Ken sounded like a sour old man, but then he had been in the hospital 51 times in 51 years. Ken was giving an interview in 1979 just prior to opening the Atlantic City Speedway race track again, a chore he had done many times before. At the time, Ken had plastic leg. "You meet more jerks in the business...everyone wants to be a hero." Ken had broken his neck, and even his first wife had died in a car crash.
Ken started with the biplane crash. He would take off near a grandstand, buzz the crowd and smash into a barn. Later, he drove a motorcycle through a wall of hardwood which sheared the handlebars off in his hands. When he stopped rolling on the pavement, he was still holding them. He added stronger bolts and did it again. When Ken would do the bus jump, he would crouch down at the wheel and hold tight for impact. He learned his lesson after once raising his head "to see what it was like." That was the neck break. At the time he gave this interview I am cribbing from, he was a grandfather and 69 years old.
Ken lived 11 more years and to everyone's surprise, passed away from illness, not impact
Ken Butler's Fantastic Bus Jump. Original Publicity Photo signed circa 1970 Collection Jim Linderman
I worked the concession stand in 1970, approximately. I knew Ken Butler and his wife. My husband flagged for the races. I also swept that track every week with a broom.
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