The Round 9 racing on Tuesday night at the Cook Out Summer Shootout was some of the best racing of the year at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Familiar faces parked their Legend Cars and Bandoleros in victory lane, aside from Tuggie Case, who won the Beginner Bandolero Division race for the first time this summer.
“High Side Alison” struck again in the Bojangles Outlaws feature. A quick yellow on Lap 2 was the first-time drivers had the opportunity to choose which line they restarted in, and Alison Johnson picked the outside line to start on the front row. A quick yellow struck again for a slow car on the back stretch, after Jayden Johnson had firmly taken the lead and Alison was left to battle Brian Rundstrom and Ben Morabito three-wide.
For the second time, it was Johnson vs. Johnson on the front row for the Lap 3 restart. Jayden prevailed and as Alison battled Rundstrom, he got loose causing her to react to avoid a collision. Jayden was far ahead by the time Alison found her way around Rundstrom. Alison wasn’t able to cut down her deficit to Jayden, until she got help from a caution on Lap 7. A spinner reset the field once again for a double-file restart.
Both Johnsons fired off well but an immediate caution came out when Ben Morabito was pinched into the outside wall on the back stretch as he raced Killian McMann. Morabito’s race was over and his points lead taking a major hit. The restart saw Alison get he best restart on Jayden yet as they battled on the Lap 8 restart. As the field cross the line to take Lap 9, Alison arced her Bandolero into turn one on the high side very deep and prevailed off turn two, taking the lead from Jayden. One lap later Jayden suffered an issue and fell back in the field. Alison would drive off twice, as she had to fend of the field for one more restart before taking home her fourth Bojangles Outlaws feature victory of the Cook Out Summer Shootout. She now sits eight points behind Morabito in the championship.
Kevin Foisy returned to the Cook Out Summer Shootout Old Armor Beer Co Masters Division after a crash in Round 3 and gave Lee Jordan everything he could to grab the victory. But Jordan was just good enough to hold off Foisy, and Foisy showed Jordan respect. Their bumpers clashed several times, but Jordan never folded. Striking distance between the two was always in Foisy’s favor, but the pair were separated from third place for the majority of the race.
Josh Mullins, Carl Cormier, and Dwayne Holder battled for third the first 10 laps of the race before Mullins prevailed. However, he wasn’t able to ever close in on the leaders. Foisy wasn’t able to find a way around Jordan by the time the checkered flag flew. He settled for second with Mullins in third, and Jordan’s victory chipped away at Mark Green’s championship lead, but has a lot of work to do in the final round.
The UNC-Charlotte Young Lions race went the full distance for the first time on Tuesday. A race that saw Max Reaves lead from the drop of the green flag until he saw the checkered flag. The race still had a handful of caution that Reaves had to negotiate and defend his control.
Points leader Jackson Denton struggled, finishing eighth, but second place in points, Nathan Lyons, wasn’t able to take advantage of his misfortune. He finished seventh, gaining only one point on Denton. They are now separated by 13 points.
Reaves won for the second time this summer, with Ryan Zima finishing second and Keelan Harvick finishing third, his first podium in the Summer Shootout.
Alex McCollum won his third Cook Out Summer Shootout Boston Reid & CO Pro Division feature this summer, extending his points lead to 31 over Cameron Bolin. Control of the race was contested early as Joel Smith took the lead from Ethan Norfleet on the first lap but after a Lap 2 restart, Norfleet took the lead back after Smith slid high in turn four, bringing Jadyn Daniels with him.
With 14 laps to go, Daniels gave Norfleet a shove through the middle of turns one and two, pushing him high. She took the lead as at the same time, McCollum moved third place Justice Calabro up, taking third for himself. Jake Bollman had made his way up to sixth after starting at the rear of the field, but his progress was squashed with 12 laps to go. Smith had bumped Bollman, sending him around in turn three.
When the race resumed on Lap 14, Daniels slid high in turn two, allowing McCollum to move to her inside and take the lead. McCollum wasn’t challenged and drove off to victory, with Garrett Gumm taking second and Daniels settling for third.
The Round 9 Bandits Division feature looked to be all Colt Johnson, as Wyatt Coffey wasn’t able to find a clean way around the black and green Bandolero. After a quick yellow on Lap 2, the race went green and stayed green until a caution on Lap 18. Coffey was finally able to find his way around Johnson, aided by Johnson sliding high in turn three on Lap 12. The pass was completed the following lap. After the Lap 18 restart, Coffey was able to scoot away from the field, capturing his second straight win.
