A family-friendly Fourth of July spectacle highlighted Tuesday's Bojangles' Summer Shootout action at Charlotte Motor Speedway, as fireworks illuminated the night sky and Legend Cars and Bandoleros rumbled on the frontstretch quarter-mile.
An Independence Day celebration like no other saw the future stars of motorsports take on one another in a midseason night's clash that also featured a driver autograph session and a salute to Bojangles' 40th anniversary.
Two-time defending Lead 2 Real Estate Pro division champion Jordan Black captured his second victory in a row after a fierce battle with fellow title contender Austin Green over the final 10 circuits. Black cleared Green with three laps to go and hung on to bolster his championship hopes against his chief rival in the battle for the division crown.
"We just have so much momentum going into Week 6," Black said. "We had the best car in the race but we were definitely loose off the corner. I'm going to go home, enjoy this one and focus on Week 6 to see if we can go this some more. I didn't think for a while that I was going to get (Green). I can't believe I held him off over those last two laps. I thought he was going to move me."
Robby Faggart lapped half of the field to capture the checkered flag in the Cabarrus Brewing Company Masters division feature. Faggart jumped to the front after starting in the second row and set the pace for the rest of the race. In a dominating performance, Faggart never gave up the lead and was able to stretch it to almost 12 seconds over runner-up Todd Midas at the finish.
"A lot of guys made the wrong decision and put on rain tires," said Faggart, the defending division champion. "We put on dry tires and it made the difference. In the other rain races we've had this year we made the wrong decision, but we got it right tonight."
The K1 Speed Young Lions feature saw Gracie Trotter dominate the first 10 laps before Sam Mayer cleared Trotter on a restart, held off all comers for two laps and sped to the win in a race shortened from 20 laps to 12.
"The outside felt really comfortable in this race car and we were able to pull it off," Mayer said.
In a wild VP Racing Fuels Semi-Pro division finish, Vincent Midas took home the trophy for the first time this season. Hudson Halder jumped to the lead in the beginning stages of the race, but Midas battled his way to the front to challenge him. On a mid-race restart, Midas, Halder, and Scott Joy took it three-wide in a battle for the lead that saw Midas came out on top. In the closing laps, Midas held off the No. 88 of Dustin Rumley to claim the victory.
"(The win is) big to me because I didn't have any bad luck like I did in other races," said Midas after a series of donuts in front of the crowd. "I can't thank everyone enough for helping me get here."
Isaak Love won an abbreviated Bandolero Outlaws feature over Tommy Good, which included a vicious crash involving Brandon Gantz.
Leland Honeyman scored a win in the Bandolero Bandits feature, while Logan Clark fended off Sean Abbel and Adam Eades for the Beginner Bandits victory.
Unofficial Results:
K1 Speed Young Lions (12 laps): 1. Sam Mayer; 2. Ryan Heim; 3. DJ Canipe; 4. Harrison Halder; 5. Gracie Trotter; 6. Clay Thompson; 7. Josh Stark; 8. Liz Montgomery; 9. Daniel Silvestri; 10. Tristan Lesik; 11. Nicholas Sanchez; 12. Steve Chapman; 13. George Hayes; 14. Jak Crawford; 15. Bryson Ruff; 16. Josh Kossek; 17. Roy Hayes; 18. Leland Honeyman; 19. J.R. Weidman; 20. Isabella Robusto; 21. William Robusto; 22. Hunter Johnson; 23. Sammy Smith; 24. Holt Halder.
VP Racing Fuels Semi-Pro (25 laps): 1. Vincent Midas; 2. Dustin Rumley; 3. Zach Miller; 4. Craig Biryla; 5. Ryan Miller; 6. Ryan Demartini; 7. Austin Langenstein; 8. Sam Platt; 9. Jessica Dana; 10. Hudson Halder; 11. Carson Poindexter; 12. Wes Burton; 13. Chris Honeycutt; 14. Joshua Plummer; 15. Waylon Farrell; 16. Scott Joy; 17. Garrett Manes; 18. Andrew Dollar; 19. Cory Butner; 20. Zack Wells.
Lead 2 Real Estate Pro (25 laps): 1. Jordan Black; 2. Austin Green; 3. Kaden Honeycutt; 4. Dawson Cram; 5. Carson Ferguson; 6. Dillon Faggart; 7. Daniel Wilk; 8. Jordan Stillwell; 9. Corey Heim; 10. Brody Pope.
Cabarrus Brewing Company Masters (25 Laps): 1. Robby Faggart; 2. Carl Cormier; 3. Todd Midas; 4. Jon Craig; 5. Todd Shockman; 6. Mark Green; 7. Robby Woodall; 8. Jan Ingram; 9. Bruce Silver; 10. Charles Parker; 11. Joel Carlyle.
Beginner Bandits (20 laps): 1. Logan Clark; 2. Sean Abbel; 3. Adam Eades; 4. Bobby Elder; 5. Sean McElearney; 6. Luke Cooper; 7. Aaron Moody; 8. Daniel Sell; 9. Wyatt Philyaw; 10. Emily Hedstrom; 11. Kaleb Bradley; 12. Olivia Moody.
Bandelero Outlaws (9 laps): 1. Isaak Love; 2. Tommy Good; 3. Justin Gareis; 4. Trevor Wester; 5. Cameron Bolin; 6. Matt Emery; 7. Jadyn Daniels; 8. Cameron Johnson; 9. Luke Akers; 10. Franklin Caricofe; 11. Jordan Plummer; 12. Andrew Faircloth; 13. Ethan Johnson; 14. Brandon Gants; 15. Cameron Murray; 16. Jake Waltman; 17. Johnathan Lesik; 18. Ethan Norfleet; 19. Josh Speas; 20. Ethan Norfleet; 21. Carson Ramsey; 22. Garin Mash; 23. Maddie Hardin; 24. Shileigh Martinez; 25. Garrett Lowe; 26. Tucker Scanlon; 27. Benjamin Johnson; 28. Cole Bruce.
Bandolero Bandits (16 laps): 1. Leland Honeyman; 2. Zack Miracle; 3. Parker Eatmon; 4. Santiago Hill; 5. Tyler Chapman; 6. Zac Fowler; 7. Kenith Henderson; 8. Jaiden Reyna; 9. Landon Rapp; 10. Jason Chapman; 11. Jacob Bradley; 12. Stanley Hayes; 13. Truett Miranda; 14. Kade Brown; 15. Max Hennebaul.
TICKETS:
Tickets, which cost only $8 for adults and are FREE for kids 13 and under, can be purchased at the gate or in advance by calling 800-455-FANS or online at charlottemotorspeedway.com.
KEEP TRACK:
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