The Series Winston West Southwest Northwest More Info. Winston West car of Eric Norris was involved in one of the most horrific fires the Winston West has witnessed. Butts was crewing on Norris' teammate's car at a California short track, when the car erupted into flames engulfing Butts and another crew member, David Valdadez into a ball of fiery fury. Miraculously both crewmen survived the incident. Because of what happened to Butts and Valadez, a number of Winston West teams are playing it a lot safer these days.
Many teams now have firesuits for the fueler and rear-tire changer.
Some teams invested in firesuits for all the crew. Butts leaves the memories of that race behind and gives Motegi credit for being the race to remember, the one that brought the teams together. Currently Butts is the truck driver, fueler and cook for Norris Racing and is hoping the team will secure sponsorship for the 2000 race season. Coca-Cola 500 at the Twin Ring Motegi in Japan. It was a great race and it pulled a lot of teams together.