On Sunday, Butchie Irwin put on a performance en route to a win in the 602 sportsman class at Utica-Rome Speedway in New York. Afterward, he played the air guitar in victory lane for cheering fans. Just a decade ago, Irwin was far removed from racing.
After earning 80-plus feature wins and five track championships, he stepped away from the sport in 2009. Irwin wanted to raise a family and start his own dairy farm. In 2021, racing came knocking on his door when Glen Ridge Motorsports Park inducted Irwin into its hall of fame. Then, Mitchell Poole, the son of one of Irwin’s former sponsors, offered Irwin a ride in his car. Irwin accepted and won the track championship in 2021.
“That induction lit a spark within me,” Irwin said. “I agreed to drive Mitchell’s car in a limited amount of racing. Then the old band was calling to say let’s get back together. We all just wanted to have fun. So, I restarted our team in 2022.”
The old band, being former crew members, invested in creating BMG Racing and bought a sportsman modified. While Irwin and Poole go by their regular names, the crew uses more colorful names, such as Blockhead, Higgy Bottoms, Guitar Man, Muscles, Dr. Knowledge, Jay, and Bubby. Their history together dates back to 1993.
“This all started with loud rock-and-roll music always being on at the shop,” said Irwin. “Some of us think we are singers, guitar players, drummers, or writers who make up words to songs.”
To keep the band in line, Jen Burega serves as the team’s manager.
“Jen handles all the social media, emails, sponsorship proposals, [and] organizes and schedules the band,” Irwin said. “Most of all, she adds humor to the band.”
BMG Racing bases its operation out of Climax, New York. Irwin quickly added that Climax is between Coxsackie and Surprise. They now have three cars, with plans to race Fonda Speedway, the Short Track Super Series, Thunder on the Thruway series, and Brookfield Speedway.
“We’re not getting any younger,” said Butchie Irwin. “I’m 50 and see myself as being 18. I have the drive, but not the stamina. Most of us in the band are 50 to 60 years old.
“We’re in good shape — it’s now or never. We have to be running all the time. [The busy schedule] will keep our head in the game, keep us physically fit, help with focus — and keep the band in tune.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
