyer

5              81           Blaise Shaw

6              83           Cameron Mcglashan

7              27           Jacob Sutcliffe

8              8              Pat Farrow

9              12           Eric Rainy

10           8              Cole Ecker

11           88           Ryder White

12           9              Madisson Tienkamp

13           5              Peter Wakling

14           23D        Jason D’Anitmo

15           4              Johnny Paradeinski

16           57           Kris Inglis