CONCORD, N.C. – Justin Gareis is already in elite company, having won the past six Bandolero Outlaw features in Bojangles’ Summer Shootout competition at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
When he takes to the track’s frontstretch quarter-mile for Tuesday night’s third round of the 10-race summer series featuring Legends cars and Bandoleros, Gareis will be looking to join an even more exclusive fraternity.
Should he win again in the class for Bandolero drivers 12 years of age and older, Gareis will become just the fifth Bandolero driver in Shootout history to score seven straight victories, joining the likes of Nicholas Pope (2003), Austin Green (2012), Chandler Smith (2014) and Daniel Wilk (2015).
What’s notable about that statistic? If Gareis accomplishes the feat, he’ll be the first driver in the Outlaws division to ever win seven races in a row.
Pope’s streak of eight consecutive victories was achieved in the now-defunct Young Guns division, while Green, Smith and Wilk each accomplished their streaks in the Bandits class.
Originally from Buffalo, N.Y. and now living in Indian Trail, N.C., Gareis tied the 16-year-old class record of six straight wins – set by Scott Knox in 2002 – when he won last Tuesday. His undefeated stretch dates all the way back to round seven of last summer’s Shootout.
It’s a run that has Gareis grateful for the opportunities he’s already had in his No. 53 CAMCO Landscaping entry, as well as excited about the chances that are still to come.
“When we got to Charlotte last summer, all I wanted was to leave the place with one trophy. I never dreamed of winning six times here, much less to do it all in a row,” said Gareis, who was less than a year old when Knox set the record initially. “I still can’t believe what we’ve done, to be honest with you. At this time a year ago, I had one Bandolero win that was pure luck, and now here we are a year later talking about records at the Shootout.
“All of the success we’ve had so far is just an amazing blessing and I’m so proud of everyone on our team for the work they’ve put in up to this point. We just want to keep it going now.”
What made Gareis’ sweep of the opening week’s doubleheader last Monday and Tuesday even more impressive was the fact that he battled a high fever in the days leading up to the action at Charlotte.
With readings as high as 104 degrees Sunday night into Monday morning, Gareis admitted there were times even on race day that he wasn’t sure if he would be able to compete at all.
“Sunday night, I just wasn’t feeling well and barely got four hours of sleep from the temperature,” Gareis recalled. “I was sort of out of it the first part of the day, but I just kept taking in fluids and the car was on rails to the point that it was almost effortless to drive. I thought I was going to be in a hospital be rather than behind the wheel when I woke up Monday morning, but I pulled it together and everything worked out after that.”
Gareis circled the sixth race of the 2017 Shootout, when he led the first 18 laps before being passed by Cameron Bolin coming to the white flag, as the turning point to his current run of success.
“That was a devastating loss, leading the whole race like we did only to lose it just before the last lap,” noted Gareis. “It made me bring some extra motivation to the following week … and I think it made me a better driver, as well. Once we won the first one, it showed me that I can do this and gave me a lot more confidence in my abilities going forward.”
Though he does have his sights set on a piece of Summer Shootout history, Gareis’ eyes are also set on a much bigger prize: the championship belt that eluded him one summer ago.
Despite closing his Shootout last year with four straight wins, Gareis lost the title to Bolin by six points.
This time around, he’s determined to seal the deal.
“At this point, I feel like it would be a bit disappointing if we can’t bring a Shootout championship home,” admitted Gareis. “We have the speed to keep winning races and I want to deliver that to the team. If we can win a few more races for national points, and we brought home the national title, it would lessen the sting if we miss out on winning the Shootout crown.
“We’re not worried about points right now, though,” he added. “We’re just taking things one race at a time and working on getting even faster.”
