CONCORD, N.C. – On a night when the publicity swirled around Bubba Wallace’s Bojangles’ Summer Shootout return, fellow Pro division veteran Joey Padgett stole the spotlight.
Padgett led wire to wire in the headlining 25-lap Pro division feature on the frontstretch quarter-mile at Charlotte Motor Speedway, notching his first Summer Shootout victory since the penultimate race in 2015, a span of 31 races and nearly four years.
William Robusto (Semi-Pro), Todd Midas (Masters), Tommy Good (Young Lions), Garin Mash (Bandolero Outlaw), Lucas Vera (Bandolero Bandits) and Payton Johnson (Beginner Bandolero) also won in their respective divisions on the second night of racing for the annual summer series for Legend cars and Bandoleros.
Padgett’s victory came over a hard-charging Carson Ferguson, who could get close in the Ladyga Motorsports No. 48 but never close enough to make a move for the lead. The Fab Specialties No. 78 hung on to claim the victory by .612 seconds at the checkered flag.
“We had a great car,” said Padgett after his second-career Summer Shootout win. “That thing was hooked up. Carson (Ferguson) just about wore me out, but I held him off.
“Man, that was fun,” he added. “I saw him close in a little bit and I was thinking, ‘Man, there has to be something else left in the tank,’ and we had just enough.”
Wallace made his Pro division return in the Chris Rogers-owned No. 76 on Tuesday night, claiming third in the race in his first Shootout start since 2012. He held off challenges from Zach Miller and Ryan Mackintosh for the majority of the distance.
William Robusto and his older sister, Isabella Robusto, kept it all in the family with a one-two finish in the Semi–Pro division.
Robusto took the lead via a bump-and-run on D.J. Canipe with five laps remaining. He opened the bottom lane for his sister to follow suit and take second, though she couldn’t quite get back to her brother’s bumper in the final lap to challenge for the win.
The Robusto siblings were followed by third-place finisher Braden Rogers.
“It was so hard (to hang on); I just had to stay to the bottom and try to defend,” Robusto said. “I’d just like to thank my mom and dad and my grandpa and everyone who’s helped me. This is a big night for me and for our family.”
Midas’ win in the Masters division nearly wasn’t, as he jumped the restart on lap 14 of the 25-lap feature over then-leader Robby Faggart.
However, Midas gave the position back, got to the bottom of the track, and then drove underneath Faggart to take a lead he would never relinquish.
Faggart would eventually slide to third, as Mark Green got around the No. 12 to earn second place, and Midas admitted afterward that he was watching Green in his mirrors.
“It’s pretty tough,” Midas said of the dual focus he had to employ as the race wound to a close. “(Getting bumped out of the way) is always in the back of your mind. I stopped focusing on it toward the end. What it’ll be is what it was, so it feels pretty good to win.
“We were skeptical about the new motors, but they’ve prevailed two nights in a row.”
The Young Lions made it to lap 16 of 25 before a rash of yellow flags pushed the race past its scheduled time limit and forced a caution-and-checkered finish.
Good led flag-to-flag from the pole, while Sam Butler brought his No. 8 home in second and opening night winner Landon Rapp completed the podium. The win was Good’s first Shootout victory for Ladyga Motorsports and the fifth of his career across all classes.
“It’s so awesome,” Good said of winning at Charlotte. “I can’t thank everyone at Ladyga and everyone who tunes our engines. My spotters were helping me figure out where I could go and to make sure I held the lead.”
Mash’s win was his second of the day, after winning the round one makeup feature earlier in the afternoon, and he held off Connor Yonchuk for the win just as he did in the first race.
Layton Harrison was unable to defend his opening-round victory in the Bandits division after breaking down on the third lap of the race.
After a yellow for Harrison, Vera took over the lead and didn’t relinquish it as the field went green the rest of the way. Luke Morey and Tristan McKee rounded out the podium.
Johnson took the lead from Josh Horniman on lap 10 of the Beginner Bandolero feature and pulled away for victory, beating Kenton Case to the finish line by .451 seconds in the end.
To view race results for all divisions, advance to the next page.