Todd Midas went from third to first in a single circuit in Masters action, passing two cars on lap two and holding off a determined charge by Johnny Sossoman in the closing stages to capture his third-career Shootout win.
“When I saw Johnny getting close in my rear-view mirror, I knew I had to put the pedal to the metal,” Midas said. “He was coming, and he was coming fast, but I made a couple good turns and was able to hold him off. Thank God I was able to get in the front early, because that really helped me.”
“For only doing this for two and a half, three years … I’m excited. This is another big moment for us as a team and hopefully we can do it again tomorrow.”
Carl Cormier, defending champion Robbie Faggart and Bruce Silver rounded out the top five.
Gracie Trotter survived a war of attrition in the Young Lions class, topping a wreck-filled feature that was shortened from 20 laps to just five due to the time limit and becoming the first female race winner in the 11-year history of the class at the Summer Shootout.
“This feels really good,” Trotter smiled. “I wish we had been able to run more than five laps green flag tonight, because it would have been a lot more exciting, but a win’s a win and this one has definitely been a long time coming. We’ll take it and try to get another one in round two!”
Wisconsin young gun Sam Mayer finished second, ahead of Florida’s Nick Sanchez and locals Josh Kossek and D.J. Canipe.
In Bandolero action, a caution-filled Outlaws division feature saw the time limit reached in the second half of the 20-lap main event, with the stalled car of Ethan Johnson forcing a yellow-checkered with three circuits remaining.
Though the leaders were just crossing the stripe, with Cameron Bolin edging out Isaak Love for the top spot, official scoring reverted to the last fully-completed lap, handing Love his long-awaited first-ever Shootout victory.
“Man, it was hard to hold off Cameron,” Love admitted. “We were tit for tat the whole race, and we didn’t come to practice, so I knew we were going to have some work to do just to get here. We were very lucky … it’s just really good, after last year barely being able to crack the top five. It’s an amazing feeling; I can’t believe it.”
Bolin was scored second, ahead of Justin Gareis, Tommy Good and Trevor Wester.
Championship favorite Matt Emery was involved in a messy, opening-lap crash in the middle of the pack that knocked him out of the race before he could ever get going. Emery was credited with last among the 27 entries.
Parker Eatmon was in the right place at the right time to knock down his third-career Shootout win and first in the Bandits division, taking the lead with five laps to go after contact between Landon Rapp and Leland Honeyman as that duo was fighting for the top spot.
“Leland got into Landon and that was what I needed … to be able to get to second,” Eatmon explained. “I saw the flagman wave five to go and I knew I had to make my move. This is so cool, to finally have my first Bandits win at the Shootout! It’s a great feeling.”
Rapp, Conner Jones, Honeyman and Kade Brown completed the top five.
Carson Ramsey put on a clinic in the Beginner Bandolero class, beating second-place Emily Hedstrom by more than 10 seconds at the checkered flag for his first-ever Shootout win.
The 24th annual Bojangles’ Summer Shootout Series continues with Legends car and Bandolero racing in seven classes, as well as the annual Principals’ School Bus Race, on Tuesday night, June 13.
Full race results and audio will be available shortly…
