CONCORD, N.C. — Audio, Recap and Photo by Jacob Seelman for Speed77 Radio and Race Chaser Online — Dillon Faggart went into survival mode with about ten laps remaining in Monday night’s Semi-Pro division feature for the season-opening round of the 21st Annual Jack in the Box Summer Shootout Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

As it turns out, that was enough.

Faggart held on despite a motor that was “flat blowing up” over the final few circuits to claim his first-ever victory at Charlotte and his first-ever victory in the Semi-Pro class as well.

“This is unbelievable right now,” a breathless Faggart said in Victory Lane. “I don’t even know how we did it because of that,” Faggart added as he gestured to his car behind him, which was pouring smoke out from underneath the hood as it rolled to tech. “It started going away about lap 20, and I was just thinking, please hang on a few more laps. I was worried about holding off Riley (Halverson) and Connor (Pyle) there at the end, but somehow we did it. Unreal, I can’t believe we finally did it here at Charlotte.”

Josh Brimecombe started the feature from pole position but quickly ceded the top spot to Faggart on Lap 3. Faggart would begin to gap the field, but Riley Halverson would make a huge charge and power to the lead at Lap 7 before the caution would fly for a crash in Turn 1 involving Collin Jareb to slow the field at Lap 8.

On the restart, Halverson would grab the lead again with Pyle taking second away from Faggart to shuffle the top three up again. However, at halfway, Faggart would begin to make his final charge before a caution at Lap 17 for a spin by Enrique Limon slowed the action and put Faggart right on the back bumper of Halverson for the lead.

Faggart would use up Halverson on the restart and remain glued to the back bumper of the 20 for the next four laps, but a caution for the spinning Grant Winchester would slow the field for the final time at Lap 21. After a wild restart that saw a huge jam-up in the back of the field, Faggart would finally make the move to the inside taking the lead away for good at Lap 24, driving away to claim the win over Pyle after Pyle made a huge move around Halverson with five to go.

Brimecombe, Halverson and Devin O’Connell completed the top five after Halverson spun and kept going coming to the checkers.

In Pro division action, defending and two-time Summer Shootout champion Daniel Hemric continued his domination of the Shootout after he passed polesitter and race-long leader Michael Torres on Lap 15 of the 30-lap feature event and then held off JR Motorsports late model racer William Byron to drive away to victory lane.

Hemric, who started fourth after the pre-race inversion, charged to the inside lane early and snuck around Byron on Lap 3 before driving past Greg Lang on Lap 9 to set up the pass for the win.

The victory was Hemric’s 8th Summer Shootout Pro division win in his last 10 Shootout starts dating back to Round 2 in 2013, his 10th win overall in his last 13 Legends starts and his 21st career Shootout victory, which is most all-time.

“We weren’t perfect today by any means, but we were able to get where we needed to there on the start and it really just worked out for us,” Hemric said of his race. “I’ll tell you what, it wasn’t easy though; William kept us real honest today and he drove a great race. I’m proud to help him out and to race with him; he’s done a great job and he’s gonna do some great things this year. It was fun to race him for the win and I’m grateful to everyone involved that we were able to get one here tonight.”

Behind Hemric and Byron, Lang, Torres and Jordan Black rounded out the top five.

In Young Lions feature action, Carson Ferguson continued Ladyga Motorsports’ hot night by leading wire-to-wire to pick up his fifth career Young Lions division Shootout victory, setting the fastest lap of any driver across all divisions on the night with a blistering circuit of 17.030 seconds during the event. Ferguson, who started third, dove to the bottom in Turn 1 on the opening lap and never looked back.

“This was a pretty fun night; it’s fun to have a fast car that does what we want,” Ferguson laughed with a huge grin in Victory Lane. “The whole attitude for us is so different this year than it was last year; we got taken out in Round 1 and from there we were just racing for wins and not a championship, but this time we’re looking at the big picture too. We’re trying to play the points, but we got a win tonight and that helps the cause a lot!”

Miguel Cesar notched the Bandolero Outlaws win after a caution flag ended the crash-filled race at 14 laps of the scheduled 20 due to the 20 minute time limit, but the scariest moment of the evening was behind him in Turn 1. A multi-car melee involving Justin Taylor, Matthew Davey and Chase Purdy which scraped up several other machines as well saw both Taylor and Purdy take hard hits when they collided into each other at the entrance to the corner.

Both Taylor and Purdy were transported to the hospital for evaluation following the incident, with Taylor complaining of knee pain after the crash. Taylor later confirmed to Race Chaser Online that he was okay, and Purdy was awake and alert when he left the speedway, however no further update on Purdy’s condition is known at this time.

