Surviving adversity through the chaos. That is one way to summarize Saturday’s Bandolero Nationals Championship Features at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Seventy-six Bandoleros rolled into Concord ready to make their mark, but only three could stand on the top step.
With a summer’s worth of practice on Charlotte’s quarter-mile, Landon Thrasher and Carson Sherman put on a show for the first 17 laps of the Outlaw Division Championship Feature. Thrasher was the ProFABrication Fastest Qualifier and led the field to green, but Sherman was quickly was on his bumper. The duo quickly set sail, pulling away from the rest of the field.
Sherman didn’t let Thrasher get away, riding right in his tire tracks lap after lap. On Lap 13, he had waited long enough and took the launch out of Turn 2 and ran with it. Side-by-side, Sherman was on Thrasher’s inside into Turn 3 and exited Turn 4 with the lead. Not content to run in second, Thrasher crossed Sherman over and retook the lead on Lap 14. Three laps later, chaos erupted.
What was only a single car spin in Turn 4, ultimately led to seven restarts. Sherman was disadvantaged for many of the restarts as he was forced to start on the outside of row one. When the field was finally able to complete late 18, Chase Spaulding had cleared Sherman for second but a caution quickly came out. It was Sherman’s opportunity to be more aggressive during the restart. He prevailed to take second and chase after Thrasher, but a caution on Lap 21 put Sherman back on the outside for the restart.
Thrasher crossed under the flagstand to accept the white flag, then suddenly, the yellow lights lit up around the track. A one-lap shootout was setup. It was one more opportunity for Sherman to find a way around Thrasher on the outside. Everything way fine for the first three-quarters of the lap, then Sherman spun around in Turns 3 and 4. One more one-lap shootout was racked up and Thrasher captured the win, followed by Bentley Thompson and Rylan Speight. Carson Sherman had to settle for a 19th place finish, but did walk away with the AFCO Fastest Lap of the Race. For Thrasher, he places himself as the provisional 2025 INEX Bandolero Outlaws National Champion, which won’t be official until November.
The closest national championship battle entering Saturday was in the Bandits Division between Brexton Busch and James Behnke. The driver who finished ahead of the other would control their fate over the other. Busch got off to a great start by earning the ProFABrication Fastest Qualifier Award but Bryce Castille wanted to make his race difficult. Castille was on the low side of three-wide with Busch in the middle and Behnke on the outside as they traveled down the backstretch and entering Turn 3.
Castille led Lap 1, and was the only lap Busch didn’t lead. He quickly found his way back around Castille and prepared for a restart on Lap 4. From there, the race struggled to find any traction. Several cautions and restarts littered the score sheet of anyone documenting the race. During a caution on Lap 7, Behnke suddenly came to a stop and required a push to the hot pit. His team wasn’t able to diagnose and remedy his car’s issue before the race resumed. During a caution period two laps later, Behnke did reenter the track, but with his championship feature and national championship hopes all but dashed.
When the race resumed on Lap 9, Busch smoothly rounded Turns 1 and 2 to control the race, with Castille in hot pursuit. And Castille kept him honest, sticking within striking distance if Busch placed a tire wrong. On Lap 15, Castille was still close to Busch, when traversing through Turn 4, he drifted wide and lost valuable distance to the back of Busch’s bumper. That put him in the clutches of Evan Johnson, who made his way around Castille on Lap 18.
The field was reset when spins in Turn 2 required the caution to be thrown. Multiple attempts to complete Lap 20 were required and another caution on Lap 24 set the stage for a two-lap sprint to the finish. Busch scooted away as Castille and Johnson battled for second. Taking the checkered flag as he did seven times during the summer, Busch won with Castille taking second and Johnson finished third. Behnke rallied with free passes to finished seven.
Exiting Charlotte and Bandolero Nationals, Busch leaves as the provisional INEX Bandolero Bandits National Champion for 2025.
Carter Koch had already decided before the start of the Beginner Bandolero A Feature that Saturday would be his final day of competition in the Beginner ranks. And he made it a memorable one for himself. Anthony Pedulla earned the ProFABrication Fastest Qualifier Award and led the opening two laps before Koch found his way to the lead. Pedulla suffered a spin on Lap 6 while running in second, but that started a charge back towards the Top 3. Meanwhile, Koch stretched his legs to over a six second lead. There was one more restart for Koch to outlast, and he did so successfully, earning a third victory at Charlotte Motor Speedway and a second during the weekend. Mason Massey ended the weekend with a second-place finish and Pedulla rallied to a third-place result.