Going into Round 9, Jack Smith was the points leader. However, he wasn’t able to start the race, and with LaQuan McCoy finishing second, McCoy took control of the points lead. He leads Smith by eight points and Johnson by nine points.
It took 17 laps for the first caution to fly during the Round 9 VP Racing Fuels Semi-Pro and it erased George Phillips’ lead over Parker Traves. Phillips had bobbled on the first lap, handing the lead to Traves after the pair raced side-by-side. Brody Gunter took second from Phillips but Phillips didn’t lay down and quickly reclaimed the position.
Phillips passed Traves off turn four on Lap 6 and set sail. Rocketing into turn one on the Lap 17 restart, Phillips was all but alone as Jesse Martinez moved into second ahead of Traves. Phillips went on to win his fourth VP Racing Fuels Semi-Pro win of the summer with Martinez in second and Traves held onto third over Gunter. Phillips holds a 58-point lead over Lucas Vera.
In the Beginner Bandolero race, Tuggie Case muscled his way to his first win of the summer over John Kimler and Cullen Hutchison.
The 10th and final round of the 2023 Cook Out Summer Shootout is on Tuesday, August 1 with gates and qualifying beginning at 5pm ET. An autograph session and championship ceremony will take place directly after the final feature event. Coverage on FloRacing will begin at 5pm ET.
BOSTON REID & CO PRO DIVISION
ROUND 9 FEATURE (25 Laps): 1. 1-Alex McCollum[1]; 2. 5-Garrett Gumm[7]; 3. 24D-Jadyn Daniels[4]; 4. 67-Cameron Bolin[6]; 5. 72-Nick Woodall[11]; 6. 91-Justice Calabro[2]; 7. 32-Jensen Jorgensen[9]; 8. 71-Jake Bollman[16]; 9. 56-Ethan Norfleet[5]; 10. 28-Carson Brown[10]; 11. 5X-George Tomko[17]; 12. 24-Joel Smith[3]; 13. 45-Jacob Bradley[12]; 14. 08-Nicholas Sowa[14]; 15. 28M-Ronnie Milroy[13]; 16. 84-Austin Thompson[8]; 17. 22-Nate Tretow[15]
OLD ARMOR BEER CO. MASTERS DIVISION
ROUND 9 FEATURE (25 Laps): 1. 81-Lee Jordan[2]; 2. 57-Kevin Foisy[4]; 3. 21M-Josh Mullins[1]; 4. 58-Carl Cormier[5]; 5. 20-Mark Green[6]; 6. 22-Dwayne Holder[3]; 7. 27-Thomas Sherman[8]; 8. 5-Brandin Wrisley[7]; 9. 08-Steve Gareau[9]; 10. 68-Dean Bonessi[11]; 11. 57H-Scott Heintz[10]; 12. 51-Bruce Silver[12]; 13. 28-Charles Parker[13]; 14. 5A-Clayton Austin[14]; 15. 11-Rich Kuty[15]; 16. (DNS) 5M-Brandon Mckenzie
VP RACING FUELS SEMI-PRO DIVISION
ROUND 9 A FEATURE (25 Laps): 1. 55-George Phillips[1]; 2. 5X-Jesse Martinez[5]; 3. 60-Parker Traves[2]; 4. 01-Brody Gunter[3]; 5. 8T-Trevor Wester[10]; 6. 17-Mason Lastra[6]; 7. 27-Austin McDonald[11]; 8. 9-Michael Crafton[12]; 9. 64-Lucas Vera[13]; 10. 98-Sean McElearney[8]; 11. 9V-Chase VanHouten[18]; 12. 84-Eloy Falcon[15]; 13. 35-Preston Wrisley[9]; 14. 88-Rodrigo De Colombres[19]; 15. 11-Will Geer[14]; 16. 9W-Sterling Wrisley[22]; 17. 99Y-Connor Yonchuk[17]; 18. 22-Randy Phillips[20]; 19. 19-Adam Congrove[16]; 20. 49-Carson Poindexter[7]; 21. 42-Alex Reling[21]; 22. 87-Dominic Chisholm[4]
Round 9 B Feature (15 Laps): 1. 42-Alex Reling[6]; 2. 9W-Sterling Wrisley[1]; 3. 02-Zachary Mertes[2]; 4. 40-Erick Zuniga[5]; 5. 25-Nate Morris[3]; 6. 75-Makenna Crocker[12]; 7. 007-David Sullivan IV[11]; 8. 21-Mitch Wright[7]; 9. 9B-Michael Bradshaw[10]; 10. 63-Titan Mauldin[15]; 11. 22P-Jordan Plummer[14]; 12. 38-Cameron White[4]; 13. 74-Jacob Linc[9]; 14. 11D-Dustin Hillenburg[16]; 15. 8-Lance Griffith[13]; 16. 60F-Dylan Faulkner[8]
UNC-CHARLOTTE YOUNG LIONS
ROUND 9 A FEATURE (25 Laps): 1. 88-Max Reaves[4]; 2. 4Z-Ryan Zima[7]; 3. 62-Keelan Harvick[1]; 4. 95-London McKenzie[14]; 5. 79-Neal Dulin[12]; 6. 44-Bobby Gossett[2]; 7. 21-Nathan Lyons[6]; 8. 124-Jackson Denton[3]; 9. 4-Jake Locklear[20]; 10. 19-Kaeden Ballos[10]; 11. 97-Isaac Kitzmiller[17]; 12. 01-Caleb Johnson[13]; 13. 87-Hayden Wise[9]; 14. 78-Gracie Crocker[16]; 15. 7K-Cassidy Keitt[19]; 16. 23-Beckham Malone[18]; 17. 48-Jayden Wagner[15]; 18. 81-Hunter Jordan[11]; 19. 7-Kai Johnson[8]; 20. 99-Spencer Bradshaw[5]
Round 9 B Feature (15 Laps): 1. 7K-Cassidy Keitt[1]; 2. 4-Jake Locklear[3]; 3. 40-Dillon Thomas[4]; 4. 24-Rodney Dowless[2]; 5. 66-Katie Yonchuk[5]; 6. 9-Mavrick Page[6]
BOJANGLES OUTLAWS DIVISION
ROUND 9 FEATURE (20 Laps): 1. 15-Alison Johnson[1]; 2. 2-Killian McMann[10]; 3. 9-TJ Moon[7]; 4. 38-Emma Britt[11]; 5. 5H-Hunter Morgan[9]; 6. 16-Finn Buckley[6]; 7. 6-Bobby Mares[15]; 8. 12-Eli Russell[17]; 9. 55-Mardy Roberts III[12]; 10. 77-Ellie Gossett[4]; 11. 8-Jayden Johnson[3]; 12. 88-Brian Rundstrom[2]; 13. 35-Owen Zacharias[8]; 14. 1-Cole Gudmestad[16]; 15. 5-Jeffrey Beck[13]; 16. 21-Sarah Whitesell[21]; 17. 41-Mandi Lee[20]; 18. 000-Lincoln Johnson[14]; 19. M00-Lily Impellizzeri[19]; 20. 17-Ben Morabito[5]; 21. 28-Joshua Shine[18]
BANDITS DIVISION
ROUND 9 FEATURE (20 Laps): 1. 2-Wyatt Coffey[1]; 2. 26-Laquan McCoy[4]; 3. 24-Colt Johnson[2]; 4. 46-Lane Christensen[12]; 5. 18-Matthew Laprade[5]; 6. 7-Harley Johnson[10]; 7. 80-Bryson Nichols[3]; 8. 38-Billy Lee[8]; 9. 37-Carson Cauble[7]; 10. T2-Camden Truett[11]; 11. 21-Mason Roberts[9]; 12. (DNS) 9-Jack Smith
BEGINNER BANDOLERO DIVISION
ROUND 9 FEATURE (15 Laps): 1. 1VA-Hendrick Case[7]; 2. 10-John Gauge Kimler[6]; 3. 10C-Cullen Hutchison[4]; 4. 8X-Addison Martinez[2]; 5. 38W-Gerald White III[3]; 6. 33-Roman Petrino[1]; 7. 15-Rhylee Hutchins[8]; 8. 4-Kevin Stiene[10]; 9. 05-Charlee Hutchins[9]; 10. 8-Jakob Peterson[11]; 11. 19-Ava Grace Tobias[12]; 12. 5-Corbin Cannon[5]