Other winners on the night included defending Shootout champion Tom Pistone (Masters), Chandler Smith (Bandolero Bandits) and Cameron Bolin (Bandolero Beginner Bandits). Bolin won the Beginner Bandits feature over Carson Kvapil in a side-by-side duel to the line by a final margin of 0.041 seconds.

The 21st Annual Jack in the Box Summer Shootout continues Tuesday night, June 10th with the second round of a doubleheader opening week that will again feature racing in all of the Legend Car and Bandolero classes, with the addition of the School Principal School Bus Slobberknocker as the featured event of the night.

RESULTS: 21st Annual Jack in the Box Summer Shootout Series – Round 1; Charlotte Motor Speedway

Legend Car Pro Feature (30 laps): 1. Daniel Hemric; 2. William Byron; 3. Greg Lang; 4. Michael Torres; 5. Jordan Black; 6. Joey Padgett; 7. Steven Cantrell; 8. Kason Plott; 9. Tripp Gerrald; 10. Joe Ryan Osborne; 11. Jared Irvan. 12. Trey Jarrell; 13. Alex Pacheco; 14. Evan Swilling; 15. Zane Smith.

Audio with race winner Daniel Hemric:

Audio with 2nd-place William Byron:

Security Force Legend Car Masters Feature (30 laps): 1. Tom Pistone; 2. John Sossoman; 3. Robby Faggart; 4. Jeff Green; 5. Bruce Silver; 6. Jan Ingram; 7. Shawn Geisel; 8. Chip Ferguson; 9. John Craig; 10. Robbie Woodall; 11. Carl Moberg; 12. Ron Mander; 13. Scott Whitaker.

Audio with race winner Tom Pistone:

Audio with runner-up Johnny Sossoman:

Quaker Steak & Lube Legend Car Semi-Pro Feature (30 laps): 1. Dillon Faggart; 2. Connor Pyle; 3. Josh Brimecombe; 4. Riley Halverson; 5. Devin O’Connell; 6. John Holleman; 7. Austin Langenstein; 8. Tyler Truex; 9. Josh Turner; 10. Craig Biryla; 11. Jake Tretow; 12. Robby Lyons; 13. David Schilling; 14. Josh Stillwell; 15. Collin Jareb; 16. Casey Brown; 17. Grant Winchester; 18. Alex Urbina; 19. Enrique Limon; 20. Sheldon Crouse; 21. Billy Webb; 22. William Cunningham

Audio with race winner Dillon Faggart:

Audio with runner-up Connor Pyle (by Senior Editor Tom Baker):

Legend Car Young Lions Feature (20 laps): 1. Carson Ferguson; 2. Stefan Parsons; 3. Matt Craig; 4. Stevie Johns Jr; 5. Seth Werner; 6. Alex Reece; 7. Woodrow Mullis; 8. Christian Eckes; 9. Alex Murray; 10. Jacob Heafner; 11. Enzo Fittipaldi; 12. Michael Womack; 13. Austin Green; 14. Matt Thomas; 15. Ryan Millington; 16. Scott Joy; 17. Dawson Cram; 18. Cason Werner; 19. Amber Burchette; 20. Walter Thomas.

Audio with race winner Carson Ferguson:

Bandolero Outlaws Feature (14 laps): 1. Miguel Cesar; 2. Ashton Winger; 3. Jensen Jorgenson; 4. Jordan Plummer; 5. Nate Tretow; 6. Austin Powell; 7. Jack Fread; 8. Matthew Davey; 9. Kayla Lyons; 10. Justin Taylor; 11. Chase Purdy; 12. Kamera McDonald; 13. Hanna Bell; 14. Mathew Emery; 15. Trevor Rizzo; 16. Matt Mead; 17. Nick MacMillan; 18. Eric Brown.

Audio with race winner Miguel Cesar:

Audio with 3rd-place Jensen Jorgensen:

LiveWell Homes Bandolero Bandits Feature (13 laps): 1. Chandler Smith; 2. DJ Canipe; 3. Eddie Fatscher; 4. Daniel Wilk; 5. Connor Younginer; 6. Mini Tyrell; 7. William Robusto; 8. Austin Geer; 9. Braydn Mander; 10. Liz Montgomery; 11. Richie Kuty; 12. Brayde Miranda; 13. Mark Durgin Jr; 14. Josh Kossek; 15. Blake Cisneros; 16. Ryan Israel; 17. Ryleigh Lemonds

Audio with race winner Chandler Smith:

Bandolero Beginner Bandits Feature (20 laps): 1. Cameron Bolin; 2. Carson Kvapil; 3. Bryson Ruff; 4. Elijah Todd; 5. Josh Speas; 6. Dylan Notaro; 7. Carson Poindexter; 8. Roy Hayes; 9. Isabella Robusto; 10. Brandon Grants; 11. George Hayes; 12. Tommy Good.

Audio with race winner Cameron Bolin:

Audio with runner-up Carson Kvapil: