Community Cares Lonnie Butts

Butts was pulling double-duty for both the Southwest Tour car of Adams and the Winston West car of Norris at Mesa Marin Raceway for the October Classic. While at the track Saturday, Mike Verlatti, director of competition in the NASCAR Winston West Series, notified Butts to call home. Said Butts, “to my worst fears, my dad, Lonnie, had passed away.”

There were a lot of people that knew Lonnie Butts, an old drag racer from the sixties. A lot of team members had met him at the track, and all would agree that a nicer man would be hard to find. If there was someone that needed help at the track, Lonnie was there for them and that is what people will probably remember most about him. As Butts put it, “He was a real great guy. He was also my best friend.”

Ironically, Norris won his first race, when one of his most dedicated team-members, Butts, was not with him. Said Butts, “We on the Norris team know that he (Lonnie Butts) was watching over Eric during the race and pushed his car to the first win in his West career.

Within three minutes after climbing out in the winners circle Norris was on the phone to Butts, overwhelmed with his win. Maybe the finish was controversial in some ways, but there are times that for reasons we don’t know a car will go forward, and maybe this win was for Lonnie Butts.

Services for Lonnie Butts were held Monday, October 30 at 2:00 pm at the Pacific Crest Cemetery in Redondo Beach Ca. 2701 182nd Street. Redondo Beach.