Sam Butler — Driver Profile
Car: No. 16B | Team: R&S Race Cars | Manufacturer: Dodge Status: Full-time | Hometown: Delphi, Indiana | Age: 22
Career Highlights
Sam Butler is a 2026 CARS Tour Late Model Stock championship contender who took the long way from the Midwest to the front of one of short track racing's most competitive fields.
A Delphi, Indiana native, Butler discovered oval racing through Bandolero competition and quickly graduated to the Legends car divisions. In 2019, he won the Bojangles' Summer Shootout Young Lions Championship at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the Legends Asphalt Nationals Young Lions Race of Champions at Carteret County Speedway, and the Indiana State Young Lions Championship — all in the same season. He also earned the UNOH Youth Achievement Award as the top driver 16-and-under in Legends racing.
Butler moved to North Carolina as a teenager, racing with Miller Performance Motorsports in Legends before signing with Triple R Racing at age 16 to campaign Late Model Stocks at Hickory Motor Speedway in 2020. He earned the Division I Josten's Rookie of the Year Award and the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Rookie of the Year.
For 2026, Butler joined R&S Race Cars for a full-time CARS Tour LMSC campaign in the No. 16B Dodge. Through the season's first two races, he established himself as a legitimate title contender — finishing runner-up at Wake County Speedway in Race 2 after a transponder issue initially obscured his on-track position. A post-race audit confirmed Butler's second-place finish, validating the speed he and R&S had shown from the start.
Butler sits among the top drivers in the 2026 LMSC points standings alongside Caden Kvapil, Conner Jones, and Treyten Lapcevich. The question now is whether he and R&S Race Cars can convert early-season consistency into a victory before the year is out.