Kelly Kirby won the Beginner Bandolero B Feature, but the race took many turns. Hagan Green led the field to green, but Kipling Knaus took the lead on Lap 2. On Lap 6, Green gave Knaus too much of a bumper sending him around. The lead was then inherited by Ellie Hodge. She led the way until only two laps remained when Kirby found his way around on the inside down the backstretch. Hodge had one final lunge entering the final set of corners but wasn’t close enough to make a pass stick. The victory was Kirby’s first career Bandolero victory.
Ending the day was a Legend Car 25-Lap feature, won by Alex McCollum. He led from the start but survived multiple as cars behind him exchanged bumpers and brake lockups. A late-race multi-car crashed led to one more restart. The action was behind McCollum, where Joel Smith snuck through to second place and JR Allen settled for third after running in second for a portion of the feature.
Replays of the 2025 INEX Bandolero Nationals at Charlotte Motor Speedway can be streamed on USLegendCars.TV. INEX’s 2025 fall championship nationals continued with Road Course World Finals, September 26-28 at Dominion Raceway in Virginia. Legend Car Dirt Nationals follows as the event returns to North Dakota for a first-time visit to Nodak Speedway, October 9-11. The season will draw to a close at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, October 23-25 for 34th Legend Car Asphalt Nationals. All three events can be streamed on USLCI TV.
OUTLAWS DIVISION
A MAIN (25 Laps): 1. 55-Landon Thrasher[1]; 2. 22-Bentley Thompson[5]; 3. 45-Rylan Speight[4]; 4. 7-Kamryn Mallette[17]; 5. 5-Corbin Cannon[7]; 6. 000-Lincoln Johnson[9]; 7. 80-Bryson Nichols[16]; 8. 37-Carson Cauble[11]; 9. 3-Landon Burbage[8]; 10. 13M-Lucas McFall[10]; 11. 10B-Emily Billings[12]; 12. 54-Jackson Jones[18]; 13. 7J-Harley Johnson[19]; 14. 48B-Brenten Bishop[21]; 15. 48-Jacob Hassey[23]; 16. 17R-Mason Robertson[14]; 17. 13-Patrick Motykiewicz[13]; 18. 24-Austin Seburn[22]; 19. 9S-Carson Sherman[2]; 20. 39-Chase Spaulding[3]; 21. 19-Madison White[24]; 22. 6-Wyatt Grizzard[20]; 23. 04J-James Monolo[6]; 24. 9-Jack Smith[15]
B MAIN (10 Laps): 1. 48B-Brenten Bishop[3]; 2. 24-Austin Seburn[5]; 3. 48-Jacob Hassey[1]; 4. 19-Madison White[2]; 5. 54F-Caitlyn Ford[10]; 6. 28-Joshua Shine[4]; 7. 32-Michael Barry[6]; 8. 21-Reid Halpin[7]; 9. 30-David Bernier[9]; 10. (DNS) 10-Eli Van Patten; 11. (DQ) 45-Jordan Bauer[8]
