The 28th INEX Bandolero Nationals is this weekend, September 12-13, at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Saturday's Bandolero Nationals Championship Features will help decide 2025's Bandolero Bandits and Outlaws INEX National Champions. Coverage of Saturday's championship features begins at 3pm ET/12pm PT on US Legend Cars TV. Landon Thrasher (Outlaws) and Brexton Busch (Bandits) lead the points, but who are the drivers to watch behind them in the points?
*Points as of September 7, 2025
Landon Thrasher – Outlaws – 1st – 1900 Points
State: Tennessee
Starts: 34
Wins: 25
Top 5s: 31
Tracks: Auburndale Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, EchoPark Speedway, Huntsville Speedway, Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway and Veterans Motorplex at the Rim
1. What do you believe is your biggest accomplishment from this season so far?
My biggest accomplishment so far this season in the Bando would be winning the Winter Nationals Championship with 3 wins and the Cookout Summer Shootout Championship with 7 wins in the same season.
2. What do you believe will be your biggest challenge at Bandolero Nationals?
My biggest challenge for Bando Nationals will be keeping my nose clean during qualifying to hopefully start up front as well as staying in front of the competition in the race. The field is full of great drivers that are fast. We are all so close in lap times. It’s going to be a close race for sure.
3. How do you believe you have grown as a driver this season?
I have grown as a driver over all by honing my skills having to drive the Bando and the Legend. It has taught me when to be patient and when to take that spot. Doing double duty keeps me focused all race day. Watching tapes, watching other drivers, and figuring out the limits for the cars as well as myself.
4. You found continuous success at Charlotte Motor Speedway during this year’s Cook Out Summer Shootout, however, Nationals pose new challenges and risks. How do you believe the Summer Shootout best prepared you for the Nationals competition?
I was able to get a lot more laps and be able to see what worked and what didn’t. The weather plays a big part in how the track drives. The field for the Shootout was big every race and filled with drivers that will also be at Nationals. The invert put us starting 5th or 6th most starts. This definitely prepared me for starts and restarts on the outside. I feel like I am mentally more prepared than in the past National events. This is by far the biggest race of my career and you can never be over prepared. No matter the outcome, I have accomplished things this season I could only dream of till now.
Carson Sherman – Outlaws – 2nd – 1876 Points
State: Georgia
Starts: 40
Wins: 16
Top 5s: 34
Tracks: Charlotte Motor Speedway, Cordele Motor Speedway, EchoPark Speedway, Hickory Motor Speedway, Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, Veterans Motorplex at the Rim and Wake County Speedway
1. What do you believe is your biggest accomplishment from this season?
Winning the Thursday Thunder Championship and 2 Summer Shootout races are my biggest accomplishments of my career.
2. What do you believe will be your biggest challenge at Bandolero Nationals?
Being consistent and running my best lap, every lap, because the best of the best will be there.
3. How do you believe you have grown as a driver this season?
I have worked hard at being consistent this season. Trying to make every lap the fastest I can. Being able to do that has helped me become more confident in myself as a driver.
4. You were the Outlaws Division Champion at EchoPark Speedway’s Thursday Thunder. How did your success down in Atlanta best prepare you for Nationals and what are the different challenges between the two tracks?
Both tracks are a lot alike, but you drive them both differently with the lines and other things. Charlotte has wider turns, while Atlanta is faster. Being able to be very competitive and run strong at both tracks and picking up wins at both tracks helps give me a lot of confidence for Nationals next month. I’m super excited to race at Charlotte again and go and try to win both races would be a very big accomplishment for me and to have a chance at the national championship. I’ve got to give a huge thank you to Mike Gordon and my dad for helping me at both tracks all summer long and always believing in me
Landon Burbage – Outlaws – 3rd – 1858 Points
State: North Carolina
Starts: 33
Wins: 10
Top 5s: 24
Tracks: Auburndale Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Dominion Speedway, Florence Motor Speedway, Langley Speedway, Southern National Motorsports Park and Wake County Speedway
Rylan Speight – Outlaws – 4th – 1840 Points
State: North Carolina
Starts: 39
Wins: 7
Top 5s: 28
Tracks: Auburndale Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Dominion Raceway, EchoPark Speedway, Florence Motor Speedway, Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, Southern National Motorsports Park, Veterans Motorplex at the Rim and Wake County Speedway
1. What do you believe is your biggest accomplishment from this season so far?
I’d say biggest accomplishment would be 3 road course wins at Dominion Speedway! I like the technical aspect of road courses.
2. What do you believe will be your biggest challenge at Bandolero Nationals?
The biggest challenge would be having good qualifying to run clean up front.
3. How do you believe you have grown as a driver this season?
I've definitely grown more developing race craft running INEX events on the quarter-mile.
4. You were able to get a lot of experience at Charlotte Motor Speedway through the Cook Out Summer Shootout. How do you believe that repetition on the track every week has helped you prepare for Nationals?
Definitely being able to utilize all 10 practices and races. Gives you a feel for the transition to the front stretch and also learning to run the outside which most cannot.
