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The 409 proved to be too slow for Butch so in 1963 he upgraded to a 427 Z-11 Chevy supplied to him by the folks of Chevrolet. Mid-season in 1963 Butch traded the Chevy for a 427 ci and then he traded the Chevy for a 427 ci Ford Galaxie. Leal was a terror in the super stock class with his Ford but another change in 1964 saw Butch in one of eleven factory built Thunderbolts. Now this was the first car I saw Butch drive down the 1320. Being a top fuel and gasser fan, Butch was one of a few door slammers I would make an effort to watch make his way down the quarter mile. Of course Butch was again on the move and became a Mopar man. He raced a two car team for his Mopar bosses, an A/FX and a Super Stocker both being Plymouth Belvederes. Leal did so well he topped $96,000 in 1965. Then Butch took off in 1966 to enjoy his second favorite sport, golf. In 1967 Butch entered the world of nitro burning, tube chassis and fiberglass bodied funny car racing. Well, in a blink of an eye, Leal had the fastest nitro burning injected funny car in the USA. Butch had one heck of a year in 1967 but when 1968 dawned, Leal abandoned the funny car class for his roots in the super stock class and of course the game of golf. When I spoke with Butch at CHRR 2013 he told me about leaving the funny car class. He was with both Don Nicholson and Jack Chrisman when they were trying different blower set ups on their funny cars. Both Nicholson and Chrisman had bad explosions and fires in their first ventures into blown funny car racing. Unfortunately, Chrisman suffered horrific burns on his hands with his blower failure. Seeing this Leal backed away from the "new" blower equipped funny cars.
It was musical brands again for Butch as he vacated his Chevy for the Mopar brand again. For the 1973 season Butch and his Mopar were inactive the first part of the year but then Leal went on a terror in the pro stock class all over the USA. He won the NHRA Grand Nationals in Canada and the AHRA World Finals. With all his match race wins in 1973 he was voted Drag News Pro Stock Driver of the Year. This was his second Drag News award having won it in 1972 as well. Butch put together a two car team in 1974 driving the pro stock Mopar and his old friend Gale Mortimer drove the Mopar super stock. Leal had a few more years with Mopar but nothing like his early glory years. The 1980's saw Butch go pro stock racing with Gil Kirk and his Nationwise stable of race cars. Leal's ride was a big bad Pontiac Firebird. Starting in 1984 Butch began a string of "bridesmaids" or runner ups at the NHRA Cajun Nationals and NHRA Winston World Finals. Then in 1985, he was runner up at the NHRA races at Denver, Englishtown and Grand National. Finally in 1985 Butch won the NHRA Southern Nationals to break his string of runner ups. A few more national runner ups and the game of golf called to Butch and he answered the call walking away from drag racing. If you wish to purchase prints of the photos below, they may be obtained by contacting us at sreyes@reyesontour.com. Other photos may be viewed by following the link at the bottom of the page at www.reyesontour.com.
Mopar team. One super stocker and an A/FX car. Ever wonder where Leal's nickname came from? While on tour Ben Christ told Butch he needed a catchy name for promoters to promote. Ben and Butch came up with "The California Flash."
Yes, that is a flagman as Fremont did not have a tree in 1966.
in the USA. Leal had a full match race card and here at Fremont, California, Leal put the Bloomin Bullett Camaro on the trailer.
He didn't like the trend of funny cars sporting blowers with their explosions and fires. So he went back to his door slammer super stocker.
The Camaro did well but had mechanical issues. Rufus "Brooklyn Heavy" Boyd purchased the car at the end of the 1970 season. Now it was back to Mopar for Butch.
Don Grotheer's Mopar team in 1971. Butch drove Grotheer's super stocker and won.
Shirley "Drag On Lady" Shahan and their pro stock Hornet. Leal sent his friends back to California. He also faced off with old friend Dyno Don Nicholson and then Leal vacated the funny car class because of blower explosions and fire. Leal left the funny car class before he could experience the explosions and fire first hand. Nicholson tried to hang in the blown funny car class and did go through the explosions and fire before jumping to the young pro stock class.
He brought home this award in 1972 and 1973 as the readers of Drag News voted him that honor.
We got Leal a cover on Drag Racing Magazine in June of 1972 and some harsh words from OCIR GM Mike Jones. I don't think Mike liked me burning holes in his bleach box area.
funny car and pro stock. Leal was just edged out by Bill Jenkins in the final of the PRA race.
and was a West Coast mainstay for the pro stock class. Leal, Landy and Bagshaw were the big three pro stock racers and all three raced Mopar.
Leal raced NHRA, AHRA and IHRA national events and won his share of each sanctioning body's events.
Both Butch and Ronnie Sox came up the door slammer ranks and were two of the best to drive in the pro stock class.
these rides so he went golfing until Gil Kirk called him to drive for his national team.
the team's pro stock Pontiac Firebird. A string of runner-ups at NHRA national events and then Butch broke his sting with a win at the NHRA Southern Nationals in 1985. After a few more national event victories in 1986, Butch went golfing for good, calling it a career in drag racing.
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