Qualifying: 1. 55-Landon Thrasher, 00:18.945[14]; 2. 9S-Carson Sherman, 00:18.968[5]; 3. 22-Bentley Thompson, 00:18.974[27]; 4. 04J-James Monolo, 00:19.035[24]; 5. 17R-Mason Robertson, 00:19.068[22]; 6. 39-Chase Spaulding, 00:19.092[13]; 7. 13-Patrick Motykiewicz, 00:19.117[10]; 8. 7-Kamryn Mallette, 00:19.129[30]; 9. 000-Lincoln Johnson, 00:19.130[17]; 10. 13M-Lucas McFall, 00:19.167[1]; 11. 45-Rylan Speight, 00:19.167[18]; 12. 5-Corbin Cannon, 00:19.195[9]; 13. 9-Jack Smith, 00:19.200[12]; 14. 48B-Brenten Bishop, 00:19.281[21]; 15. 3-Landon Burbage, 00:19.297[7]; 16. 10B-Emily Billings, 00:19.301[11]; 17. 80-Bryson Nichols, 00:19.313[26]; 18. 45-Jordan Bauer, 00:19.319[31]; 19. 7J-Harley Johnson, 00:19.327[20]; 20. 48-Jacob Hassey, 00:19.330[3]; 21. 54-Jackson Jones, 00:19.354[6]; 22. 6-Wyatt Grizzard, 00:19.356[29]; 23. 32-Michael Barry, 00:19.425[8]; 24. 37-Carson Cauble, 00:19.508[4]; 25. 21-Reid Halpin, 00:19.536[28]; 26. 19-Madison White, 00:19.554[23]; 27. 24-Austin Seburn, 00:19.641[19]; 28. 28-Joshua Shine, 00:19.658[25]; 29. 30-David Bernier, 00:20.341[16]; 30. 54F-Caitlyn Ford, 00:20.705[15]; 31. (DNS) 10-Eli Van Patten
BANDITS DIVISION
A MAIN (25 Laps): 1. 18B-Brexton Busch[1]; 2. 28-Bryce Castille[3]; 3. 66-Evan Johnson[4]; 4. 7T-Casen Tate[12]; 5. 5-Christopher Flynn[7]; 6. 38-Gerald White III[5]; 7. 1J-James Behnke[2]; 8. 16-Lincoln Baucom[17]; 9. 8-Jakob Peterson[18]; 10. 26H-Axel House[16]; 11. 21-Cale Weavil[8]; 12. 46-Paxton Smith[13]; 13. 7-Camden Powers[15]; 14. 4-Kevin Stiene[9]; 15. 31-Colton Murphy[21]; 16. 85P-Paisley Lawson[24]; 17. 29-Charlie Evans[11]; 18. 16T-Tayton Monroe[20]; 19. 16P-Maci Prowell[14]; 20. 13-Madalinn White[23]; 21. 9-Maverick Bradshaw[6]; 22. 4B-Wesley Baumeister[10]; 23. 1VA-Tuggie Case[19]; 24. 07-Madison Stanley[22]
Qualifying: 1. 18B-Brexton Busch, 00:18.786[15]; 2. 1J-James Behnke, 00:18.900[10]; 3. 28-Bryce Castille, 00:18.918[6]; 4. 66-Evan Johnson, 00:18.929[24]; 5. 38-Gerald White III, 00:18.978[14]; 6. 9-Maverick Bradshaw, 00:18.986[4]; 7. 5-Christopher Flynn, 00:19.017[13]; 8. 21-Cale Weavil, 00:19.064[8]; 9. 4-Kevin Stiene, 00:19.066[12]; 10. 4B-Wesley Baumeister, 00:19.071[19]; 11. 29-Charlie Evans, 00:19.083[11]; 12. 7T-Casen Tate, 00:19.279[3]; 13. 46-Paxton Smith, 00:19.331[9]; 14. 16P-Maci Prowell, 00:19.354[16]; 15. 7-Camden Powers, 00:19.451[1]; 16. 26H-Axel House, 00:19.711[17]; 17. 16-Lincoln Baucom, 00:19.753[7]; 18. 8-Jakob Peterson, 00:19.819[23]; 19. 1VA-Tuggie Case, 00:19.860[22]; 20. 16T-Tayton Monroe, 00:19.912[21]; 21. 31-Colton Murphy, 00:20.024[5]; 22. 07-Madison Stanley, 00:20.370[20]; 23. 13-Madalinn White, 00:23.410[2]; 24. (DNS) 85P-Paisley Lawson
BEGINNER BANDOLERO DIVISION
