Opening practice is in the books. That means it’s that time of year once again, where America’s Home for Racing plays host to Legend Cars and Bandoleros from across the North America for eight-straight weeks of grassroots racing during the Cook Out Summer Shootout!
The action kicks off at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Monday, June 9, followed by a second round of racing on Tuesday, June 10. Ready to defend his Pro Division Championship from one-year ago, Jake Bollman isn’t planning on changing his mind set for 2025, just because he is now a champion. On top of that, the Pro Division is stacked.
“This will be the best car count [the] Pro Division has had in a long time, and it’s going to make the racing better,” said Bollman.
Twenty-five drivers have registered for Pro this summer. Familiar faces to the division such as Bollman, Daniel Wilk, and Jensen Jorgensen are ready to go for another season. Keelan Harvick, Ryan Zima, and London McKenzie have graduated to Pro after successful runs in the Young Lions and Semi-Pro Divisions.
Bubba Wallace will once again spend his Mondays and Tuesdays at Charlotte Motor Speedway after returning in 2024. While two former Australian Supercars champions and New Zealand-born drivers, Shane van Gisbergen and Scott McLaughlin, make their Legend Car debuts on Monday.
With a healthy mix of new and familiar faces, Bollman still doesn’t intend to change his approach this summer.
“I am going to go out there every week and try to be in victory lane as much as we can as a team,” he said.
McKenzie, who won the 2024 INEX Semi-Pro Asphalt National Championship, is ready for another full season welcomes the new sets of challenges the Pro Division brings. He’s highly motivated and ready to taste victory once again after winning his first ever Summer Shootout victory last season.
“Throughout the first five races of [last] summer, it felt like there was always something preventing me from finding victory lane. After nearly beating my head against a wall for five rounds straight, everything changed. I went on to win four of the final five races and truly learned the lesson of never giving up.”
With names like Gisbergen, McLaughlin, and Wallace in the field, McKenzie would consider it an “honor” to be the driver standing on the stage at the end of the race getting interviewed.
A driver who is no stranger to Charlotte’s quarter-mile, is Neal Dulin. After capturing the 2024 Cook Out Summer Shootout Young Lions Championship in a wild finale, and finishing eighth in the 2024 INEX Young Lions Asphalt National Championship standings, Dulin makes the jump to the Semi-Pro Division for the 2025 season.
Can he double up as a Summer Shootout champ?
“Returning to the Summer Shootout as champion is a huge confidence booster for me,” said Dulin. “It’s not going to be easy to win it back-to-back, but I know it’s possible after beating some of the best Young Lions last year.”
One of the biggest challenges the Semi-Pro Division is the size of the field. Forty plus drivers are going to battle for every week to reach the A Feature, let alone the victory. Dulin knows this and highlights the key to victory will be each rounds Booth 34 DieCast Qualifying session.
“The biggest hurdle for me as a Semi-Pro this season will be to qualify up front every week to avoid all the carnage that will likely happen,” Dulin noted. “I just need to go out there and control what I can control. That’s all you can do with that many drivers on the track.”
Bandoleros will be leading three feature races throughout the summer. Jack Smith has spent the past three season in the Bandits Division and has moved up to the Outlaws Division. With three season of Summer Shootout experience, not only does he enjoy Charlotte but accepts the chaotic challenge it presents.
“I love Charlotte, it’s my favorite track,” Smith said. “But the key word that comes to mind is carnage. Dodging all the wrecks can be challenging especially as the summer goes on and people get more frustrated on track.”
With it being his first season in Outlaws, he doesn’t plan to put tons of pressure on himself. With the drivers in Outlaws being older than those in Bandits, Smith will keep in mind that with age, some drivers won’t play as nice in his new division. Despite the more aggressive field, taking home a first-place trophy will still be Smith’s goal.
“To win a race, which would mean everything to me. That’s really it and what matters most to me. I’d like to finish Top 5 in points but getting a Win is my number one goal.”
With over 190 drivers registered to compete in this year’s Cook Out Summer Shootout, some will be making their first appearance. What advice should a first timer know?
“If I could go back in time and give my younger self a piece of advice, it would be about being ‘patiently aggressive’ while driving,” McKenzie shared. “In racing, we use this term to describe a driving style in which you make moves to go forward while also making sure you don’t put yourself in a costly situation. I’ve had to learn the hard way that you can’t win on lap one!”
Each night will begin with the non-points and championship Beginner Bandolero Division, followed by the Bandits and Outlaws. The first Legend Car feature each night will be the non-points and championship Chargers Division, then the Young Lions, Semi-Pros, the Pros, with each night concluding with the Masters Division, which will have two-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Kyle Busch competing.
Race nights will be June 9-10, 17, 24, and 30 followed by July 1, 8, 15, 22, with championship night on July 29. Gates open and qualifying begins at 5:00pm ET, followed by opening ceremonies at approximately 6:30pm ET.
Tickets for the Cook Out Summer Shootout are available at CharlotteMotorSpeedway.com and every second of racing action can be streamed on FloRacing.com. You can follow along with timing and scoring by using the MyRacePass App and website. For more information about the Cook Out Summer Shootout, visit the Summer Shootout event page.