Bentley Thompson – Outlaws – 5th – 1818 Points
State: Wisconsin
Starts: 31
Wins: 7
Top 5s: 23
Tracks: Auburndale Speedway, Dells Raceway Park, Golden Sands Speedway, Jefferson Speedway, Madison International Speedway, Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, Slinger Super Speedway, Tomah-Sparta Speedway and Veterans Motorplex at the Rim
1. What do you believe is your biggest accomplishment from this season so far?
This was my first time at Auburndale Speedway in Florida for the Winter Showdown Series and Winter Nationals. I was able to pull off a win with an aggressive move on the final lap/final corner coming to the checkers. That was a race I will never forget.
2. What do you believe will be your biggest challenge at Bandolero Nationals?
My biggest challenge will be racing against one of my best bando buddies Landon Thrasher… and beating him.
3. How do you believe you have grown as a driver this season?
I believe I have grown as a driver this year by having some of the best competition in the nation on a weekly basis in Wisconsin. We have some of the highest car count in the country when it comes to bandos and we invert every race. Competition is getting stronger every year and I enjoy the challenge of having to drive from the back to the front. Looking forward to what next season brings!
4. While you have traveled to a variety of tracks, you have not been able to race at Charlotte Motor Speedway this year. What track do you believe has best prepared you for Nationals at Charlotte Motor Speedway?
I believe Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway has prepped me for Charlotte due to the similar flatness and similar national type event (Spring Series). I was able to get to Charlotte the last two years with decent finishes, so I will take what I learned from then and apply to this year.
Brexton Busch – Bandits – 1st – 1894 Points
State: North Carolina
Starts: 27
Wins: 18
Top 5s: 24
Tracks: Auburndale Speedway, Caraway Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, EchoPark Speedway, Florence Motor Speedway, Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, Veterans Motorplex at the Rim and Wake County Speedway
James Behnke – Bandits – 2nd – 1888 Points
State: Georgia
Starts: 36
Wins: 15
Top 5s: 31
Tracks: Auburndale Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Cordele Motor Speedway, EchoPark Speedway, and Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway
1. What do you believe is your biggest accomplishment from this season so far?
My biggest accomplishments so far this season, have been winning Thursday Thunder and being one of the top Bandit drivers in the Nation
2. What do you believe will be your biggest challenge at Bandolero Nationals?
My biggest challenge will be getting a good qualifying time to do well in the main event.
3. How do you believe you have grown as a driver this season?
I've learned how to do well at a lot of new tracks and have won more races.
4. As the Thursday Thunder champion in the Bandits division, what are the major differences between EchoPark Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway? How can you use your success at EchoPark to help you at Nationals?
The main thing that's different about Charlotte is that it has longer straightaways in sharper turns so it makes it a lot harder than Atlanta. It's helped me so I can get more track time and learn all sorts of types of racecraft.
Evan Johnson – Bandits – 3rd – 1855 Points
State: Mississippi
Starts: 32
Wins: 8
Top 5s: 28
Tracks: Auburndale Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, EchoPark Speedway and Sunny South Raceway
1. What do you believe is your biggest accomplishment from this season so far?
I would say my biggest accomplishment this season was going to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the first time and pulling off three top-5 finishes. It usually takes me a little while to get used to a new track, but Charlotte seemed to click for me right away.
2. What do you believe will be your biggest challenge at Bandolero Nationals?
I think my biggest challenge will be that I haven’t raced at Charlotte since the end of June, while some of my competitors have had more opportunities there. That means they might be a little more dialed in, and the competition will be really tough because we all want to finish the season strong.
3. How do you believe you have grown as a driver this season?
I’ve definitely grown in confidence this season. I feel more comfortable in my Bandolero, and I’ve learned how to adapt to a lot of different tracks. That’s helped me become a stronger and smarter driver.
4. While you have raced at Charlotte Motor Speedway four times this year, you have had a lot more experience and success at Sunny South Raceway. How do you believe the two tracks compare and how do you think Sunny South Raceway helped prepare you for Nationals in Charlotte?
The two tracks are really different. Sunny South Raceway is a banked track where you hardly have to use the brakes, but Charlotte is flat and requires a lot more braking and precision. Even though they’re different, the seat time at Sunny South has been really valuable. Just being behind the wheel and racing there has helped me get sharper and more prepared for Nationals at Charlotte.
Wesley Baumeister – Bandits – 4th – 1834 Points
State: Wisconsin
Starts: 28
Wins: 9
Top 5s: 25
Tracks: Auburndale Speedway, Dells Raceway Park, Golden Sands Speedway Jefferson Speedway, Madison International Speedway, Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, Tomah-Sparta Speedway and Veterans Motorplex at the Rim
Christopher Flynn – Bandits – 5th – 1825 Points
State: Minnesota
Starts: 39
Wins: 13
Top 5s: 25
Tracks: Auburndale Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Dells Raceway Park, Elko Speedway, Golden Sands Speedway, Jefferson Speedway, Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, Slinger Super Speedway, Tomah-Sparta Speedway and Veterans Motorplex at the Rim