A FEATURE (20 Laps): 1. 5-Carter Koch[2]; 2. 24-Mason Massey[9]; 3. 22P-Anthony Pedulla[1]; 4. 16JP-Joshua Penn Jr[7]; 5. 6-Wyatt Linker[3]; 6. 26-Ava Boyd[10]; 7. 23-Michael Scronce[13]; 8. 7-Kylea Beattie[11]; 9. 77-Ava Paez[12]; 10. 08-Ava Boundy[4]; 11. 10-Mikey Speeney[6]; 12. 1R-Max Rogers[8]; 13. 73-Jagger Williams[5]
B FEATURE (15 Laps): 1. 15K-Kelly Kirby[4]; 2. 57-Ellie Hodge[3]; 3. 5S-Colton Sherman[6]; 4. 66K-Kipling Knaus[2]; 5. 1-Jackson Collier[5]; 6. 7H-Daxx Halpin[8]; 7. 85J-Jack Lawson[7]; 8. 22-Hagan Green[1]
Qualifying: 1. 22P-Anthony Pedulla, 00:19.854[10]; 2. 5-Carter Koch, 00:19.975[1]; 3. 6-Wyatt Linker, 00:19.988[14]; 4. 08-Ava Boundy, 00:20.161[20]; 5. 73-Jagger Williams, 00:20.343[16]; 6. 10-Mikey Speeney, 00:20.395[11]; 7. 16JP-Joshua Penn Jr, 00:20.429[15]; 8. 1R-Max Rogers, 00:20.491[3]; 9. 24-Mason Massey, 00:20.560[6]; 10. 26-Ava Boyd, 00:20.653[8]; 11. 7-Kylea Beattie, 00:20.669[13]; 12. 77-Ava Paez, 00:20.760[17]; 13. 23-Michael Scronce, 00:20.843[19]; 14. 22-Hagan Green, 00:20.852[21]; 15. 66K-Kipling Knaus, 00:20.978[5]; 16. 57-Ellie Hodge, 00:20.984[7]; 17. 15K-Kelly Kirby, 00:21.066[4]; 18. 1-Jackson Collier, 00:21.098[12]; 19. 5S-Colton Sherman, 00:21.163[2]; 20. 85J-Jack Lawson, 00:21.813[9]; 21. (DNS) 7H-Daxx Halpin
LEGEND CARS
A MAIN (25 Laps): 1. 51M-Alex McCollum[1]; 2. 24S-Joel Smith[2]; 3. 51-JR Allen[7]; 4. 35-Preston Wrisley[5]; 5. 25-Nate Morris[8]; 6. 42-Alex Reling[13]; 7. 9-TJ Moon[10]; 8. 81-Hunter Jordan[3]; 9. 56-Sterling Wrisley[4]; 10. 12-Rusty Young[11]; 11. 94-Jhett Johnson[14]; 12. 5X-Jesse Martinez[6]; 13. 8-Landon McGowan[15]; 14. 10-Alex Pate[17]; 15. 6-Edison Carter[20]; 16. 85G-Gideon Sousley[21]; 17. 48-Kyle Bacon[9]; 18. 5-Brandin Wrisley[12]; 19. 8X-Addison Martinez[19]; 20. (DNS) 25B-Jeff Bolen; 21. (DNS) 80-Bryson Nichols; 22. (DNS) 79-Neal Dulin
Qualifying: 1. 51M-Alex McCollum, 00:17.209[6]; 2. 24S-Joel Smith, 00:17.313[1]; 3. 81-Hunter Jordan, 00:17.377[3]; 4. 56-Sterling Wrisley, 00:17.381[16]; 5. 35-Preston Wrisley, 00:17.383[15]; 6. 5X-Jesse Martinez, 00:17.420[18]; 7. 51-JR Allen, 00:17.453[7]; 8. 25-Nate Morris, 00:17.458[19]; 9. 48-Kyle Bacon, 00:17.464[22]; 10. 9-TJ Moon, 00:17.522[13]; 11. 12-Rusty Young, 00:17.559[20]; 12. 5-Brandin Wrisley, 00:17.574[11]; 13. 42-Alex Reling, 00:17.588[9]; 14. 94-Jhett Johnson, 00:17.620[5]; 15. 8-Landon McGowan, 00:17.705[21]; 16. 25B-Jeff Bolen, 00:17.761[8]; 17. 10-Alex Pate, 00:17.782[17]; 18. 80-Bryson Nichols, 00:17.818[2]; 19. 8X-Addison Martinez, 00:17.911[14]; 20. 6-Edison Carter, 00:18.483[4]; 21. 85G-Gideon Sousley, 00:19.043[10]; 22. (DNS) 79-Neal Dulin