Post Race Notes: All American 400 & Florida Governor’s Cup 200

Because of the short week, we had to combine the notes from the All American 400 and the Florida Governor’s Cup 200. 

Lebanon, Tennessee driver Dawson Sutton ran up front all day long, and the pole sitter claimed the All American 400, becoming the first in-state driver since Mason Mingus to win the All American. 

After a long season, Derek Thorn proved that things are heading in the right direction as he posted a third-place finish in the All American 400.  Thorn posted his fifth-career top-five finish at the All American 400.   

It was another strong performance for Carson Brown, who captured a second-place finish at the All American 400.  Brown was second in each of his last two ASA Southern Super Series events.  Brown led four races and had three second-place finishes.  He did win the ASA STARS National Tour race at Madison in June. 

The car count at the All American 400 was one of the biggest this season.  Defending race winner Jake Garcia didn’t even get to defend his crown after a crash in practice on Friday. 

18 cars finished the All America 400 on the lead lap.  We have come a long way since the first All American 400 where only the top three drivers finished on the lead lap.  

With his performance at both the All American 400 and the Florida Governor’s Cup 200, Cole Butcher became the first driver to lead over 1000 laps in a season in the ASA Southern Super Series. 

Cole Butcher becomes the 10th different ASA Southern Super Series Champion after winning the Florida Governor’s Cup 200.  Butcher is the first series champion to win the season finale in a quest for a points title.  

For the third consecutive year, Matt Craig finishes second in the ASA Southern Super Series point standings.  Craig, a former Governor’s Cup 200 winner, was sixth in the final event and worked his way back from a DNF in the opening race at SpeedFest. 

Gavan Boschele finished in the 2025 rookie campaign by locking up the 2025 VDL Fuel Systems Rookie of the Year award.  Boschele won the Clyde Hart Memorial 200 at New Smyrna Speedway in February and looked to complete the sweep.  He ended up third in the Florida Governor’s Cup.  

Brad May set fast time on Friday night for the Florida Governor's Cup 200.  It was the second time in his career that he was on the pole for the 200.  The pole by May marks the 11th different pole winner in 2025.  That is not a record, as we had 12 different pole winners in 2022.  

Both Bubba Pollard and VDL Fuel Systems Rookie of the Year Gavan Boschele each logged 14 top 10 finishes this season, leaving them tied for the most in a single season.  Pollard now has 96 top 10s in his career.   

Cole Butcher did win five races this season, but he was the leader at halfway in nine races this season, which is a record for the series.  Butcher led at the halfway point in all five races he won. 

The 2025 ASA Southern Super Series had record-breaking numbers.  First, the series raced a total of 2837 laps to set a new record. This is the first time the series has run over 2000 laps since 2014.  One note of interest is that it was also the last year the World Crown 300 was on the schedule 

It’s on to the Snowball Derby: While the Snowball Derby is not a Southern Super Series race, that is where anyone who is anyone in Super Late Model racing will be, come December.

Dan Vining Photo