Steve Butler

Steve Butler (born September 26, 1956, in Amarillo, Texas) won six national driving championships in USAC Sprint Car and Silver Crown open-wheel racing.

Butler was highly regarded for his technical skills and performed chief mechanic duties on several of his winning race cars.

He also communicated his view of racing to fans both as author and television commentator.

In 1976, Butler was able to win the AMA District 15 (Indiana) ½ Mile Flat Track Championship which convinced him to advance to professional motorcycle racing.

However, in his first pro season Butler was severely injured during a race at the Onekama, MI ½ mile dirt track.

He remained in the hospital for 30 days and spent nine months recovering from his injuries.

This was the fourth time in four years that he found himself recovering from fractured bones resulting from motorcycle racing.

In 1978, Butler rebounded from his injuries by winning a pro race at Beaver Dam, WI—his very first event after recovering from the Onekama crash.

Despite a relatively brief racing career (1981–1993), Butler is an inductee into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, the USAC Hall of Fame, and the Hoosier Auto Racing Fan's Hall of Fame.

He retired at age 37 to pursue both an engineering career and more time with his growing family.

Butler currently resides in Kokomo, IN.

In 1990, Butler became the first four-time Sprint Car National Champion in the 34-year history of the United States Automobile Club.

USAC Butler won USAC sprint car races on pavement, dirt, and on dirt with wings.

He is the only driver to win in all of these categories during a single USAC season.

In addition to his Sprint Car championships, Butler won two championships in USAC's Silver Crown division.

Winning six national championships places Butler in the top-tier of all-time USAC driving champions.

This distinction includes all championships in any of USAC's national championship racing divisions including Indy Car, Silver Crown Car, Sprint Car, Midget, and Stock Car.

In this category A. J. Foyt is first with 9 titles; Levi Jones, Mel Kenyon and the late Rich Vogler share second (7 titles each).

Butler earned his six championships in just 10 seasons of USAC competition, the highest percentage of championships won vs. seasons raced of this group.

Steve was born to parents Bruce and Sharon Butler and has three sisters Linda, Laura, and Melanie.

Due to Bruce's career as an USAF pilot, the family lived in England for four years shortly after Steve's birth.

Bruce loved all things mechanical—especially those that involve speed.

He repaired and modified cars in his free time and also owned a go-kart that he drove on remote parts of the British aircraft parking ramps, often allowing young Steve to ride in his lap.

Shortly after the family returned from England, Bruce was killed in an airplane crash.

At the time, Steve was six years old but had already caught his father's enthusiasm for cars and airplanes.

Steve set out to learn as much as possible about these mechanical wonders without benefit of his father's tutelage.

By age 14, he had disassembled and rebuilt the family car and became known as the neighborhood “motor-head."

By age 20, Steve was a full-time student in the Flight Technology school at Vincennes University.

Planning to become a pilot, he had earned his commercial pilot license and had distinguished himself by winning the school's “Top Aerobatic Pilot” award.

However, he left school early to launch his professional motorcycle racing career.

He was anxious to get serious about racing and was concerned that he was already 4 years older than most of his professional motorcycle racing peers.

AMA Pro Racing Min. Age Requirements.

Butler launched his amateur bike racing career upon graduating from high school.

His first opportunity came when a buddy agreed to let him race an old bike under a lease/purchase agreement.

This involved Steve paying $25/week for the machine with earnings from flipping hamburgers after school.

Realizing that his meager budget was insufficient to race competitively, Butler prevailed upon a friend to provide (free) transport to/from the races.

This allowed Steve to buy tires and other racing essentials.

The strategy worked and allowed Butler to begin winning races.

More than 20 years later, Butler's exploits are recalled in a 2001 Cycle News article featuring racers successful in both motorcycle and automobile racing.

This piece placed Butler on a short-list of motorcycle/car racers that included legends such as Joe Leonard, Swede Savage, and Steve Morehead.