CONCORD, N.C. – While fans of the Bojangles’ Summer Shootout may be very familiar with the black and yellow No. 48 Legends car that Ladyga Motorsports has made famous over the years, they’re likely less knowledgeable about its new driver this season.

Derek Lemke, a 24-year-old Minnesota native who calls the three-eighths-mile Elko Speedway his home track, was tabbed by owners Tim and Cheryl Ladyga to fill the seat of the iconic car this summer for the 10-race series at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Lemke didn’t take long to get up to speed, either. He picked up his first Shootout victory on June 19 and currently sits second in points, just five behind championship leader Sam Mayer, after four races.

The young gun relocated from his home state to the East Coast in support of the racing career of girlfriend and ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards regular Natalie Decker, but that move ultimately opened some doors for his own program as well.

“I think it was just good timing,” said Lemke of the opportunity to join Ladyga Motorsports. “I moved down here to support Natalie with her ARCA career and things fell in place to where we got the discussions going and the right pieces all came together. I’m extremely thankful to Tim and Cheryl for taking a chance on putting me in their car and glad we’ve already found some success together. I’m hopeful there’s more to come as the summer rolls on.”

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Lemke has developed into a championship contender in a hurry, despite being a relative unknown in the heart of NASCAR country.

He is the four-time reigning Great North Legends division champion at Elko, winning every points title from 2014 through 2017 and only giving up his pursuit of a fifth championship this year due to his move south.

“It was a lot of fun,” Lemke said of his championship streak. “We enjoyed it and had some great battles over the last several years. The competition at the Shootout is so intense, though. When you get here, you have to be hammer down all the time in order to be successful.”

Lemke noted that the flat quarter-mile at Charlotte takes a much different driving style than the style he groomed during his years racing at Elko.

“At Elko, I got into the corner, I’m hitting the chip and I use no brakes. Here, I’m driving it into the corner onto the chip and I’m trying to stop the car so it’ll turn,” noted Lemke. “It’s really line sensitive here … Elko’s a little more forgiving when it comes to the lines and where you run, but everyone at Ladyga Motorsports has helped build up my consistency a lot and I think I’m picking up the tools that you need to be successful here on a more regular basis.”

One thing Lemke had never done before coming to Charlotte was race in the rain, but he’s now done so twice in the first four races of the season.

While his run on opening night – an eighth-place finish – wasn’t anything to write home about, Lemke took his notes from that effort and turned them into a runner-up result behind Mayer on Tuesday night.

“I’m still just getting used to the rain racing here (at Charlotte),” noted Lemke. “The most I’ve been on a wet race track has been drying the track when I’ve run at Elko Speedway in the past. I’m still getting the hang of all that … we were sliding around a bit tonight, but everyone at Ladyga Motorsports is helping me learn and I feel like I’m picking it up a lot quicker now than I was on opening night.

“In round one, I felt like I got thrown to the wolves a bit, to be honest with you. I made a rookie mistake then, went to the bottom and got out of the dry stuff and it killed our run there. This time I just stayed in the dry, kept the car on the track and brought home a solid finish. We’ll get it figured out eventually.”

Lemke’s predecessor, second-generation driver Austin Green, graduated out of the Ladgya team at the end of last season and moved into late models after finishing as the runner-up in Pro division points at the Shootout.

Other past racers for the team include NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver Austin Hill and dirt late model racer Carson Ferguson.

However, the most prolific driver in the history of Ladyga Motorsports is NASCAR Xfinity Series regular Daniel Hemric, who won back-to-back Pro division titles in the No. 48 in 2013 and 2014.

With a win under his belt and the championship belt in reach near the summer’s halfway point, Lemke is hopeful of becoming the next driver to use a stint driving for the Ladygas to propel his career forward.

“It’s almost surreal, honestly, that I’ve been able to come down here and run as well as I have right out of the gate. The Ladygas bring me an amazing car to drive and I expect nothing less than us being able to contend for victory every night.

“When you drive the same stuff that Daniel Hemric drove to the Pro wins record and three championships here (at Charlotte), you know it’s capable and I want to keep proving that we can win every time we hit the race track.”